GIVEN OVER

Rom.1:28 – And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper,

I think all of us are unaware of the restraining factor of the grace of God that keeps in check the sinfulness of man keeping all of society from imploding on itself. God’s grace has an effect on the saved and the lost until the Lord begins to lift His influence of grace. Throughout history there were times when this became evident and the end result was a total destruction of a region of civilization. Of course places like Sodom, Rome, and Israel come to mind. Rejecting God continually ends up in a catastrophic mess. That is exactly what Paul is warning of in this passage and these prophetic words proved to be true as Rome crumbled under its own immoral lifestyle. Matthew Henry has some insight on this passage.

“By whom they were given over. God gave them over, by way of righteous judgment, leaving them to themselves — letting them alone, for his grace is his own, and he may give or withhold his grace as he wishes. We are sure that it is nothing new for God to give people over to their own hearts’ sinful desires. However, God is not the author of sin, because although the greatest evil follows this giving over, the blame for it is to be laid fairly and squarely on the sinner’s evil heart. If the patient will not submit to the methods prescribed, but willfully does what is harmful, the doctors are not to be blamed. The fatal symptoms that follow may not be attributed to the doctors, but must be attributed to the disease itself and to the foolishness of the patient.”

So this brings us to today; it is obvious our society is in a free fall of immorality and lawlessness especially in the last several years. From the legalization of abortion in the 70’s to the legalization of same sex marriages more recently grace seems to be lifting from our country. It has deteriorated to lawlessness in our cities, rampant and celebrated immorality and drunkenness, to the flaunting of homosexual and transsexual lifestyles. Apparently the result of God giving us over to our own sinfulness is right in front of us. Our hope is still in the gospel of His grace. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but shall have everlasting life. Its time to embrace God’s grace in our own lives and proclaim His message to whoever will hear us.