Romans
The Expression Bible
Salutation
1:1 From
Paul,
> I am Paul, an Apostle, a Jewish Christian who came to
know Christ on the road to Damascus, when Christ in glory appeared to me in a
light from heaven and called me to repentance. In this letter is the word from
God concerning the ways and life that a Christian should follow, if they a
calling themselves a follower of Christ.
a slave
> The great proprietor of the Lords wisdom, far beyond
that which free men are accustom. Even if in chains, the Spirit of my soul is to
joyous for sanity to comprehend. You have to bear its burden alone, to know of
its gain in Gods ways over man. Even a sound man, who reasons all things clear,
will shake his head, confounded by its resolve over me. Destitute to explain its
relevance, and silent to prove it wrong, this bondage is my glory. One from
which I wish never to be freed, because freedom from this bond that I have in
Christ, is death in sin, which is the death of me, not by my new course that I
want with Christ, but by sins own power over my flesh to destroy me if not
altered by God.
of Christ Jesus,
> It is in this place of my union with him, my quiet,
which I am called by another name, Christ Jesus, not that I am he, but that he
has taken my place, and I am no longer able to be myself without him. And not
just me, but as having a point of existence, I feel void of my past, present or
future, as to it being able to exist if I were not Christ’s alone. So do not
behold me because of my position or know me apart from that which is eternal,
but know me by him who is my master, call me after his name, to whom I am more
indebted then life or death can repay.
called
> To be gifted and enable by God, he told me what it
was I was going to do as a representative of him here on earth. He appointed me
to a post, so to speak, and said do this, and that is what I intend to do.
to be
> He intended for me to then exist in that position as
part of my own church experience with him, to embody it, as though it were
inseparable from me. He wanted me to think and live my life, as though it were
my eternal state, because it is.
an apostle,
> Identified out of an earthly existence, I was placed
in a position that studied the precepts of our Lord, so that in that dwelling, I
should live there till my house was complete in heaven. Once I was made an
Apostle by Christ, there is no annulment of that charge. The duties I live for
now are not able to be set aside or retired from, it is an eternal position that
is as unchangeable, as the God who made me so.
set apart
> Put in a separate stature of a new law, my options
are to live for Christ, or die in Christ, God gave me no other option. I have
been called out and drafted into his service and there is no other course that I
could or would desire to follow, than that of Christ’s glory.
for
> There is a premise to what I do, a purpose that I
know as the right and only thing to do. It is to reveal that which God did for
man, absent the knowledge of man knowing that which he was doing, but only that
he would do something to save man from his judgment.
the gospel
> Embodied in that purpose is the message-of-the-cross,
to which I am to establish the knowledge of, and express the meaning of in the
church. It is the story of what the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, chose to do
with their creation as rulers of it, to redeem man from their anger towards our
rebellion and battle with the devil, to stop his mouth against God, once and for
all time.
of God
> And in this then, there is one sole purpose that I
exist for, that of declaring Gods victory over all that is in rebellion to him,
as he is being glorified from what I do, as God over all. To proclaim to all in
the earth that will hear my voice, that the maker of life, gave up his life
which he took on in human form, so that we might have life with him.
==============================
1:2 that
he promised
> Which God vowed by his own word in a ceremony that
was recorded and witnessed by angels, to fulfill all that he set out to
establish, that he was the Glory in the Highest. So he took a vow and gave his
word as a bond to save us from sin and rescue us from eternal death
beforehand
> This which all happened in times past before we were
created in our lifetime, God chose to do what we now see. It was prearranged by
God that certain things would come about that were independent of man, to
produce the results that only God could make an put into effect. They were acts
of providence, caused to come about in an a place of physical and limited
existence, by God who is boundless and exist without limits
through his prophets
> God made his intentions known thru the men who stood
in all of mans history, as spokesmen for God on earth, declaring his word in
these things and stating them as a secure and sure outcome to happen. What they
said, they were told to say and were acting at the behest of God, to tell
mankind of the future events that would take place outside of the control of
man, to either produce them or prevent them.
in the holy scriptures,
> Written and recorded as fact, so that it could be
past on to coming generations, so they would be able to discern the truth that
he is revealing to us now. Then study the outcome of Gods word and refer to it
as an absolute that they could depend on. So that they could rest assured, that
God would and could interfere with the plans of man at will, to execute his will
over the thoughts and actions of man.
1:3 concerning
his Son
> As to the declaration that all that is in reference
to his son, was written and established as fact, before his arrival. God showed
us an insight to his providence, by setting the stage for his sons arrival in
written records, well in advance of man even knowing his intentions to give him
up for our redemption. God wanted us to see that he controlled the outcome of
things on earth, even in the minutest of details or the broadest of the lands on
earth
who was a descendant
> Defining his ancestry as to the source of his coming,
from which he would be called out of. God chose the course of the blood line and
caused it to come forth and be traceable back to a heritage to which the deliver
was promised
of David
> Which was the lineage of David, who was King over
Israel and led the Jewish people in respect to the promises of God thru David to
cause his kingdom to endure forever
with respect to the flesh,
> That in contrast to the fact that there are many
descendants of King David who are merely after him, as a result of natural
procreation, they have no divine appointment then to be offspring of David, but
Christ is more then offspring, he is both offspring and the creator of the
offspring. So he is the power behind himself and fulfilled his word in himself
1:4 who
was appointed
> He was made the one in charge by proclamation of the
Farther, an ordination to this position was both that of his will, an act that
was pleasing also to the Fathers will. This then was declared to the world, so
that they could also know who he was and whom represented in this capacity as
the son of God. A position that was unique and was only able to be filled by
Jesus because of the fact that he was actually in that state in the spiritual
realm from everlasting and will always be so in eternity
the Son-of-God-in-power
> In contrast to his ancestry that linked him to David
in the flesh as the son of David, he is also the “Son of God”, after the
ancestry of his heavenly Father. So even though Jesus was the son of David due
to his earthly lineage, his true lineage to be declared the Son-of-God-in-power,
came from his eternal relationship to God the Father
according to the Holy Spirit
> And this is the evidence that he was a heavenly
descendant, that the Holy Spirit gave power to him, in that, the Spirit
solidified who he was on earth by giving him the power of his holiness and
providence over all things that were his to command in heaven, though he was now
only a man. Jesus succeed by trusting in the work of the Holy Spirit in him, who
was instrument in his life according to his work of faith to save mankind by the
weakness of the flesh, thru the strength of the Holy Spirit in him, for the
working of miracles and the sustaining of his life until it was time for him to
die
by the resurrection
> So in having completed the work of the dying for them
that were alive, having defeated life and the flesh in its attempt to enslave
man to sin. Jesus then rose from the grave in the same power that sustained him
in life. But now Jesus ministry was to them who had died, as in contrast to
having defeated life, he now was defeating death, by the same power he used to
defeat life. So that both the living and the dead would gain this same power
from him by way of transformation thru a kind of osmosis of our mind being
altered thru the union of influence, that would lead both of them to victory
also
from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord.
> And that by this power Jesus Christ our Lord was
raised from the dead into eternal life, and not just him but also in the final
resurrection of all the dead who believed in him, the Spirit will bear witness
then also that Jesus is now Lord over all the living and dead. That there is no
power greater than his, because the power that is God, that being the Holy
Spirit, has brought all control and power over creation to subsist or exist in
the position of Jesus as Lord of all creation
1:5 Through
him
> It is thru Jesus, who has become our avenue of access
in the Holy Spirit and to the Father who before we were aloud to come before
boldly. But now that has changed and we appeal directly to the Father and he
desires mercy for us
we received grace
> In which that same Holy Spirit, by the favor of Gods
mercy, and that was not by our right to claim it this power, did this come into
us. Because God wanted to empower us to achieve victory in our lives, so that
his glory would be made known to us
and apostleship
> This position of Apostle that I hold, was received as
a spiritual gift, which was all part of Gods plan to create a church thru the
labors of mankind, but empowered by God. So he established 12 Apostles to do the
initial work of accomplishing this by setting guidelines for others to follow
to bring about the obedience
> So to establish an order of hierarchy within this
church, we established positions of authority. We also wrote out the methods by
which you should rule over yourselves and bring about conformity with Christ as
our standard
of faith
> All of which comes about by having expressed
expectations to that which we are, as the basis of what we believe in. If we
expect God to work thru us, then he will, it is this allegiance to faith that
God is trying to bring about in us, he wants us to anticipate an action by him
in our behalf
among all the Gentiles
> This is all new in the world and is therefore coming
out from the midst of us and is being established in the non-Jewish world, to
whom this is all foreign. Where before they did not know or have direct access
to God, now even those who are not Jews have this right thru Jesus to come
directly into God presence and fellowship with him
on behalf of his name.
> All of which is done in the name and purpose of Jesus
to further the knowledge of him throughout the world. To open the eyes of them
who did not understand faith or that faith was the only way to access or please
God
1:6 You
also
> So this is a people that you are to come into unity
with, you should name yourselves among them and consider yourselves a part of
this family. So when I speak of gentiles, I am referencing you as a people that
have complete inclusion in this
are among them,
> This means that you are part of the essence of what
Christians shall become in your walk as believers. All having your identities
defined by the same savior, despite cultural differences, everyone who names
Jesus Christ as the only Lord and savior, is given the same doctrine and the
same repentance and then access to the Father in heaven
called to belong to Jesus Christ.
