Last week, I wrote about the conditioning and brainwashing pattern to get the people of the U.S. to embrace pedophilia alongside homosexuality. This is all part of the spiral into depravity as recorded in Romans 1:18-32. This spiral starts by denying God as the Creator and His moral standards with it. When God is removed, then His holy moral standards are also removed, and man will seek the freedom to unleash the shackles that has restrained sin. When man breaks free of those shackles, he becomes a beast of utter evil. But it’s not really man who escapes God; it’s rather God who lets man run wild.
One of the biggest areas that man wants his “freedom from God” is in sexuality. I have found that the #1 moral reason people continually use to reject the Bible and Christianity is the restraints God puts on sexual behavior. Men want to have sex with whomever they desire: women, girls, other men, boys, and even animals. Women do the same, and both want to do with it without consequence. That’s why abortion is such a hot industry: when sexual activity is high, so are babies. But to enable more sex and not to have to deal with babies, abortions are a “quick and easy” solution. Abortions also help cover sexual abuse, especially with trafficked teenagers now that they can get them without a parent’s permission. The abuser, such as an uncle or a pimp, will take them in, perform the “procedure,” and the evidence is gone. Once the girl heals, she goes “back to work.” The restraints are lifted and God gives these sick people want they want: life without God holding back their depravity.
Now, some of you may be thinking I’m being all judgmental. But hear me out. I know me. I know what my sinful side is like. And I know what it could become if God let it loose. Don’t think you are any different. Sin is truly a vile and evil monster, and it will never be satisfied. When man continually refuses to honor God and give Him His due, God will simply take His hand off him and say: “Fine, you are on your own.” And while man will think he is free, he will never be free of “natural law” and the consequences of his actions.
When God turns man over to his own sinful desires, two things happen. The truth is exchanged for a lie and man is given over to a reprobate mind. Let’s look at the first of these. This isn’t merely believing a lie as the truth. This is a complete change of mindset. It is literally believing philosophically that what is true is a lie and what is a lie is true. When people reject God as the Creator, they take a worldview that purposefully and intentionally precludes God from ever being an option, no matter how ridiculous their own ideas sound. They will willingly embrace that which they know is impossible, if the alternative is the God of the Bible being true. And no evidence can convince them, because they have morally chosen that they will never let God rule over them.
The other part of it is God giving them over to a reprobate mind. The term “reprobate” has multiple meanings, but two big angles are “insanity” and “unredeemable.” God literally lets these people go insane. Not stupid or retarded (in a technical sense), but insane. They literally lose the ability to think rationally or reasonably, all the while thinking they are the sane ones. They exchanged the truth for a lie and so what is sane is crazy to them and what is insane is what everyone should be doing, and they will fight to make everyone be like them, too.
When all this takes place, it’s not just in the realm of sexuality where the madness happens. It’s every form of wickedness. Paul spends three verses just rambling about the kinds of perversion and evil that man does when God lifts the restraints. And there is a final step to all this. Not only do these people know the righteous standards of God and that He will hold all accountable and that they deserve death, they will do what they know is wrong and approve of those who do it as well. Let me make this clear: you do not have to be party to the evil going on in this world. If you give approval, permission, or allowance for it, you are just as guilty as doing it. If you will not have an abortion yourself, but you approve that it should be a choice that women should be able to legally make, you are just as guilty as the one who committed the murder. Now, let me speak for a second to those who have done this evil deed: God can still forgive you if you would come to Him and repent of it.
Going now to our nation, what has happened? The sexual “revolution” has not completed its spiral into utter depravity, however a great host of other evils have arisen alongside it. Don’t think they are not connected. The United States is the most drug-crazed nation in the world. I live by the border at the 2nd busiest international border crossing of the world. Drugs are a constant threat and a very lucrative industry. The sex trafficking industry is an even bigger money maker than drugs. Violence is glorified on the screen (for the purpose of being violent rather than good rising to make a stand against evil). As of 20 years ago, it was estimated that a child would witness 7000 murders before turning 18. Video games glorify violence as well (I’m not making a blanket statement here). Our nation loves evil.
Things tipped over the edge during the Obama administration. His slogan was “change,” and it indeed was a change. During his administration, the U.S. formally rejected Biblical morality especially in regard to sexuality when we embraced homosexual marriage. Even though Trump has been in office these past four years, the slide down the slippery slope has turned to a near vertical plunge.
Let’s look at the list of sins in Romans 1:29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, and unmerciful. Let’s take a look at society. Is there anything on this list that is NOT on display in full force? I’m seeing everything in this list on full display from the rioters, to the social media posts, to the politics, to business, to everything. But this is the world. We should expect the world that is inherently against God to do these things. How many of these are we finding in the church? Too many, I fear. As I consider myself on the leading edge of the “millennials,” my generation is known for being illiterate, unable to do research for truth, having few life skills, being treacherous to parents, authorities, and mentors, and undesirous to fight for a cause bigger than self (these reported by Eric Ludy here). Some of these I still see in me. It’s the spirit of our age.
But what should disturb us more is not merely those who practice these evil things, but those who approve of those who do it. If we, as Christians, give approval to the sins of our nation (homosexual marriage, abortion, gluttony, greed, just to name a few), we are just as guilty as those doing it, and I dare say even more so.
Now this passage really starts back at Romans 1:18: “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” God has poured out his wrath upon those who live unrighteous, ungodly lives. They deny the Creator, and they deny the Creator’s moral standards. They worship the creation instead of the Creator. They proclaim knowledge and wisdom but showcase themselves to be fools. They exchange the truth for a lie. And they do all this because they suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Not in ignorance, not in mistakes, not in errors, but in unrighteousness. They do this because they hate the truth, and they subdue it, wrestle it into submission in their hatred for God and His rule. This is on full display today, and it’s not just the world. I see it in the church, too.
The United States is reprobate. This nation has been given over to utter wickedness. God has released his restraints against sin in regard to this nation, because it’s what our nation wanted. We wanted to live without God’s influence, without His authority, without His standards, denying Him of His position as Creator, and rejecting His calls for national repentance. Are we beyond redemption? I don’t know where the line is to be drawn if we have gone too far, but I know King Manasseh crossed that line with Judah to where even Josiah’s revival could only delay the judgment. I also know that Nineveh did repent despite not being offered a chance to be saved.
What can we do? Until God says the judgment is final, we can pray for mercy and that He may grant us repentance. But we must also prepare for this nation to fall. We must be ready for both. One of my reactions to COVID’s lockdowns was it was preparing the church for going underground. That’s not an idle warning. While we are to call for repentance, we must come out from the nation. We must be in position for the U.S. to turn on us as believers and not be “attached” to this nation too tightly. The Romans 1 cycle is nearly complete, if not already. The judgment is nigh. Let us examine ourselves to make sure we aren’t part of this cycle.
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