Gospel Suppression Leads To Idolatry-Romans 1:18-2:5

New Testament, Romans, Sermons

Romans 1:18-2:5, 1:13, 25

“…and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images… They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” (Rom 1:23a, 25, NIV).

Theme: Idolatry is humanity’s basic and fundamental sin. It exempts no one. It robs us of joy. It captures us even when we think we are “getting better.” It always involves breaking the first two of the Ten Commandments.

Idolatry arises from both shameless immorality as well as self-righteous moralism. I’m sorry to inform you that you are all idolators! Me too. But … for over 20 years as a Christian I thought of sin and idolatry predominantly as immorality and bad behavior. I also regarded “unseen sins”–such as gossiping, slander, jealousy, backbiting, divisiveness, rudeness, condescding behavior, character assisination, etc–as less serious, or not that bad, or not as bad as sleeping around, doing drugs, drunkenness, lewd, crude cursing, deviant behavior, etc. But the Bible refutes any such distinctions or gradations of sins. Rom 1:18-2:5, our text for today, makes virtually no distinction between the gravity and severity of gross immoral behavior and decent moral religiousity.

“Good” moral religious people may even be worse that immoral corrupt sinners. If anything, Jesus once said pointedly to the chief priests and elders of the people who challenged his authority (Mt 21:23) that they were worse than the sinners they condemned. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do” (Mt 21:31, NLT).

From Rom 1:18-2:5, consider idolatry in three parts:

  1. Idolatry that is obvious (Rom 1:18-28): Immorality, irreligion, and breaking rules.
  2. Idolatry that is not obvious (Rom 2:1-5): Morality, religion, and keeping rules.
  3. Common factors of all idolatry (Rom 1:29-32): A catalogue of 21 vices.

Are decent moral religious people (Jews) as bad as gross immoral shameless “sinners” (Gentiles)? In Rom 1:18-3:20 Paul brings charges against all of humanity that “Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin” (Rom 3:9, NIV). But the structure and relative weight of Paul’s indictment in these verses reveal that the Jew–the religous person–is his main “target” (Rom 2:1, 3, 17). It is likely that few people would need to be convinced that the blatantly godless, wicked and immoral Gentiles were in need of God’s righteousness (Rom 1:17), apart from which they are under God’s wrath (Rom 1:18). But are the outwardly moral law-keeping Jews in the same hopeless condition as the “godless” Gentiles? From Rom 2:1ff, or even from Rom 1:29ff, Paul is argueing that Jews are as much subject to sin’s power as are Gentiles, and that the old system of the law, in itself, is quite insufficient to provide for release from sin’s power (Rom 3:20). Indeed, throughout Romans, Paul preaches the equality of Jew and Gentile in both sin and righteousness. The wrath of God in Rom 1:18 covers both the Gentile as well as the Jew. Thus, Paul’s overriding conern is to show that, like Gentiles, Jews are locked up under sin and can receive the righteousness available in the gospel only by faith in Jesus.

I. Obvious Idolatry (Rom 1:18-28)

In this part, by focusing on the theme of idolatry we will consider:

  1. What it is (Rom 1:23, 25).
  2. Why it is inexcusable (Rom 1:19-20).
  3. What its root cause is (Rom 1:21a).
  4. What it results in (Rom 1:21b-32).

Idolatry is an exchange. Paul expresses three exchanges with their retributive sequences:

  1. People “exchange” the truth of God for idols — God “hands them over” (Rom 1:23-24).
  2. People “exchange” for a lie — God “hands them over” (Rom 1:25-26a).
  3. People “exchange” natural sexual practices for unnatural ones — God “hands them over” (Rom 1:26b, 28).

God giving people up to sin (Rom 1:24, 26, 28) is always a result of idolatry.

Idolatry is inexcusable because though they have been given “general revelation” (in contrast to special/saving revelation) according to Rom 1:19-20a, yet they suppressed the truth of this knowledge of God by their wickedness by their willful human rebellion, thus inviting the wrath of God (Rom 1:18).

Idolatry’s root cause is the failure to value God above all things, so that he is not honored and praised as he should be (Rom 1:21).

The result of idolatry escalates and knows no limit (Rom 1:21b-32).