> Drawn to unity out of the darkness of sin and
unbelief and given the ability to have spiritual eyes to see with, you are now
claimed by Jesus Christ as that part of his church body also. To which you
should function in accordance to his guiding that we are giving you. Not as
separate entities that are independent from others of this same faith, but one
body, yet uniquely shaped by God for service in your own culture
1:7 To
all those
> To everyone that is a part of this family that came
about due to Christ having brought you out from not knowing about God and into
the full knowledge of what God did to save mankind, you being a full partner in
this.
loved by God in Rome,
> This message is for everyone who found out that they
are loved by God and that he desire an intimate communion with all of you that
live in the area of Rome.
called to be saints.
> Having been drawn to the Father by the power of the
Holy Spirits revelation to your hearts, upon having heard the gospel of Christ,
to allow you to see the true God. You are know named among these other believers
and considered Holy in the eyes of God, because of Jesus claiming you as his, as
a result of your trust in him to save you.
Grace and peace to you
> Let the Lords favor and serenity be close to you,
live by his mercy to you and dwell in the comfort and surroundings that come
from a deepening faith and growth from a child in faith, to that of a mature
adult brought up in truth and right understanding
from God our Father
> This message and greeting I am imparting to you is
what God our Father wants you to know. He has made me the messenger on his
behalf to both encourage and teach you the right understanding of himself
and the Lord Jesus Christ!
> As does our Lord Jesus Christ who is in complete
unity with the Father, there is no division of thought between them. They
function as one in every aspect of who they are, which is part of their
depiction of yourself and whom you should be. Everything you see in God is a
lesson that he is giving to you to be like, he is revealing it to you as you are
created in his image for that purpose. Which means there is a message for you in
his every word to guide you into that surroundings of his grace and peace
Paul’s Desire to Visit Rome
1:8 First
of all,
> Let me get started by expressing my thoughts to you,
I want you to now the perspectives of my heart and the basis from which I
approach you concerning spiritual things
I thank my God
> I offer up praises of gratitude in my heart to God
for having opportunities to be a part of ministering to you, it is to my benefit
that I am allowed to take part in your life
through Jesus Christ for all of you,
> It is from the power of having been delivered by
Jesus Christ that I am able to be aware of you in this, apart from Christ we
would have nothing of value to say to one another, other than made up stories
that men say to one another to appear wise. So it is because of Christ glory
being made real to me, I am able to have true gratefulness in my heart for you
in the body of Christ
because your faith
> As a product of your expectation in Christ to deliver
you out of your sins that you have openly professed. In that you are actively
trusting and anticipating what Christ is doing in your life, shows in your
actions, which is obvious to everyone
is proclaimed
> The talk about you is on the lips of others and they
are repeating your positive effects, not as rumors, but as factual evidence of
Christ work in you. Your witness is active and alive, just as we all hope our
witness to be, congratulations on your lives dedicated to Christ, it is an
accommodation to you of good reputation, that you should keep as a living
memorial, do it even more, it’s working
throughout the whole world.
> It is being made news for everyone to hear about in
every place you go, they are talking about you having put your faith in Christ,
almost like a secret, yet divine form of whispering that settles as a question
into the hearts of those who hear it, they talk about it in fascination, they
are sparked with a curiosity that will open their hearts to find Christ
themselves because of you, what you have been is very news worthy
1:9 For
God, whom I serve
> As the maker of my existence has become my desire to
live or die, neither is relevant to me, it is for God to decide, because I am in
desire of both at the same time, which is insane thinking in the world our what…
remember what I said of being the “Slave” of Christ. Because I understand
now that once in Christ, as is taught in scripture, there is no death in Gods
perspective, only life in him
in my spirit
> I am trying to reproduce in me this product of
spiritual reconstruction of who I am and how I think. That in my own admission,
I was a moral recluse of internal guidance by the Holy Spirit, but now I am
fully alive in his presence and am able to identify his voice in me, which is
what he is confirming in me now, the truth of what I am saying the Spirit
confirms in me as valid for you
in the gospel of his Son,
> With both feet fully shod with the good news of
Christ, I am buried in the death of my eternal destiny with him. That is my
calling, to establish Christ alive in the hearts of others and yours
is my witness
> There is contained in this message, my testimony from
which I am defended by my outpouring to Christ in prayer, which for you, is my
oath as to the truthfulness of what I am saying, what I say I say as one held
accountable by God for it and have his confidence and assurance in me to speak
it
that I continuously remember you
> In all of my efforts before God to spread the gospel,
you are foremost in my desires before God. I bring you up to him in gratitude,
that you are so well known for the faith that has been spread around the world,
to which you have been fully alive in yourselves
1:10
and I always ask
> I am pleading to God on this matter of visiting you,
in that, it is an ever present desire for me to come see you. This is not some
minor detail to me that I have not yet come to you, it is something that I want
very much to happen and am continually telling God of my desire to see you
in my prayers,
> So when praying about you, I ask him that he examines
my heart (as I just told you he is my witness to my prayers) in my struggle to
be a part of your life, because I feel like I am missing out on some of Gods
glory being made known thru you, I let God know that I have a wholesome jealousy
to see you face to face and behold with my own eyes, that which I here about you
if perhaps now
> I am looking for the opportunity so that I can see
God is making the way clear for me to depart this place and I search for that
way by the method of praying it into existence. I don’t want to bring it about
by the manipulation of events according to my desires, but according to Gods
plan for it to be so upon me, that is the sure method for it to come about for
all our benefits
at last
> This has been weighing upon me as a desire for quite
so time, but so far I have been denied that opportunity to come and see you. The
reasons for my delay though are not frivolous in any manner, my labors here are
of great importance to the areas new believers and this is where God has placed
me at this time, so that is good
I may succeed in visiting you
> But I want to do it all, even if my body cannot, so I
am looking forward to finally being able to turn over the events of this area,
to those I have established to run things in an orderly manner. Then size the
time when it is made available to me to come to you in fellowship for that which
I desire in you
in the will of God.
> That at long last he might grant me permission that I
could see with my own eyes what things are rising up in your midst as Christ is
professed among you, and that as a blessing to me, he would want me to be among
you to see you grow. But timing is what I want foremost, in that it must happen
in Gods timing and not mine, I want him to arrange it, not me. Because it would
not benefit either of us in the long run, if my visit took away from that which
God wanted both of us doing in other areas, as we tended to each other in our
visit
1:11 For
I long to see you,
> As it has become such a deep desire within me, almost
as an obsessive behavior as wanting to rush ahead of myself and find my share in
you. It is not easy for me to sit by and not get involved personally in all of
the church everywhere, all the time and so I feel restrained at this time not
being there with you
so that I may impart to you
> And I feel, for good reason that I should be at your
side, in that, I have so many things pent up inside me that are just waiting to
be shared, so many experiences that cannot be written about, truths that are in
a great amount of detail that pen alone can not carry to you, I really am a
hands on person in every sense in my working with people in the church
some spiritual gift
> There are things that are spoken of, but to
understand them requires that they be experienced by you as a recipient. For an
example, to experience Gods love for you, you must be loved by God in a fashion
that only he is capable of. Once he makes you aware of it and you receive it
into yourself as altering experience, then you are able to live in it, and it
thru you. Spiritual gifts have the same avenue of experience and nature to them,
in that they enable you to do something that is outside of you, yet alters and
transforms you internally. I have that ability and I want to use it for your
benefit, so that in seeing it, you may live in it, and it thru you
to strengthen you,
> All of which is meant to you as an outpouring of the
unity of our faith, which does not require any justification on your part, as to
why it should come to you as a reinforcement of who you are to be. For you are
of Christ, and that is your benefit of his grace, so as a coach in your life I
want to exercise you to even a more solid foundation in Christ, I want to build
you up so that you never fail in your ministry
1:12 that
is,
> What I mean to say to you by all that I am pointing
out here is not that I have exclusive rights of the installing of spiritual to
people, that is not the case
that we may be
> But what I want is a union of non-exclusivity between
us, which means that we are an expansive union of believers, getting these gifts
only to give them away. Remember the pot of oil that never ran dry, that is the
message I am sending to you, the gifts of God never runs dry, because he is its
filling source and that is without beginning or end, and you are the vessel and
I am the vessel of Gods oil
mutually comforted
> That yourselves and myself will both be benefited in
a reciprocal way, that being as it is, that we are of the same faith, what
benefits you is also a benefit to me, knowing and finding that the same Spirit
is at work in both of us, will make us share in our assurance and it to be a
reassuring help to us
by one another’s faith,
> That our joined faith, is better than separate faith
not experienced by the other, for there is edification in our witness to each
other that we bear the same Spirit of the same Lord, yet working uniquely in it
being exhibited and expressed in each of us
both yours and mine.
> That thru each others expectation of Gods efforts to
be working thru us, you will be a witness to him in me and I will bear witness
to his working thru you, and that will make both of us able to reinforce our
Christian walk together
1:13 I
do not want you
> It is very important that I stress here what has been
my intent all along, and to explain the situation here to you so there is no
misunderstanding
to be unaware,
> So I want to keep you up to date and make sure the
you have the facts as they are so that you do not reach false conclusions or
make assumptions based on the appearance of things
brothers and sisters,
> I consider you my fellow believers, both the men and
women that I am addressing here are all very much in my thoughts and very much
the people that I consider my extended family
that I often intended
> I have already made plans many times concerning you,
because you are so dear to me in my thoughts, I just assumed that I would be
able to act on them at will. The intentions of my heart have always been there
for you and it is important for me to let you know this
to come to you
> Part of that plan was to come to Rome and be there in
person with you, I want to see those that I have heard so much about. The
demands on my time have been very great, but that did not dissuade my from
wanting to minister to you in person also. I never thought that it should be
someone else’s responsibility to come to your aid, just because I was to taxed
in my own body. If I could stretch myself beyond my physical restraints, I would
in order to come to you.
