Will You Let Them Be Given Over?

The words of the Bible ring clear in the mist of the culture of the world today. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:18-23).

“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:28-32).
There are two points I want to make. When morality is based on what we think, rather than on what a righteous God has decreed; the result in reality is immorality. There is an open and even deliberate rejection of God and anything holy. Somehow, we think we know what is best for us. We know better than our creator Who in His great wisdom and understanding left for us a book which is the prescription for life. This prescription for life, the Bible we reject. And maybe not directly, but when we don’t spend time reading and learning from it on a regular basis, rejection is what we do by omission! The Bible provides for us the moral will of God. His moral will is clearly laid out in this Book of wisdom. There is no real morality unless it is taken from a Biblical standard. 

Those of us who follow Christ also share blame for the condition of the world around us. We have conformed our thinking to the world’s. We have failed to confront sin. In fact, we have failed to even call sin sin. We have participated in the downward spiral by living lives that resemble Christ’s in the smallest ways. We are not salty and very little is being preserved. We are to be light in the world, but our light is dim or hidden. 

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16).

 God’s Spirit resides in the heart of the people that are called the body of Christ… the Church. So, when the church remains silent, there is no restraint. When there is no restraint, anything goes! Anything can go as normal or whatever culture deems as normal.  “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). 
         
I believe it is time for us to live out the words of 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”
         
​Today, will you examine the level of salt and light in your life? Does your life save and preserve? Are you a light in dark places? Does your life impact those around you for godly purposes? It is only by the help of God we can be these things. He is the God of morality! He is the God of good! He is the God of the world! May we turn back to God and thereby find our hope.