II. Idolatry That Is Not Obvious (Rom 2:1-5)

Judging and cndemning in others the very faults we excuse in ourselves. In this part, Paul uncovers a strange human defect: we tend to be critical of everybody except ourselves. We are often as harsh in our judgment of others as we are lenient towards ourselves. We work ourselves up into a state of self-righteous indignation over the disgraceful behavior of others, while the very same behavior seems not nearly so serious when it is ours or our children’s rather than theirs and their children. Our critical faculties are so well developed that we become experts in our moral evaluation of others, while remaining blind to our own demerits and shortcomings. This is the hypocrisy of the double standard: a high standard for others and a comfortably low one for ourselves. By judging others and observing their imperfections while ignoring or minimizing our own, we retain our sins and our self-respect. This is both slick and sick.

Moral people who “keep” the law think they are better than immoral people and judge them. Contrary to popular Jewish belief, the sins of the Jews will not be treated by God significantly differently from those of the Gentiles (Rom 1:18ff). Like John the Baptist (Mt 3:7-10) and Jesus (Mt 21:28-32) before him, Paul denies that belonging to the covenant people per se ensures acceptance with God.

Moral church people break the law just like immoral people. Paul says to the Christians in Rome that neither possession of the law nor circumcision marks a person as truly belonging to God. It is like saying today that saying I believe the Bible or that I attend church regularly as a baptised member makes me a Christian. Only repentance (Rom 2:4) and an inner, heartfelf commitment to God (Rom 2:28-29)–in a word, faith–ultimately count before the Lord. Therefore, Paul “levels the playing field” between Jew and Gentile (Rom 2:1ff). Both stand condemned before God because of their transgressions of God’s word. It is because Jews do “the same things” as Gentiles that God will judge them (Rom 2:1-3). Because they disobey the law in which they boast, they dishonor God (Rom 2:17-24). Because they trasgress the law they loose any value in their circumcision (Rom 2:25; 3:10-18). Factual transgressions are the reason Jews stand condemned and need the righteousness of God available in the gospel.

How do “conservative” religious people do and “practice the very same things” (Rom 2:1) as “liberal” non-religious people? Various commentators have suggested various reasons. In the very act of judging others they seize God’s prerogative and thus are guilty of idolatry (Rom 1:23, 25). They fail to glorify and thank God by making a false claim to wisdom which may be viewed as the key sins in Rom 1:18-32. Another possibility is that Paul thinks in terms of sins according to their essential moral categories in dependence of Jesus’ manner of interpreting the commandments (Mt 5:21-48). In this sense, the Jews’ reverance for their traditions is not essentially different from the idolatry of the Gentiles, nor is the lust in the hearts of Jews any less culpable than the perverse sexual practices of the Gentiles. Paul’s words “you, the judge, practice the very same things” in Rom 2:1 and “those who practice such things” in Rom 1:32 suggests that we should look to Rom 1:29-32 rather than to Rom 1:20-28 for the sins Paul has in mind here in Rom 2:1. (See Part III next.) Many of these sins—pride, arrogance, gossiping, maligning others, and lack of affection–are as prevalent in the Jewish (or church or religious) as in the Gentile (or non-churched or irreligious) world. In fact, Paul will accuse the religious Jews of some of these same sins in Rom 2:17-24.

III. Common Factors Of All Idolatry (Rom 1:29-32)

A “vice list,” a catalogue of vices. Such a listing of sins as in Rom 1:29-31 is called a “vice list.” It is a literary form widespread in secular moral writings as well as in the NT (Mt 15:19; Gal 5:19-21; Col 3:5, 8; 1 Tim 1:9-10; 2 Tim 3:2-4; 1 Pet 2:1; 4:3). As is typical of lists, this one exhibits no rigid logical arrangement and defies neat classification. Also, some terms are virtually synonymous and they contain a considerable degree of overlap in meaning. This is an attempt to structurally formulate some logical order:

  • Four general sins: “filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity” (Rom 1:29a).
  • Five more sins that revolve around envy and which depict broken human relationships: “full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice” (Rom 1:29b).
  • A couple of words which seem to refer to libel and slander: “gossips, slanderers” (Rom 1:29c-30a). An imaginative translation (JB) says, “whisperers beind doors” and “stabbers in the back.”
  • Four which seem to portray different and extreme forms of pride: “God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful” (Rom 1:30b).
  • Two phrases denoting people who invent evil and rebellious to parents (Rom 1:30c).
  • The list ends with four negatives: “no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy” (Rom 1:31). A translation (JB) renders it “without brains, honor, love, or pity.”

Doesn’t the above “vice list” of a catalogue of 21 vices describe religious people and Christians as much as it describes non-religious people and non-Christians? Should moral religious church people judge others whom we might think are immoral, irreligious and non-churched? Should Christians fly off the handle in uncontrolable rage and anger over certain issues that they find intolerable and unacceptable? Or should they extend mercy, grace, patience, kindness and tolerance to “sinners”? Don’t Christians sometimes seem to be more interested in expressing or extending punishment and punitive judgement rather than expressing and extending limitless mercy, forgiveness, gentleness and kindness? I am simply asking a whole host of rhetorical questions that too many people–both Christians and non-Christians–have often asked.