(and was prevented until now),
> But things being as they are and my humanness being a
bondage to that which I wish to be, I was not free to leave here. There were
just to many present needs before me to attend to, all of which I began as a
result of my ministry for the work of God in them, so I could not just walk away
from them with. It was imperative for them and incumbent on me to fulfill the
mission that God gave me first here, before I take on more than I am humanly
capable of sustaining. But that is good, even though I was constrained in these
events, Gods work went on in you without me. Which demonstrates the source of
the churches enabling source and endurance, is not in the power of man, but in
the always present Holy Spirit that guides us into a right relationship with our
God. Things have come together here now very well and I believe that your time
has finally come for me to come see you.
so that I may have
> The desire for me to minister among you has come to
the forefront of my desires and I want to have a active and vital part now in
your lives. I no longer want you to be a distant story of that which going on
among you, I want to be right there in the mix with you and have you be part of
me and me be part of you. I want to labor in you just as I have with others in
spiritual growth and put the stamp of my presence in your life, I want you
marked for life from my having come to you so there can be an indelible image of
Christ left in you from me, which is my ministry to the church
some fruit
> There is nothing more that I like to see then the
leftovers from my having been there, for you to have indulged your spiritual
bodies to grow in me. I want to plant the mustard seeds of faith in you that
continue to grow far beyond my presence there. I want to transplant and
cultivate myself in you, so that you grow into a great field of harvest from the
initial labors I have in you. That way the little I do, will become great in the
harmony of the Lords power to give growth and I will have my reward of supping
with our Lord at the table with him in his great supper at the time of harvest.
even among you,
> As I want to labor also in the vineyards of your
hearts, and tend to your growth, making sure that you were being fed and
reproducing the good results of Christ living thru you, as an evidence of what
you have believed on in your hearts. I want to have a interest in your well
being, just as I have with others in the church.
just as I already have
> This is something that I already have a track record
of doing in the lives of others. I am well trained in the art growing people in
the most fertile soil available, I have done it for others and I know that I can
do it for you. You see I know that the most fertile soil is the glory of our
Lord, that is where we will grow the best.
among the rest of the Gentiles.
> The main mission that I have, as assigned to me as an
Apostle by the Lord, is to the non-Jewish people who were in need of the
knowledge of Christ. So that I was able to labor for their benefit and produce
good results as the end results of my efforts with them
1:14 I
am a debtor
> Because of my past allegiances as a Jew to the
law, which I abused in my ignorance of why it was delivered to us Jews, in that,
it was supposed to be a resource to us to help and teach others, which instead
we hid and hoarded it for ourselves. And as a result, what happened was it
produced in me as a Jew something amiss, in that, I used it instead to think I
was better then non-Jews. Because of that I am now charged in the duty of making
things right, due to my present understanding of it not being by the law, but by
grace, given to me also in the grace of Gods mercy thru his Holy Spirit
both to the Greeks
> And it is my intention to be there for those who will
accept it from me, whether you have been well taught and have a degree of higher
education from your studies. I will come to you in an analytical discussion of
the facts and will dissect the very meaning of law and grace and its impact on
the soul of mankind, and there reach an educated conclusion with you, as I argue
the case as in a court of judgement, that Jesus is Lord of all.
and to the barbarians,
> Or in the case that you have no education and are
even unable to read or write, in makes no difference to me or God of your social
status or lack of education, as to whether you are able to receive this from me
as Gods desire for you is equal as with others. You are also very much a part of
why I am coming to you and I will sit and speak with you in the common language
of the people and use your own words to describe Christ to you, an make clear to
you also, that in the basic court of opinion, Jesus is Lord of all.
both to the wise
> So to those who have an innate common sense about
life, an intuition to know the better judgement of things and can act in a
intelligent manner when faced with life issues. I will approach them with the
respect that they see themselves in, though I see it only as an avenue to bring
them the gospel. Because in the eyes of God, this is no benefit to them, as in
them being wise in earthly manners concerning salvation, not that he will not
use them in that capacity in ministry, just as he uses me, it simply does not
make them a superior people in Gods view of things.
and to the foolish.
> Or even those who have a lack of common sense of
things, who consistently act out of poor judgment. I will in the whimsical ways
of man, explain what are the foundations of them that need to be laid, in the
most basic form of instruction that common labors understand, and lead them
simply in to the arms of Gods salvation in Jesus. There is no discrimination for
them in the eyes of God because of the handicap in life of lacking common sense,
in fact he will use it to aid them in his glorification. Because in Gods hands,
the incapable become mighty in comparison to the worlds wisdom, which is
foolishness in itself in Gods view of them. For in the hearts of them that are
educated or uneducated, gifted or ungifted in the ways of life. They are the job
I am sent to labor in, so I am in your service, to prosper you without showing
any favor in the ways of our Lord, I will come impartially to all of you, and
take all that you have and season it to the right flavor with Christ’s glory,
for you, because I am a master chef in the hands of our God.
1:15 Thus
I am eager
> So I am ready as any one can be in my anticipation in
this, I can’t wait to get going, I feel like I’m really missing out in not
being in your lives. There is a lot of get up and go in me when it come to
instruction for our Gods glory in you and that is what I want do in you also.
also to preach
> So when I get there, I will want a forum in which to
bring together those whom have not yet heard of Christ glory, so that I may
declare it among them and reveal the truth to them.
the gospel to you
> And that truth is that Jesus came to give eternal
life to all those who put their trust in his ability to save us from this sinful
state that we exist in. It is the power that is in him to do it that saves us,
not the power that we have to believe in him or understand it. That is the
salvation message, that Christ saved us, regardless of our ability to understand
its meaning or the skill behind that which produced it.
who are in Rome.
> So I look forward in being able to be there in person
and to proclaim in that region the good news that my feet have carried every
where I go and will also be made known among those of you in Rome.
The Power of the Gospel
1:16 For
> There is a world of mind games being played out in
the stage of humanity of what is right or wrong to do among your peers and that
pressure can be overwhelming at times. But I have come to a point in my
relationship with God, that I have but one peer to whom I look for validating
that which I do, as to whether or not it is acceptable to do. And that observer
of myself in whom I most cherish their opinion of me is our Father in heaven, he
is my confidant in whom I confide my thoughts and fears and it is him who look
for in that nod of approval, not man.
I am not ashamed
> So having that as my guide post in life, there is no
reason for me to be embarrassed, everything is the way I would have it to be,
the enemy would like me to be prideful as to my stature in society, but I’m
not. I’ll have a low position in their opinion, but what does that matter, if
their opinion of me is powerless in the sight of God in effecting his outcome
for me, or in my sight, in that I look beyond it and to our Fathers glory for
which I am most enamored to find in me.
of the gospel,
> Because in the good news of Christ redemption, I have
prepared my feet to proclaim it where ever I go. Whether it is before men of
stature or men who of low estate, I want only to speak of it boldly before them
all and let the Spirit of God call out his from among them that hear me preach.
for it is God’s power
> Because none of what I preach has any of its basis in
the thoughts of man. What I communicate to the people that hear me is beyond
human comprehension anyway. So unless God opens their hearts to believe upon
what I am speaking to them. They will never understand my words, it will be
foolishness to them. But not near as foolish shame they will feel in the day of
their judgment when the fully learn of their ignorant display revealed to them
again , face to face with the God they scorned.
for salvation
> And contained in it my message, is God as the source
of my boldness, that strengthens my call of them to repentance, for their
redemption, to all those that here me as the only way to eternal life thru
Christ.
to everyone who believes,
> Which is for all those who profess Christ, having
openly declared their allegiance to him in public as having put their eternal
state in the trust of Christ to save them, apart from their own ability to do
so.
to the Jew first
> Salvation first came to the Jews, because they were
Gods chosen people from which he said he would bless all nations and to whom
mankind received the law thru. So it is right that they should be the first to
receive Christ as savior and fulfill the promise made to their forefathers, that
the promise of salvation would come to the Jews.
and also to the Greek.
> So after they were presented with the gospel, it then
came to all those who were not Jewish, so they could also find salvation in
Christ, because salvation is for all of mankind who will believe in the power of
God, regardless of their heritage or nationality. It was always meant to come
thru the Jews and to the non-Jews as a call to salvation in Christ.
