Greetings!
Does your church suffer with a depraved mind?
Is it possible that our God has turned the global church over to a depraved mind?
One of the more disturbing passages
in the Bible for many readers is Romans 1:18-32, particularly verses 21-24.
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
A loving God wouldn’t do that, would He?
Count on it.
Few would argue the fact that we live in a depraved culture. The question becomes, has this depraved culture infiltrated the church?
Our passage addresses “believers.”
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them
. (Romans 1:18-19)
Paul is addressing the Romans
who make claim to “Christianity.” What was their crime? They became reactionary to the discipline of the Lord (Hebrews 12:5-6). They did not choose to acknowledge God as they once did in their first love. It was not because they couldn’t, but because they were disappointed with God’s strong and immovable character, and chose to forsake Him, and follow their own ideologies, passions and lusts.
The “grace-cops” avoid this passage.
Those believers who tend to hide behind grace oftentimes miss the most relevant characteristics of God the Father. They typically have been wounded by others to the point of turning God into a non-disciplinary careless parent. This is why most become gracialistic in their demise. Paul warned the Hebrew Christians of this deception.
…and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, "MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD, NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM; FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES."
(Hebrews 12:5-6)
The Post-Truth church was birth out of the gracialistic movement that swept the Christianized world at the turn of the millennium. This resulted in a culture that rejects discipline from all forms of authority – including Gods’. As in the case of a father releasing a prodigal child to their own demise, God is revealing that His method of training is like-minded. Remembering, as soon as God turned these “believers” over to a depraved mind, the following symptomatic reactions occurred; …
be
ing filled with all
unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful…
This clearly describes the culture we live within today!
Here’s the kicker!
The resulting culture was due to God’s choice, even though it wasn’t a decision He enjoyed enacting. The reactionary list was an expected behavioral response from the people. The key component is the choice God made in turning these "believers" over to a depraved mind, which was a direct result of a simple crime (an action or omission which constitutes an offence) committed by the people. The crime?
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
suppress the truth
in unrighteousness…
(Romans 1:18)
Suppressing Truth is suppressing Jesus, for He is the Truth.
God has the power and prerogative to turn a person, nation, world, or “church” over to a depraved mind. He is God.
Throughout church-history
, we have observed God demonstrating such actions. What would culture be like if He decided to turn all four categories over to a depraved mind – at the same time? My dear reader, you would have a Post-Truth culture manifesting the reactions Paul references.
When you look into the world, would you say the norm of the people is
filled with unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful?
If you can’t answer this question, you might be un-informed.
Once these four groupings are turned over to a depraved mind, a particular culture is formed. Here we find some of the characteristics of this culture.
For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
(Romans 1:25-27)
There are several key characteristics we need to point out. The resulting culture becomes filled with making proclamations that Truth does not exist, foolishly proclaiming lies, lifting what was created above the Creator (animal & plant life), women claiming lesbianism as the norm, men defending homosexuality, and most importantly, this culture will refuse to acknowledge God any longer (Romans 1:28).
Statistics reveal this list as the top cultural issues:
·
Self-governed authority
·
Human rights
·
Transgender rights
·
Lesbian & Gay equal rights
·
Food obsession (vegetarianism, veganism etc.)
·
Animal rights
·
Mother earth (environmental issues)
·
Pluralistic religious rights
·
Parental disregard
It is a bit problematic if a reader is not able to connect the dots. All the statistics prove the simple fact that God has made a choice to turn the world’s culture over to its own depravity. Unless one is blinded by their own stupidity, which is a confession that you might be one of the depraved. This is a relevant and real cultural crisis!
In Romans 1:19, He made it clear
that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them
.
The progression of Truth:
- God is Truth
- God revealed the Truth
- God sent the Truth
- The Truth paid the price
- The Truth was resurrected
- The Truth was put into man via the Holy Spirit
- The Truth was evident to man
- God, who is Truth, confirmed the evidence
Hang on, here is another kicker. From His first spoken word in the creation process, He invested His invisible attributes, His eternal power, and Divine nature in all things, so that, He would be clearly seen, and understood, by all humans, that He is Truth. The results became, the people would be without excuse (Romans 1:20).
What is the crime?
Since all are without excuse, minimally, each could conceptualize He exist, more importantly, that He is Truth. The crime? They did not HONOR Him as God.
Not long ago, I was asked by a worldview teacher what I considered to be the most grievous violation in our culture today. It took me all of 3 seconds to answer – “dishonor.” There is no greater crime than dishonor. Dishonor is what fuels all forms of sin. God Himself made this clear as the reason He turned these Romans over to their depraved minds -
they did not honor Him as God
.
Never trust a man of dishonor!
As our passage reveals, the results of dishonor is
but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened
(Romans 1:21b).
Foolishness produces darkness
. Darkness comes from the greatest enemy of God – Satan. Futile speculations are the depraved thoughts of man outside of Christ, foolishness opens the door for darkness and darkness rules the heart through demonic doctrines. There you have the full cycle of an idiot, who by the way, thinks they’re wise. Keeping things in context, an idiot is
one who knows the truth but refuses to act upon it.
Professing to be wise, they became fools…
(Romans 1:22)
Those who know me, know this – I will not debt a fool. Years ago the Lord revealed to me the meaning of “fool.” In the Greek it means,
insipid, an act of passive resistance.
In the Hebrew it means,
keseel, fat, stupid or one who baits another.
This is a “grace-cop” in action. It takes a fool to step into the debates of a fool. I promise you, you will lose every discussion. They would rather go to Hell before admitting they were wrong. Fools cannot be deduced. Their premise is their identity – even if their dogma is the grace of God.
Stupid is as stupid does!
We live in, and around a culture today that functions in stupidity. We don’t need more evidence for God to demand His verdict. He is the Judge and He has the right & prerogative to decide what to do with the evidence. This should be an obvious foundational doctrine for true indwelt believers.
The present condition of the people, nations, world & the church is irrefutable. Ministers of the Gospel need to press on to the higher-calling. We must continue to do what we have always done – speak the Truth, spread the Word, lead others to Christ and disciple each in understanding their new identity in Jesus. The numbers may be few, but every life is worth it. The Post-Truth culture should be our mission field.
Until next time...
Stephen Phinney
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Content is taken from,
Discipling The Post-Truth Church, by Dr. Stephen Phinney 2018
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