God is rich in kindness, forebearance and patience (Rom 2:4, NIV). “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? (Rom 2:4, NLT) Paul asks this rhetorical question to the person who thinks that they can sin and yet avoid God’s judgment (Rom 2:3). Paul uses three lovely terms to describe God’s riches in his mercy: kindness (or goodness), forebearance and patience (Ps 103:8; Ex 34:6-7). God’s explicit purpose in his kindness is not to excuse sin but to stimulate repentance (Rom 2:4b).

Every idolator WILL suffer from bondage and self-righteousness. Idolatry is really no fun. These two quotes are very sobering:

  • “Every idolater is a prisoner, held in humiliating bondage.” John Stott, The Message of 1 and 2 Thessalonians.
  • “Self-righteousness—this is the largest idol of the human heart—the idol which man loves most and God hates most.” Robert Murray M’Cheyne.

How do you identify your predominant idol? Let me conclude with this quote:

  • “To identify your own idols, ask questions: Where do I find my significance and my confidence? What things make me really angry? Anger usually erupts when an idol gets knocked off the shelf.” Philip Graham Ryken, Courage to Stand, 90.

If I easily get upset with my wife, it is because I wish for her to be something beyond what she is able to be. I am in a sense wishing for her to be like God to me. If I easily lose my temper with anyone who criticizes my church, then my church has become what I depend and rely on for my deep sense of value, worth, meaning and significance. Indeed,

  • “An idol can be…anything that can substitute for God.” Os Guiness and John Seel, No God but God, 32-33. Also,
  • “We can make an idol of anything, including your church.” Scotty Smith, A Prayer Lamenting “My Church” Idolatry.

May God have mercy on us not to worship idols (including and especially something that is very good and noble, such as our families or our church). May God help us to remember the love of God and the grace of Jesus and the friendship of the Holy Spirit so that God and only God may be our primary predominant object of love, affection, adoration, praise and worship.

More quotes for thought and reflection:

  • “Either we will love and serve God, or we will love and serve our idols. Idols exist in our lives because we love them and invite them in. But once idols find a home, they are unruly and resist leaving. In fact, they change from being the servants of our desires to being our masters.” Edward T. Welch, Blame in on the Brain? 194.
  • “Most of us think of an idol as a statue … worshiped by pagan people. But … an idol is anything apart from God that we depend on to be happy, fulfilled, or secure. In biblical terms, it is something other than God that we set our heart on…it is something we love and pursue more than God.” “It is important to emphasize the fact that idols can arise from good desires as well as wicked desires. It is often not what we want that is the problem, but that we want it too much.” Ken Sande, The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict, 104.
  • “…suffering itself does not rob you of joy—idolatry does. If you’re suffering and you’re angry, bitter, and joyless it means you’ve idolized–and felt entitled to–whatever it is you’re losing.” Tullian Tchividjian.

Questions:

  1. As a Christian Jesus is always the right answer. But what do you truly want more than anything else in the world?
  2. What is the very essence of idolatry (Rom 1:23, 25)? What two commandments does idolatry break (Ex 20:3-4; Dt 5:7-8)?
  3. Why is idolatry inexcusable (Rom 1:19-20)?
  4. What is the root cause of idolatry (Rom 1:21a, 18)?
  5. What are some results of idolatry in our lives (Rom 1:21b-26, 28, 32)? Has this been true in your own experience? Share examples.
  6. Notice the 21 vices that Paul lists that is not exhaustive (Rom 1:29-31). How much disintegration does idolatry cause?
  7. How is the idolatry in Rom 2:1-5 different from Rom 1:18-32? What sins do you excuse in yourself while condemning them in others?
  8. How would you speak to those who think that because they are moral and keep rules, they are better than others?

References:

  1. Douglas Moo —The Epistle to the Romans (New International Commentary on the New Testament, 1996).
  2. Douglas Moo —Exegetical examination of Romans. This course was recorded during a D.Min. seminar at the Carolina Graduate School of Divinity in May 2012.
  3. John Stott — The Message of Romans (The Bible Speaks Today, 1994).
  4. Tim Keller — Romans 1-7 For You (The Good Book Company, 2014).
  5. Tim Keller — Gospel in Life, Grace Changes Everything Study Guide, 2010.
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