1:17 For
> The issue at hand here, is whether or not man is able
to recognize the truth when they see it, even when God is standing before them
and describing it to them. Man is continually standing before God, generation
after generation and debating him of his existence, but only in the light of
what man knows, instead of what Gods knows of mans destiny. And that is where
God destroys mans argument, not in the literal debate, but in the simplicity of
his right to exceed debate in the deed he does to save man from sin. It is in
this incomprehensible act, that God stops the mouth of the unbeliever and saves
the soul of them that will believe.
the righteousness of God
> As an instruction to teach us, we are made aware of
righteousness, as it is produced in us, the righteousness that came from God and
know has its residence in us, is transforming us. This is the very amplification
of Gods holiness, because it started out in one person, Jesus, and is being
increased in volume as it is sent out in the message of those repeating it. As
the very source of it, is given to them is outside of themselves thru hearing
the word of God.
is revealed in the gospel
> So God’s Holiness is made aware in the eyes of man,
as their minds believe what their hearts perceive as not being of human origin,
then they are convicted and when received, they are renewed in his
righteousness. So holiness is made known by way of the good news of salvation,
where before the mystery of salvation was not known because
it was not understood by those reading the scripture. Until Christ came and
fulfilled the scripture, then what was hidden in his word, demonstrated the
purity of Gods love for man. And witnessing to others of it, continues that
process in mankind.
from faith to faith,
> In faith you received Christ and in faith, you live
to Christ for others to see it and so they also believe. First by proxy thru
you, then as a real living and vibrant faith in themselves as they receive
Christ. It is produced in you also as an ever maturing faith as its affect on
you, and then faith, which was perfect from the beginning, because faith came to
man by God, is taking us to the end effect of its final conclusion, in which we
are justified by faith by God. So faith grows both inward in us and outward to
reach others. And just as love grows not by retaining it, but by giving it away,
so also our faith grows in the same manner. We must give it to others as a
radiant light for it to grow, unexercised faith is not faith at all. Not until
it has entered into the arena of testing, does faith produce its results.
Otherwise, like muscles in the body, it atrophies, or becomes weak and painful,
from lack of use. It even becomes a burden to have, as conscious suffers from
the lack of action that we take to perfect it in us. It is painful to know the
truth and yet fail to act in it, until the conscious is so seared that even your
mental faculties fall into depression from the failure of your faith to be
exercised.
just as it is written,
> Scripture has recorded
it as being said, and it is a testimony of truth for us to follow and hold is
right direction that leads to faithfulness.
“The righteous by faith will live.”
> Those who have come to God so as to be made
righteous, have done so from their faith, from which they lived their lives and
shall continue in faith to do so. So if the righteous have done so by the
exercise of faith, then we know that those who do not exercise their faith, will
be called sinners and the wicked. Because they chose not to live according to
the scripture and the truth that it reveals as the power of faith in us. This is
what the scripture here is telling us, that the end result of faith is
righteousness, as it comes from God to us in return for our faith in him, it is
the reward he pays us for trusting in him. He does not gift us righteousness
without the exercise of faith, it is an earned reward of living in the power of
the Holy Spirit. But he does gift to us faith, which is thru the unmerited favor
of his grace working in us. So faith is free, but righteousness and
sanctification in this life, is an earned affect of exercised faith.
The Condemnation of the Unrighteous
1:18 For
> There is a reason for Gods anger, and a source to
which it is attributed, it is not just a random emotion but the result of the
acts of others. The initial stage of sin began in the garden from disobedience
and that has been its state of institution every since. This the thing that
angers God, that we disobey the truth willing and justify its behavior. Rather
than admitting our error, so that he can cover it up.
the wrath of God
> This in turn brings God into action, in that he is
responsible to act and that as God the creator of us, he must punish this
behavior to bring us to repentance. Now his anger is not against those who have
come to him seeking forgiveness thru his method of doing so, which is Christ.
But the obstinate who refuse his rule in their lives and his provision for them,
then his anger will be demonstrated against.
is revealed
> That anger will be seen here on earth and will be
known as punishment in the hearts of those who see it. God will not hide his
displeasure with man, but warn them in the suffering of land, because when man
sins, Gods curse on the land is increased. God wants man to now of his existence
and that man must do things Gods way to avoid his anger from coming against
them.
from heaven
> It is only by his command that it is being made known
to mankind out of his eternal throne in the spiritual world, which is the source
of all power and his glory also. God rules all things from heaven, no decisions
of the universe are made in the thoughts or actions of man, man is not in charge
of his destiny, despite his false bravado to think so. God only reasons with man
out of his grace to do so, and his desire to fellowship with man, but he has a
goal in mind in doing so, and that is restoration to his holiness, which we have
lost consciousness to.
against all ungodliness
> His anger shall come in opposition to all those who
live their lives against Gods character and make sin a characteristic in which
they pursue as their lifestyle. It marks them with an identity of what they
stand for, as it is something that they are eager to deepen their allegiance too
and pass onto others. So God intervenes against such people so that the world
will know that though he is patient in dealing with man, he will not tolerate
the throwing off of inhibitions to the total pursuit of sin. He provides man
with a conscious as an inhibitor to sin and recklessness, but when the conscious
is seared and put to death itself by man, God sets them up for destruction as
punishment.
and unrighteousness
> And those who do not have as their core attribute,
the righteousness of God as their central standard. As that by which they
compare themselves too in their self-examinations, then they have no essence in
their lives as a desire to be a part of Gods justice or desire to be seen on
Gods side of moral issues.
of people
> They would rather pursue the lustful desires of the
flesh, than have a rebuilding process with God to restore them to right place
before him. For them that reject God in morality, their relationship with God is
dead, and therefore they are marked by God as a detriment to his people of faith
in him. This then causes his action against them and their fate of destruction
is sealed, because there is no place in heaven for those who will not believe
and trust in the righteousness of God.
who suppress the truth
> These are those whose intentions are to hide all the
truth and propagate lies, so as to deceive others and assault the character of
God, for which they are offended by his laws that illuminate their sins. They do
not want to live according to Gods or another’s code of ethics, but rather
would take what they want regardless of right or wrong. They want others to be
misled in their ways, just as they are and want what aids them only, to be the
standard of everyone.
by their unrighteousness,
> The source of their actions is a result of enemy
status with God, against his righteous character that curtails their sinful
pursuits. So they actually go on the offensive against anything that represents
the truth of Gods holiness. They condemn moral standards and seek to promote
wicked immorality as the right thing to do. So they seek to create as much evil
as possible, to block out any sense of Gods holiness, they are at war with God
and falsely conclude that if enough sin is present, God will be diminished and
less powerful to deal with them. This paints for them a false reality by which
they want to live in, so that in disparaging Gods righteousness by acting out
unrighteousness. They choose to live in the lie of the world that they have
created around them, all of which is a delusion of their sin.
1:19 because
> They do this because their senses are bombarded with
Gods creation proclaiming all that he is. That is why they want to live in
darkness, because the light reveals the glory of God, and darkness blinds them
to his presence.
what can be known
> Man can never comprehend all the glory that is God,
because the sinful state of man is incapable of his presence. But God took this
into account in creation, so that we could see him in the reflection of what he
creates.
about God is plain to them,
> These people did not live their lives in a cave, due
to the fact that what God had revealed to mankind, was thoroughly understood to
them. It was because they were fully informed, that they rebelled and produced
the sin which was the cause of their actions. God prepared everything to point
to him, it is man who prefers to look away from what nature clearly says and
devise theories that say otherwise.
because God
> God has put everything in order so that any disputes
of him not making himself available to man as the one true God of their worship,
would be groundless. In fact they have used the very things that he created to
point to him, as false idols of worship, and in so doing, denying the one true
God of heaven. So they disrespected God the creator of their false idol, as they
honored instead the created thing, in being obstinate to God.
has made it plain to them.
> The truth about God was something that did not come
about by accident or something that they just stumbled over and had the option
to disregard as having any validity to it, it came to them directly from God. He
made the intricacy of the balance of life so fragile, that only by an act of
oversight of omnipotent God, could it be contained indefinitely. Whether it is
observed in the vastness of space, or minuteness of the invisible structures
that science has made visible to naked eye. It finds the ordered structures of
disorder, in a state of compliance that is not attainable by human design
theories. There is a driving force behind life that is not definable by human
intellect, instead it is dismissed as unknown at this time, even though it is
completed in the truth of Gods sovereign power. But you need not be a scientist
to figure it out, God made it simple so that in the mere observation of creation
and life itself, it all has his signature on it.
1:20 For
> This was not just an afterthought that God did, he
planned it this way from the very beginning. God is never caught of guard or by
surprise at what man thinks or does, he preempted all things in there
completeness from the very beginning.
since the creation
> So when God created all that there is, he designed it
so that it had its identity in him, it bore his mark, just a painting bears the
mark of the artist brush strokes and their signature shows authenticity to their
work as the author of origin. So God has demonstrated his craftsmanship in
creation and has left the brush strokes of his design behind in that creation
and then signed it all in the giving of his written word as author.
of the world
> As it was from the beginning of Gods creation of the
world that we live in, his design came out of himself, as its beginning. It was
an expression of who God is and how he thinks, one does not create that which he
does not know. Gods creation of this world was a self-expression of who he is in
the inner person of the trinity. His idea was to transform his infinite being,
into a finite existence that told that which he was to those of creation. To
take Infiniti itself and give it boundaries that so that created beings of all
natures, could grasp hold of both the detail and the vastness of his unlimited
reach. That in creation, his completeness would have substance that is only
perceivable to the trinity outside of creation exhibit.
his invisible attributes-
> There is in God an aspect of his nature that is not
able to be seen by mortal men, that which is a part of his divine character is
not some visible substance seeable to man. It is his Spirit that defines who he
is and what causes him to exist in the state that he is. Gods love itself is not
a visible tangible substance that is able to be placed in a physical existence
as a sole substance. But the reality behind it, can be made known thru the
actions he takes. Love for example, is not like a tree that can be pointed to as
what love is, but the design and beauty of a tree can make visible thru the
detail of its design, the caring love that went into it, showing the importance
of it to the creator.
his eternal power
> The source of his power is not a tangible substance
that can be touched, but the results of it are visible by man so that his eyes
can see the vastness of creation. That is to say, though energy is not a
product, but a by product of some external force or internal reaction for man.
