Certainly, I would want to tell you, never ever could I abuse the Goodness of God.  He who gave everything that I might be saved.  Loving me with a depth of love I cannot comprehend, He called me to be His child.  Furthermore, He has been there to guide me every step of the way.  He never ever left me alone.  Even in the darkest valleys of my doubt or rebellion, He remained.  So, how can I ever abuse the goodness of God?  Yet, I have. And if you are honest, most likely you have as well at some point.  And the world?  Yes, the world seems hell bent in their abuse of the goodness of God.  Yet, He has remained faithful.

Part of the problem is our somehow believing we deserve the goodness of God to be poured out upon us regardless of our behavior, devotion or love?  It is as if we feel He owes us everything our little hearts can desire, but with no accountability for our own actions.  I would say this is a postmodern ideology.  But, alas, it has been the plight of mankind from the days of Adam and Eve.  His goodness and kindness poured forth upon them.  He walked in the Garden with them, providing for their every need.  Yet, they wanted more.  They wanted to be like God.  The creature wanted to be the creator, at least of their own destiny.

Don’t we do that?  Our heart crying out, “How dare God suggest that He know what is best for my life?”  Even when we don’t say it out loud, we say that all too often with our actions, our fears, our lack of faith, and our grumbling.

The Depravity of the Human Heart

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The book of Romans is a beautifully laid out apologetical letter written by Paul the apostle explaining and defending the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He answers the critics by presenting an airtight case for God’s Perfect Justice, Righteousness, and Grace.  Indeed, he presents clearly 6 demonstrations of the Perfect Righteousness of God Revealed.  Why?  As He says near the beginning.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.”  (Romans 1:16-17 NET)

There are various branches of study, or in other words approaches, to bible study. Each with a different focus.  Theology focuses on the study of God, His divine nature, and the doctrines associated with Him.  The emphasis is on learning more of who God is throughout scripture.  Exegesis is the approach of critical analysis of a text of scripture, considering its cohesiveness will other scriptures and its context.  Apologetics is defending the scripture against all the critics.  Two of the greatest apologetic preachers were Paul and Stephen.  Stephen was stoned, most likely by Paul’s decree, after delivering an amazing sermon defending the authenticity of Christ Jesus as God’s son from scripture.

Soon thereafter, Paul met Christ as Paul was heading out to persecute the Christians.  He had a depth of knowledge of the old Testament, unmatched by few.  Then he went away for a time and was taught by Jesus through the Holy Spirit, as he prepared for the ministry that would be his to the gentile nations.

He cannot be perfectly righteous were He not also just in every decision.

Romans 3:21-26 (NET)

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In Romans 1:18-32, Paul made the case for all those with a depraved mind being condemned certainly.  Most people would agree with his list as deserving. Although some would not count sexual immorality in the same group as those in the final list.  “They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. ..Rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless” (Romans 1:29-31).  But what about the “good people”, surely God cannot judge them the same way as those.  Yet, who are the good people?  And who determines or states what is good?

The secular humanist movement in the early 1900s determined to write about these good people. They purported that we are born good people who only need society to change so our goodness could be manifested or evolved properly.  Their goal to make a case for humankinds’ innate goodness, denying that God existed.  “We are an evolving species,” they declared.  Utopia could be ours, if we change our society.

Yet, in direct response to their first manifesto the 20^th century brought the bloodiest century in history.  Hitler’s ideologies came directly from their teaching that the fittest of the species should survive, directly from their ideas of evolutionary change.  With him came the holocaust, but the millions killed there only represented a drop in the bucket of lives lost.  WWI and WWII brought so many casualties.  Then, there was Stalin, again whose socialist ideas mirrored those of the secular humanists to develop the Utopian society.  Millions died under Stalin, as did under Mao in China, 20% of Cambodia’s population under Pol Pot, and those in Rwanda. So, the “good people” said “oops.”

And the Good People Who Don’t Know or Who Deny God?

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All one need do is look around to recognize that we are surrounded by hate and corruption.  A corruption that runs so deep within the fabric of our nation that we can only moan.  It is hard to recognize what is true or right anymore with so much noise and ideologies surrounding us daily.  What once we shirked at or thought unimaginable, we now accept as the norm!  Instead of proclaiming the truth of the gospel to the world around us, we hide it away in our hearts.  So, afraid that others will think us hate filled, we run into seclusion.  Yet, should it be that way?  When I look deep into my own heart, recognizing the evil that is me and the grace of a loving God who continues to work to transform my heart, why wouldn’t I want to share that?  Only Christ can transform hearts.

As we look around us, we must recognize this truth.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.  They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. … rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, covenant-breakers, heartless, ruthless.  Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them.  (Romans 1:28-32)

As a nation, we are guilty of pushing God aside.  And as a people, we now have a choice.  Either we turn, repent, and seek Him or we will perish.

God Gave Them Over

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In this world that we live, like Paul we must not be “ashamed of the gospel of Christ” (Romans 1:16 NKJV).  Regardless of the ridicule that may be thrown at you in this nation or by the mainstream media, we must not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ.  Why?  “For it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes… in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16 NKJV).  Every day that we live, we must be reminded of the urgency and the necessity that we hold fast to this truth. For if we do not, we truly have lost sight of our primary purpose on this earth and have lost sight of our first love.

“This is the most life-transforming truth ever put into men’s hands.  If we really understand and respond to these truths in these two verses, time and eternity is totally altered.  Now I believe that these two verses form the theme and the thesis for the epistle to the Romans.  In brief but glorious and comprehensive terms the epistle is compressed into these basic truths.  It is a statement of the gospel of Christ.  Paul begins by saying, “I’m not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,” and then in concise terms expresses it in those two verses.”  John McArthur [1]

Love Demands We Not Be Ashamed of the Gospel of Christ

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