Gods power is not like this, it simply exist in him as another expression of
himself. So creation is a demonstration of his eternal ability to exist outside
of the normal generated concepts of power and enforcement. Gods eternal state of
power to exist is complete in itself and is not reliant a generated source that
is temporal or depleting. It simply exist without the need for replacement or an
external source to implement it into being. God is outside the laws of physics
that man resides in, where for every action there is an opposite but equal
reaction, this has no bearing on God, he is not bound by such laws. But his
power over such laws is his revelation to man of himself.
and divine nature-
> And that his character is substantively not a human
form, he does not derive conclusion as we see things, his perspective on things
is derived from his holiness that is constant as to its effects. His divinity
predates each mans existence and will outlast each mans death. And that is where
God makes himself obvious to man in that he operates at a higher plain then man
can attain. God though made his divine existence so that man could investigate
it by exploring his creation, because it exist in a visible form, in the glory
of his creation.
have been clearly seen,
> None of what I am saying was done in the dark or had
been restricted to just a privileged few to take notice of it, it was all with
the purpose that an invisible God could be seen thru his visible creations. All
the markings are there that point to that of a careful and thoughtful design,
and at that, he maintains such markings, even in a fallen and cursed world.
because they are understood
> And it is known to all people what has been and why
it was done so that they would have clear knowledge of who Gods person is like,
as to what we are able to conceive. Being as we are limited to what finite
beings are able to make reason of as to the infinite, God demonstrated himself
for our benefit, that we could take hold of the idea of his glory.
through what has been made.
> All of this was funneled thru creation and designed
into it for the purpose of it being the avenue that the invisible God would be
made visible to mankind. The history of creation is embed in creation, the story
line is there to follow and those who are his will see it for such that it is.
So people are without excuse.
> So that nobody will be able say that they did not
know there was a God, due to the fact that God can be seen in all of creation,
which makes God righteous and mankind guilty without a defense. You have to
blatantly disregard the natural evidence and commit idol worship of creation,
saying that life is self-endowed, separate from creation and exist of its own
accord, which is to deny God as creator and that will convict you in judgement
of the sin of idol worship.
1:21 For
> So the idea here is that ignorance cannot be used as
a defense, because it is evident in all of life that God is in existence. What
is at hand here is admission of the truth, in face of human doubt of that which
they cannot see. God wants us to cross over from worthless speculations as to
the origins of man, to the visible realties of his Gods existence as creator and
Lord.
although they knew God,
> Even as these were people who intimately understood
what the designs of God were, as all his attributes were made clear to them.
They studied with great interest the functions of the world and could see that
it all came out of a masterful design and that it was done by one God who was in
control.
they did not
> They chose to ignore the sound judgment, that such
majesty of design should leave one awe-inspired in such a way, so as to respond
to that creator in a just and respectful manner.
glorify him as God
> They choose to reject his divine character or to
admit the dignity that was due him as to the magnificence of his nature and
position above man. They willfully rebelled against God by refusing to worship
him as their God as an acknowledgment of his glory.
or give him thanks,
> They had no gratitude within them that they were
willing to express to him because of their disrespect his glory. So their
ungrateful hearts led them down a path of beliefs based on misconceptions, which
gave them a false basis for all their reasoning, due to a lack of perspective.
So if conclusion are based in a false premise from the beginning, then all
things that follows after that are also misguided. So that the ramifications of
ingratitude, is ignorance, which leaves one unable to reason clearly the things
of life, as it leads then to irresponsibility on the part of the ungrateful,
which in turn leads to failure.
but they became futile
> Which became evident in their lives in that
everything kept going wrong, but because they built their lives on those
misconceptions and preconceived errors. Even the answers to problems that arose
from those ideas, only led to more problems down the road. In that, if you begin
with a lie, you will have to continually lie in the future when faced with the
truth to keep everything in line with you original error.
in their thoughts
> So because that they became irrelevant as to their
thinking, which produced nothing but waste product that was only fit for
disposal. They just kept on speculating though with endless theories that could
not be qualified with truth, but were just made up ideas, to satisfy their
desire to know their origin, that God created in us as instinct, but they chose
not the God that they new was there. So they gave honor to lies, but denied the
very basis for their existence to pursue after those lies.
and their senseless hearts
> And their mindless desires only persuaded them that
they were a better breed of people then God, that they new more of what was best
for their self interest, then to allow God to reign as the only king over them.
They chose to put off common sense that was available to them, to pursue
uncommon concepts of things. They twisted the ideas behind what was their
natural desire to do as God created them to do, into to misguided living and
passed that thinking onto others. So that they acted out of a form of reasoning
that always failed them, but kept on doing the same failed things repeatedly in
their lives.
were darkened.
> So their hearts became black with sin which fouled
their intentions, so as to become blind in the sight of Gods revealed glory that
he had created as a display for them. They now ignored and became ignorant to
his righteousness, even too dumb to understand the concept of Gods truth when it
was made obvious to them by others.
They had so dimmed their
perception abilities to be aware of Gods glory, that they had trained themselves
in an existence of perpetual blindness to the truth. In fact their eyes became
so use to the dark, they even shunned the truth and looked away from it, as one
does too a bright light when suddenly lit in the dark. They say they are in
misery and want help for the cause that they are in, but instantly hide their
eyes from the only truth that can save them.
They continually reject the
truth, because it does fit the wrong basis for the life they lead. It is to
them, trying to put a square peg in a round hole, it does not fit. They are
right in that fact, but because of their blindness, they cannot see that it is
themselves who are misshapen and need to be reshaped to the image of God, not
God altering his holiness to work within the failure that they have perpetuated
to see life thru. They don’t want to be saved from their misery, they only
want God to numb or exempt them from the ill effects of it, but not transform
them from fallen state to a godly state.
When one does seek God though,
what then happens is it becomes paramount to the principle illustration of
always sitting around the light of perpetual campfire at night. Where you are
not able to see into the darkness beyond the borders of the campfire site.
Because you exist to close to the light source to perceive the darkness beyond
it, other than the fear of its blackness brings out of you, and that is Gods
intention when he tells us to live in the light and come out of the darkness. To
dwell in you life close to the truth, so that the lies of life are so buried in
the foolishness of their errors, you don’t even perceive them as a reality,
they just exist in the darkness as nothing off in the distance, due to the
closeness of your life to Gods light of truth.
And that is why some of you who
live your life close to God, avail themselves more easily to the joy of Christ,
due to your placing yourself always close to his fire of light. While still
others, only peer at the light from off in the distance that is covered in
darkness, as that is where their lives roam, only moving closer to the light on
occasion, but then only with squinted eyes, because the temporal truth of God in
their life is simply to much revelation of who they are in Gods presence. And
instead of staying in the lights presence to allow for outer vision to adjust to
the light of truth. You move back of into the distance of darkness, where you
continue to stumble in error.
1:22 Although
> So while they were proclaiming their independence of
thought and calibrating their moral depth perception to darkness rather than
light. They set up standards that were no more than guesses, because they simply
did not know the truth. Then with no one to guide them rightfully, because
everyone has denied God in their hearts, they simply went along wrongfully
following wrong. As is said, the blind following the blind.
they claimed
> But because of their pride, they would not admit
failure, but followed one failed concept after another, just as history has
revealed it to be true. With each new generation repeating the previous
generations errors, but still saying were self-sufficient and need no God. But
all have fallen into destruction by way of their immorality and have tried to
justify their sins. So every generation claims to be basically good, but then go
off and commit grievous evil.
to be wise,
> Even though they boasted to have more insight, that
made them more able to be astute and judicious in their thinking. They said they
know now what went wrong in the human chain of events and that they have fixed
their mistakes and have improved themselves, becoming a superior race. That’s
what they said.
they became fools
> The results of their action only proved that they
were easily deceived and fall into acts of simple minded morons. Because when
behavior is based on the minds of idiots who don’t know the difference between
air and a brick wall, you cannot expect wisdom.
1:23 and
exchanged
> Then from this diminished capacity that they now
exist in, they chose to substitute the truth, for a lie. They new that behind
all of creation there was a powerful God with a capacity far greater then
mankind could imagine. Once they went down that road of denial though, it was an
ever increasing path to destruction that became more and more treacherous to
them. But because they wanted to deny the true God of worship and substitute
that with an act of creation-worship. They demonstrated in public forum how
unstable they were and how much they willing to attach themselves to vain and
foolish concepts, just to advance their concept of imagination-god behavior. The
real God wanted a restored relationship with them, but they chose to just fake
it with cheap copies, spin-off’s of the real thing, but without the power or
glory of God.
the glory
> Look how they forfeited the presence of God and the
knowing of his divine character, that would have been to them the opportunity to
be friends with God. But they substituted his majesty, for things that are mere
play things that imitate religion, but have no power and are temporal in nature.
Instead of choosing the all consuming flame of Gods glory that brings you into
his presence for their own good. They chose to roll around in the ashes of Gods
aftereffect of his glory, that being creation, and they believing that to be all
that there is of divine power in life, useless ashes. Which was spent glory-- a
result of Gods glory, but without power or Gods source of glory.
of the immortal God
> He who is the only one who is eternal and the only
real God, who exist outside of time, where there is no beginning or end to his
existence. There is no temporal being to Gods existence, no here today, gone
tomorrow aspect to his being. His days neither end or begin, they have no time
reference to them, they are simply perpetual without measurement and always have
been. Time is also a creation of God for man to reference and adapt himself too,
but prior to that there was no such thing as time. But now in a fallen state,
man could not comprehend such existence so it wanted a God that was limited like
themselves, instead of asking God to transform them into his state, they tried
and failed to transform God into a form of their understanding.
for an image
> Something of material existence that stood as a
symbol of what was conveyable only to the human origin of thinking. It had no
greater form to its being, other than the vivid imaginations of those who merely
pretended to believe it was something greater than it was. And considering their
foolish behavior towards it, it may have been at least smarter then them, in
that it was only an inanimate object, not capable of doing anything, which in
this case would have been better than what they were doing.
resembling
> So they tried to bring God down to a measurable state
and imagery that could be used to symbolize an artifact of worship, they wanted
to see the god of their worship due to the fearful state that they existed in.
They were not willing to trust in a God with the faith that the true God of
worship required of them. Instead they decided to provoke him in blatant acts of
idol worship and make him jealous in vengeance towards him, they wanted to hurt
him, just as little children do when they don’t get their own way, but God
will not tolerate such behavior, as he is a jealous God.
mortal human beings
> Then out of their vain imaginations, they just made
other people great to please themselves in these desires. That is as simple as
it can be stated, they just faked it and cheated in the test, there was no logic
or common sense of reasoning and deduction. They just made up images of some
fantasy like super-humans, that were not any better than any other human being,
they just inflated the perception of them in their minds to be so, with no
actual cause or justification to behind, it was a scam from the beginning and
everyone just bought into it.
or birds
> They did the same thing with images of birds because
they were beautiful in flight, they pretended that they were powerful and
guardians of the air and workers of miracles. So they worshiped them in a vain
offering of glory, which was an offense to God because they were nothing more
than carved images or sculpted artifacts, that resembled a bird, they were
nothing more than trinkets that they amused their imaginations with.
or four-footed animals
> They did the same with animals that walked the earth,
where God put man in charge of all the beast, man then in his finite wisdom,
made beast their master and submitted their will to a dumb ox. That’s
cleverness for you, let a cud chewing cow determine your destiny as the object
of your desire.
or reptiles.
> Or then you chose and added to that crawling
reptiles to worship and pray to. But it follows the logic of becoming fools out
of their attempts to be wise in and of their own selves. So they got what they
deserved, which was nothing from these false gods, that did no more than give
unscrupulous people use of them as an excuse to get their money by using those
idols to make false promises, while gaining nothing in return, but a jealous God
seeking vengeance for intentional disobedience and allowing yourself to be
duped.
1:24 Therefore
> Then this is what happened because of what I just
taught you, God had, had enough. It was no longer an issue of ignorance, it was
plain out and out hatred in the hearts of them that new all about God, but
rejected his authority. It was like they were spoiled brats at their worst and
nothing was going to change their behavior, because their was no love for God in
their hearts, only despising emotions of envy towards him for his greatness over
them.
God gave them over
> So God let go of his restraints that kept them
corralled in the safety of his care, where he kept protected in the innocents
state from his laws while he tried to convince them of his loves value for them.
Where in his protection the evil of the beast of sin could not attack them. But
because they would not hear him, he opened the gate that protected them and sent
them out into the wilderness of life to fend for themselves.
in the desires
> And to let them pursue after lust that consumed their
conscious of who they were. They played out all their ideas and distributed
their inhibitions to follow the courses of lust. God removed the shackles of
restraint that kept them from destroying themselves completely, and in the end,
they became so repugnant to God, that he destroyed almost all of them himself.
of their hearts
> They considered doing everything their hearts wanted
to conjure up as fantasies of evil, and than did them. There was no evil that
they would not commit, and not only would they commit them, but they committed
themselves to repeating them as a way of life. They made evil their sole course
and purpose in life as a substitute for living under the privacy of Gods
dominion over them. They chose to be homeless wanders, rather than know the
comfort of a loving God and living in the luxury and safety of his gated
community.
to impurity,
> So they corrupted themselves in the vile things of
mankind that would lead them down an ever destructive life of addictions. They
put themselves into the fires of passions and sought out every kind of vile
thing that they could do. Instead of trying to look to refine themselves as
vessels of virtue and to put off things of a corrupt nature. They brought the
patterns of sin into there homes, filling there lives with the surroundings of
evil. They filled everyday of there lives with the worst parts of those behavior
patterns and submitted themselves to experiment with evil. Even though it was
wounding them in every attempt, because it polluted them with deadly toxins that
sized control of their power to live otherwise.
to dishonor their bodies
> They even chose to violate their own bodies in
abusive ways to try to satisfies these unquenchable cravings. They sought to
appease the evil gods they created in themselves when they chose to be gods to
themselves, that is, making themselves the final all knowing authority in life.
Which when it came to age and matured in them as having taken complete control
over them. Became as task master of them, extracting from them a tax that could
not be satisfied. But would always evade that final rest that they thought they
could provide for themselves alone without God.
among themselves.
> This spread out among them as moral decay,
disintegrating the fiber of their community that made them impervious to satans
attacks. They let it spread thru their society like a plague, they embraced a
philosophy that thru off moral restraint of any kind and did unthinkable things
with each other even if was painful and resulted in death.
1:25 They
exchanged
> So not wanting to live according to what was right
and honorable towards God, they decided to sin willfully against God. They
separated themselves from God as Lord over them and went their way in life
without regard to Gods offense at what they were doing. They gave up all the
best things they would have with him, for all the worst things that they could
do for themselves.
the truth of God
> This is what they did at the most basic level, they
forfeited what they knew was the truth of God, and in their hearts they exempted
God from what they wanted, they chose to ignore input from him as to what was
the truth, embracing instead a delusional state of mind, in betrayal to his
compassionate love to them.
for a lie
> And preferred to believe a lie, because what they
wanted was God to tell them what they wanted to hear according to the desires to
fulfill their own pleasures. So they would not have to face the harder
decisions, that accompany the adversity of conforming to a sinful body, and
bringing it into subjection, before the righteousness of God.
and worshiped
> And from this they gave themselves over to serving
another god, not the true God of heaven, instead they spent it foolishly on that
which was not able to bless them for their worship, but only absorb their life
into the ruin of a spent deception. They gave their adoration to a lifeless
object that was not even capable of being mindful of them, let alone express or
grant them mercy.
and served the creation
> So in this, they gave themselves over as ones who
seek out self gratification as the end to a means. They were basically placing
what ever the desires of mans heart were, as the ultimate goal to be achieved,
not aware in the finite limits of their judgment, that the flesh was addicted to
itself and fed on its own destruction, but they choose to believe that the end
would justify the means. So instead of having affections for the God who created
and loved them, they made up a fake god of their own to love, in essence, loving
what hey made into a god, instead of loving the God who made them.
rather than the Creator,
> This they did instead of glorifying he who made them
and all other things for them, so that they could behold the glory that he was.
They preferred in the lust of their flesh, to abandoned all that was right, for
all that was wrong. Because they wanted to surrendered to the narcotic effects
of sin, rather than behold the and learn to live in the sober effects of the
glory of an invisible God, who was the author of the world which they perverted
into a false god.
who is blessed forever! Amen.
> This God, is mercy, beyond the most glorious
thoughts of man, and an eternal praise in my heart is how I must interrupt this
distasteful examination of mans sin, may Gods righteousness be the thoughts of
my heart as an eternal state one day soon! Let it be so in my life and may it be
his will that dominates all things without end.
1:26 For
this reason
> Because of all things that I just explained, God
decided because they would not take him at his word concerning they ways of evil
and supremacy of his glory over all things. That he would let them find out for
themselves, and then hold them accountable for what they did and suffer the
results of it, so that is what he did.
God gave them over
> God removed his restraints on them that was
preventing them from being consumed with their sins, that intervention that we
do not see, was a benefit to them that they took for granted. Because they were
not aware of his mercy because they do not choose to look to his provision, but
rather be numb to his presence or able to sense his hold on their unrestrained
lust, that he kept at bay. But that was over now, and God allowed them to run
wild according to their thinking without interfering with it to prevent it from
consuming them.
to dishonorable passions.
> So they gave up the proper state of mind for which
they were created to enjoy their romantic pleasures with, all of which would
have come with Gods blessings, to which he would have been glad to see you take
pleasure in them as they were there for your pleasure. But they chose to let
these lust rule them instead of them ruling their own lust. There was no
honorable stake in what they were doing, just irresponsible actions.
For their women
> First we see that the women were involved in this
also, which in itself, was abandonment of their virtue before God and a
willingness to be led astray that reminds us of the fall of man. The women who
God made especially as the caregivers in life, who were embodied with the
compassion that he wanted mankind to experience first hand thru as a visible
example of his invisible glory.
exchanged the natural
> They turned themselves into objects that were doings
things for which there was no basis for in life. Instead of embodying Gods
compassion, they chose to use their bodies in irregular ways for which they were
created. They chose passion over compassion, which was outside of Gods natural
order for them.
sexual relations
> So they forfeited the blessings of God to make their
bodies into vessels of glory before God and man, which he would have praised
them for, and would have made them complete in sexual desires. All that they
really wanted in life to fulfill them went right out the window, when they
decided to abandon the use of their sexual desire to towards one man, to tie and
unite them into one person as a family, was gone with the betrayal of their
bodies. Whose bodies were physically created to have union together with a man,
as according to their bodies sexual organs physical shape, make it so obviously
clear.
for unnatural ones,
> And instead, they choose to follow after sexual
desires that sought to fulfill the need for masculine copulation, from their own
female kind. Deceiving themselves in the pleasure of it as a form of freedom
from their union with man, who demonstrated authority over them, which they had
to submit to in sexual acts as a state of vulnerability to them. Then they did,
as they did in the garden, when they thought to become complete unto themselves
also, which was a state of rebellion. Because they wanted to come out from under
Gods authority, so likewise, leaving behind mans natural place with respect to
their bodies proper function for sex, they entered into relations that were
incapable of filling that role that God created for only man to fulfill.
1:27 and
likewise the men
> Then in the same frame of mind, the men also choose
to follow this course in life. They had a life that God had established for them
that was part of a blessing of procreation the he was pleased to have them
partake of, but then became an abuse of privilege.
also abandoned
> They wanted the gratification, without the
responsibilities of the emotional ties of becoming one person with a female.
Which was by design, Gods plan for them to become responsible men to their wives
and children and to ensure their continued existence thru family growth. The
idea was to give them stability to their life by founding them in an existence
that required responsibility and growth on their part. But they rejected this
concept and ran out on their families, leaving them without the authority of
their protection.
natural relations with women
> But they forfeited their original desires to be the
dominate partner of the emotional and sexual place of leadership, in their
relationship to women. Having been created as a stronger charismatic influence
for leading the woman, they gave up this original status to be dominate. So that
they became dominated by submissive attributes, which are a woman’s by nature.
They thought to fulfill between themselves what God had made women to
accomplish, which was to make man complete in his union with woman thru the
cycle of family growth, made obvious by their sexual organs. They tried to do
this apart from Gods intention for man and woman and complete the cycle of life
between themselves, which is impossible. Forfeiting his original design to make
us complete in him, thru our copulation with women and expressing mans natural
influence over women in this, which was right with God
and were inflamed
> This then caused them to increase to the point of
obsession, that which they did. Making it more than a desire, it then became an
addiction for them which could not be satisfied. It became a lust that pursued
them am drew them ever deeper into its grip on their life and they seeking power
over their own lives, became powerless to its effect of control over them..
in their passion
> Though they were seeking after it with great
enthusiasm as a way of life, they did so blindly to where it was taking them in
their culture. They wanted to experience it in all of its perversion and tried
to make it normal to be so. But in allowing their emotions to drive them in what
and how they acted, it became a driving force upon them that they could no
longer control.
for one another.
> And out of this they became possessed with the
fulfillment of this intense desire by men trying to replicate these results by
lusting after other men, it became to them a domination of sin, under which they
became subservient to its influence, which was a delusion of man creating
exclusively among men, what only could fulfilled with copulation & union
with women
Men committed
> These men did these things of their own choosing and
made them the practice by which they lived by. They were guilty on all accounts
of these sins because they planned for them and made them a habitual part of
living.
shameless acts with men
> So these men took as their goal, to chase after these
sinful acts with reckless abandonment of what was right for them to do in the
sight of God. They tried to complete in themselves all these acts to interrupt
and block what was necessary for them to do to fill Gods commands. Because they
did not want to obey what God had made them to be, but be creators themselves of
their destiny. But the very choices that they made on their own, only proved
what God was telling them all along. That they needed him and that without him
they would be lost. Which showed itself in the self abuse of their bodies.
and received in themselves
> And as a result of that miss-guidance, they became
the recipients of their own creations effects, as a judgment from which they
cannot repent and a cause and effect in which they will not be able reproduce
in. What thru normal husband and wife relation, God created a closed loop of
intimacy, that separated them from communicable disease. And increased their
normal life span from the health effects of responsible living, this protection
was now gone, due do to the nature of their actions.
the due penalty
> So sin first took its control on them thru moral
decay that corrupted them spiritually, which brought about spiritual death to
them. Then as result of that they entered into the second phase of sins effects,
which took its toll on their physical bodies. Disease spread thru them as their
bodies became carriers of these sinful acts, and each infected each other to
weaken them from a healthy state, to a sickened state.
for their error.
> They shall become a genocide unto themselves,
impossible to function in bodies from which they themselves were formed as to
the procreation of life. So not only were destroying the life cycle for the
perpetuation of humans on earth, their society became plagued with decease
spread thru this abuse of that which were designed for. Because when anything is
used for that which it was not designed, errors erode its ability remain stable
and safe.
1:28 And
just
> So they found out the hard way, that God would not
tolerate what they were doing and still be a partner with them in life. If they
thought they could do it all on their own, then God had decided to no longer
discipline them for their own good, to keep them from hurting themselves thru
lack of wisdom and the foresight that he had. If they insisted on playing in the
middle of dangerous traffic with the rest of their lives, then he would no loner
restrain them from doing so.
as they did not see fit
> They chose to have no moral compass in life, but to
allow life in random acts to take them where it would. And seeing as they wanted
no set standards for right or wrong, but to just explore all that their lust
craved for. To them it made sense, but God knew they were wrong, but not having
in him such a state of tolerance of living with a people who did seek him in
their lives, God reacted to their train of thought as a just judge of man.
to acknowledge God,
> So then they decided to take a stance that was
obstinate as to the laws of God that he made to govern over man and that defined
the roles of men and women, and their attitudes to his supreme position to rule
over all creation as God. In fact they did not even want to hear God on these
matters, they waned God to just leave them alone and let them live their lives
their way and stop meddling in their affairs.
God gave them over
> And that is exactly what God did, he removed his
protection from them, which had prevented evil from overtaking them. He let them
run wild in life and did not interfere with that which they wanted to do with
themselves.
to a depraved mind,
> As a result, they then forfeited Gods mercy, in which
he then abandoned them from his protection and mercy, and sent them into the
wilderness of sin, to fend for themselves and suffer the consequences of their
actions. Without a chance of repentance, conscious of regret or remorse, or the
ability to judge between good and evil. Which in turn is a mind fully rejected
by God that he has no sense of connection with, or desire to redeem. And so that
others seeing their condition might repent and glorify God, he abandons them.
God had already given them a second chance to come to him and find life. His
grace had come to an end with them and his patience had run its course with any
hope of repentance on their part, so he in essence, let their most wild of
events in life, overtake them and conquer them in what they thought was their
own power to live in, God marked them for destruction, and in so doing, he
condemned them.
to do
> He allowed them to race into the on coming traffic of
life and face its consequences head on and alone on their own and any cries for
help at this point would fall on deaf ears. They had their chance and now they
would become a history lesson for others and example of disobedience before a
Holy God. As to what could happen to them if they chose disobedience to God and
rejected his authority over them.
what should not be done.
> So as man cannot come to Christ without God first
calling him, so then when God abandon’s him, he is forever destitute to be
able to avoid his date with destruction, and then those actions then increase
his judgment by the indulgences for which he was turned over to. The
aftereffects of these kind of actions, first in their hearts and then in their
bodies, always produce the same final results. The outcome is always the same
without God, premature disease and death.
1:29 They
are filled
> This becomes to them as being an extreme version of
being “full of mischief”, as to being so preoccupied with the titillation
that comes from it, that they are unable to focus on anything else for any
length of time without returning to it as a defining preoccupation. An addiction
that absorbs all their efforts to labor after it, to the end that it causes them
to sink, cave in, and be subservient to its pacification. It is an internal
version of obesity, where one lives to fill their craving for food by overeating
to the point, that it, becomes their sole purpose for living. This is how they
have become, fat with their lust and cravings to take in more, even though they
know it is killing them.
with every kind
> This kind of activity covers a very broad spectrum of
events, sin is not designated to just one isolated area of their lives. It
invades and penetrates all the areas that they live in, nothing is exempted from
the influence of sin, it affects all areas of their lives if it exist in any
area of their life. Sin when unrestrained by God and where there is no moral
conscious in society, defines who we are and who they were. Because sin knows no
other cause but to consume the lives of those individuals that it possesses.
of unrighteousness,
> And to this end is a multiplied in the recurrences of
every form of evil, in that, it is always pressed to the inner and outer edge of
its boundary, it is never content to exist on the sidelines in quiet form, but
always comes to the forefront on all occasions, to where man is not able to
exist in a living state away from its influence. After that point, it takes
complete control of that individual who has yielded themselves to its
subversion. Where it trains the mind to live and die for its cause alone,
whether it be.
wickedness,
> A malice of wanting evil to prevail so much over good
that it causes the soul of those who embrace it salivate, desiring with
premeditation in their actions, to be a snare to bring others into the fall of
evil. Wickedness does not want to suffer alone, but wants the company of others
to follow its way. Where it takes them prisoners, even as they are taking and
making evil designs towards those around them. They want to make victims out of
others, but they themselves are snared as victims themselves, by the very
culture of their own life that they live in for sin.
covetousness,
> To concentrate the soul of who you are, by defining a
character within you to which you focus your aspirations to acquire some thing
or position. To pursue the acquisition of that thing, at some level of
distinction, you separate it out as having a formal impact on you so that you
must have it also. You define it as an obsession and an object to obtain that
which is currently out of your grasp. Whether material or social status, you
yearn after it with a fantasy of finding ecstasy at obtaining that which is your
object of desire.
malice.
> To intend to inflict harm upon others, with disregard
to their eventual outcome that may play into their life from your actions. It is
an outpouring of vicious behavior that settles itself in the destruction or
willful harm of someone’s character or life. It is your intention to wound and
cause harm to someone out of revenge, or it has its first cause of anger out of
you as instigator, in that, it has its original fruit or basis in you alone, and
its presence has its existence inside of you, not outside of you. And thru you
it is pressing outwards, towards all that come in contact with you, if not for
your own internal condition of it thriving in you, it would not exist. Your have
spoiled that which is in you, so that it sours all your relations with others.
You then become the seed planter in others, so that it replicates the sin nature
in others as it is in you.
They are rife with envy,
> This becomes then to them the equivalent of a
diseased ridden body, eaten with cancer throughout. It becomes rampant as it
advances to invade and ravage all that is good. Even as invading armies pillage
and steal the lives of those they conquer, there is a aggressive form of
jealousy which is on the offense in what it has as its objective. It wants to
remove the possessions of others to find its own security and greatness, as
there is in them a source of insecurity which has its basis and exist in others
having possessions apart from themselves.
So also it is produced in
us as a defensive mechanism that manifest itself as a form of hoarding that
which you have. Jealousy is a plague in the soul, which devourers the judgment
of the right mindedness of them that it captures. It disintegrates the clear
thinking of them who posses jealousy, they see others as a threat which leaves
them isolated and alone from being able to build unique and close bonds with
others. They plan to thwart others attempts to have a part with them or a stake
in that which they posses. This is especially true with relationships that they
have, and out of fear of loss, they lord over them so that they retain them in
their possession.
murder,
> Taking the life of someone with or without just cause
that is not in self defense, but for the purpose of overpowering and slaying
someone that is vulnerable to you. So that you can satisfy a feeling of
vulnerability in your life that has led it to become in you a lust to be
superior over them. A vent full rage carried out in a passion to conquer and
take revenge by killing someone. This is the final outpouring of the most
grievous aspect of evil, not because it corrupted them beyond the point of evil
redemption. But because it was the total computation of the opposite of love in
action. Where total love sacrifices all that is human to obtain the main
attribute of God, murder inverts that process to retain all of the human form,
in the sacrifice of Gods most Holy attribute, love. So murder being hatred and
the act of denying, is the mirror image and opposite of love, which is self
sacrificing and the act of offering.
strife,
> Infecting and sowing dissension among others so to
cause fighting and to break up a peaceful accord among people who are in a union
together. To persist in a dominance of others whether physically or emotionally,
so that you disrupt the peace with an intent to do harm. To cause conflict by
speaking to others of issues for the sole purpose of frustrating and making
things complex between individuals or groups of people.
deceit,
> To give off the pretense of honesty, so as to compel
someone to be entrusted to them for the end purpose of doing them harm and
benefiting themselves at another’s expense. They used truth only in the
context of setting up the lie, as a mask to cover their true intention which has
its basis in a lie. So their main goal in dealing with someone is to take
advantage of them, while offering them safety, they misuse their trust to trick
them into some other misuse or abuse.
hostility.
> Acting in aggression to others with the intended
purpose of harming them, as to do bodily harm or to destroy their lifestyle or
reputation. To bring personal disruption to the life or lives of those people
thru the animosity and malice that they have for them. So to exist in a state of
war and consider them a mortal enemy, that removes any sense of security of
peace in their life, due to the actions being brought to bear in a hostile
environment by others.
They are gossips,
> Repeating stories whether true or rumors for the
purpose defaming someone or exciting yourself in the confidential aspects of
someone’s situation. Inserting yourself in another persons private affairs,
only for the purpose of having the knowledge of their issues, so that you can
entertain yourself at their expense by repeating them to others, only for the
purpose of talking about them behind their back.
1:30 slanderers,
> Those who defame someone’s character, falsely
accusing them in order to wound them in position or reputation, tearing down
objectives or goals with the intention to weaken that to which they are opposed.
It is a selfish form of making oneself look good, by making others look bad and
in its most base form, is an act of cowardice and fear on the part of the one
tearing down, simply because they fear the others strength.
haters of God,
> To despise both the position and attributes of God,
they reject his sovereignty over them and creation, and war against the
restraints of their sin, which they want to give themselves over to. They see
God as a hindrance to their self will, not the fulfillment of themselves in his
glory. They place themselves above Gods glory and wish for God to be subservient
to them.
insolent,
> Disrespectful and impertinent with respect to their
intent to injure the character of God and others for which they oppose in their
moral impurity. They openly and brazenly insult God and all that represents his
moral attributes, they rally and rave against his authority, rather than submit
and glorify his greatness.
arrogant,
> Egotistical in your pride of life, unable let others
be first or admit that they are wrong. Their position in society is more
important to them then truth and they do not want to see another’s point of
view if it diminishes them in any way. They are always right in their own eyes,
giving or taking more credit then they deserve, and never wanting to acknowledge
the accomplishments of others, as they see it as robbing them of their own
conceit of greatness. Their goal in life is themselves and them first, and all
others things or positions are unacceptable to them.
boastful,
> Someone who is always blowing their own horn,
bragging about their achievements and wanting recognition for what ever they do,
to magnify and glorify themselves, to be preeminent before others. They despise
the benefiting of others because it takes away from the false delusion of their
own greatness. They want everyone to now who they are and show themselves to be
glorious in the eyes of others, they want to be first in all things.
contrivers of all sorts of evil,
> Schemers who make plans and plot out their wicked
goals, it is their premeditated endeavor to take advantage of others. Either by
scamming them or thru robberies or to overthrow some established thing, so as to
benefit themselves. They do not wait for things to fall their way, they all
actively plotting wicked things to due with all intent behind them to execute
their plans in great detail and objectives.
disobedient to parents,
> Having disdain for their parents authority over them,
and rebelling against them without respect for love or the honor due their
position in life. They rebel in all their actions involving their parents and
desire no reconciliation between them and their parents. They disrespect all
chains of authority over them and do what they will till forced into compliance
with authority, but never accept the ruling against them as just.
1:31 senseless,
> People without rational to their thinking, giving
themselves over to simple and foolish practices, impulsive and gullible. Any
person with any common sense will shake their head in wonder at the actions of
these people. They became fool hearted to their very core, these people could
not tell the difference between thin air and a brick wall if their life depended
on it.
covenant-breakers,
> Those whose word means nothing, whether they give a
promise, sign a contract or swear an oath to God, they say anything for the
present to get what they want, but never intended to fulfill what they said they
would do. Their personal character means nothing to them and their vow is for
sale, unreliable and meaningless. Put no trust in them, because they will
violate their oath at their convenience when ever it suits them.
heartless,
> People without natural affections for other people,
neither having fortitude to see things thru to do right, without conviction as
to their ethics in life if they do wrong. They don’t actually care about
anyone but themselves, the pain or suffering of others means nothing to them
because they are cold hearted individuals.
ruthless.
> They have no mercy in them for others, they are cold
and callous to their wounds or sufferings. Inflicting pain on others, actually
gives them a perverse sort of pleasure. They have no problem in torturing
others, either thru humiliation, or physical pain, simply to amuse themselves.
They treat people like beast, whom they would just as well whip, as look at
them.
1:32 Although
they fully know
> Even though they were instructed and not ignorant,
having been well informed without any doubts or confusion. They new that they
were not alone in the universe and that God was watching them and their actions,
but never the less, they rebelled. They did things because they wanted to, they
did not care about the after affects, but chose to act out their self-interest
in life, in light of what they new to be the truth.
God’s righteous decree
> All of Gods laws and commands they already knew, as
they had been spelled out to them and they knew that Gods laws were well based
and were Holy and right for man to obey. Everything that God has instructed us
to do, was for our own benefit, because they were the same attributes and
decrees that made up his own character. So he was trying to recreate in us, that
which he originally meant us to be, after his own likeness.
that those
> So the people involved in these events and actions,
were themselves to blame for being in violation of Gods laws. There were
warnings signs posted all over the place by God to not partake of such things,
due to the toxic effects it would have on society from those who ventured into
these contaminated areas. The toxins in question here had permanent
repercussions, not just due to the disease that they caused in the bodies of the
living. But also the deformities that would come forth from the children who
were conceived under the conditions of such toxic exposure, where they would
also be marred for life.
who practice
> The eventuality of these things do not decrease over
time once they are entered into. Only by an act of God can he bring them to an
end, because they embed themselves as what seems to be a normal routine of
living. But are actually deformities that only take on the image of what life
is, due to the dulling of the senses from having been exposed to such
sinfulness. Where divorce runs rapid for example, it would seem normal for the
children to have divided homes, but it is still an abnormality in life and
before God.
such things
> Even in light of knowing that, those who disobeyed
the law, and made themselves subjects of sin, were guilty of the law. They that
took them with out question, as that which should be done in life. Did so in the
peril of life itself, because they did them despite having be fully warned of
the consequences.
deserve to die,
> Under the penalty of the law, they are worthy of
being put to death and they new it would serve justice for that to happen. The
laws of God were very clear on what they had done and that those who did them,
should die.
they not only do them
> In doing these things, they not only condemn
themselves, having given up their soul for a life of sin. They have gone way
beyond the self practice of such things, they want to set new lower standards of
what is acceptable in life, regardless of what God has commanded concerning
these things.
but also approve
> They praise them as examples of those lifestyles to
be emulated, they call evil good and good evil, and they receive a standing
ovation for having so boasted of their deeds in public. They give them parades
in their honor and would shame others who reject what they do as evil. They
perverted justice to include these things as protected under the law, instead of
being punishable under the law. While at the same time, stripping the law of any
reverence of God, that might remind them of their sins.
of those who practice them.
> Because they have come to enjoy and encourage others
to subject themselves to all these wicked behaviors, as it is their intention to
imprison others in the chains of sin, even as they are. They want others to
engage themselves in the same paralyzing habits that they have been imprisoned
in, because they can not acknowledge or stand those who live in the freedom that
the law provides. So they promote sin to their own peril and are helpless to
prevent themselves from doing so.