... in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord
Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury
of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every
impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal,
have mercy on us (three times).
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever
shall be, world without end. Amen.
The
Epistle
Romans 1:18-25
(authors translation)
18For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven upon
all godlessness and injustice of men, who grasp the truth in injustice; 19because
the knowledge of God is shining in them: for God shined to them: 20for
His invisibility, being noumenal, is discerned from [the] creation of [the]
universe, in the things that are made; specifically, both His eternal power and
godliness; thus they are defenseless;[1] 21because,
knowing God, they did not glorify [Him] as God, neither were they
thankful, instead they were emptied in their dialog, and their conflicted heart
was darkened, 22by claiming to be wise, they were made fools,[2] 23and exchanged
the Glory of the incorruptible God in [to] a likeness of an image[3] of corruptible man[4], birds[5], four-footed animals[6], and reptiles[7].
24For this reason, God surrendered them in the burning
desire of their hearts into uncleanness, their bodies to be dishonored in them
[selves], 25who exchanged the truth of God in to the lie, and
feared, and served the creation beside[8] the Creator,
Who is praised for
the ages. Amen.
Idolatry
Paul introduces this
section on the problem of idolatry with an explanation drawn from the previous
verses. It is precisely because of God’s
love for all mankind, which is so clearly and powerfully expressed in the good
message about Jesus, the Christ; which is so vibrantly and cooperatively (in
one-another-ness) experienced in the Greco-Roman congregation; it is precisely
because of God’s love for all mankind, that God’s wrath is revealed, that God
surrenders them….
God’s wrath, which
is perfectly expressed in the good message, is an expression of love for
mankind, not an expression of hate for mankind.
The wrath of man does not work the righteousness of God.[9] However. The wrath of God surely works the righteousness
of man. What, then, is God so angry about? What is God determined to exterminate? Why is the good news an expression of wrath?
It is exactly at
this point that some theologians want to insert a tension between Law and
Gospel. It is exactly at this point that
Law and Gospel are inseparably joined.
The good news, in and of itself, is an expression of God’s wrath. Why is there such a sharp disagreement in
theology?
The Law as written
by Moses in Exodus 20 is sharply opposed to slavery in any form. It details a list of ten items that foster
and promote slavery: things that must be forbidden in the kingdom of God. It does not provide a list of things that are
difficult to love, or odious to perform.
In the middle of this law, as its centerpiece, is the Perfect Son, Jesus
Christ, Who alone perfectly honors both Father (God) and mother (The Church,
and fellow man); then offers this perfection as a gift to mankind. The Law and the Gospel are one: one in
freeing mankind; one in bringing the wrath of God.
Nevertheless,
mankind has ever been hard of hearing, blinded, and dull witted. What God offers as the free gift of His
grace, full of joy, love, and mercy is quickly twisted into a set of
rules. The Talmud, with its Haggadah and
Halacha quickly reduces the loving Law to a set of self-conflicted meaningless
rules, meaningless because they are impossible to keep. Moreover, these rules only serve to
re-enslave man, the very thing forbidden by both Law and Gospel.
The question must be
asked. Have we in the churches
reconstructed a new set of self-conflicted meaningless rules, equally
impossible to keep? We hasten to add
that all such sets of rules are idolatrous in and of themselves, insofar as
they add to or subtract from Scripture.
Many of our so-called doctrinal distinctives must be considered as
included among such idolatrous heresies.
This paper labors very hard at not saying anything new; yet at making
clearer and more explicit what is already there. We must neither add nor subtract anything:
this must be our goal.
It is this adding
and subtracting, this twisting into a set of rules that we believe is the
reason some theologians see a tension between Law and Gospel. However, we also believe that this
observation would be better termed a tension between Phariseeism and the
Gospel. The Pharisees are the great
adders to Scripture in and before the first century. The Sadducees are the great subtracters from
Scripture during the same period. We
believe that this explains the sharp disagreement in theology on this issue of
Law and Gospel.
What is God so angry
about? God is angry in the good message
about the same things that elicit His anger in the Law: First, the attempt to
enslave His people with idolatry (the first table). Second, the attempt to enslave His people
with injustice (the second table). God
is angry about the sin that so easily besets us and wants us to be free from
sin and evil.[10] This is the sum and substance of God’s wrath,
that He would break the grip of sin on our lives. This is why the good message is an expression
of wrath. Because Hell is prepared for
the evil angels, this wrath is directed at these evil angels.[11] Behind every idol there is a demon.[12] Even so, people who cling to their idolatry,
especially in indifference, will find themselves treated like evil angels.[13] Nevertheless, God’s wrath is directed against
acts of idolatry, not against people unless they practice such acts.
It is the fact that
God wishes to sovereignly separate mankind from sin, yet without the coercion
of the human conscience, that necessitates God’s expression of wrath in the
good message, as well as in the Law.
This thoroughly explains what God intends to exterminate: namely,
idolatry and all other sin: for sin always enslaves. It explains what God is angry about and
why. Again, God’s wrath is specifically directed
against acts and practices of sin, not against human sinners. God’s Lake of Fire is specifically designed
for fallen angels, the chief fomenters of rebellion against God and the chief
instruments of temptation to humans.
Only in the rejection of God’s abundant mercy, and the persistent
self-conflicted clinging to sin, does man chose God’s wrath for himself, and
place himself in jeopardy of God’s Lake of Fire. Yes, God’s holy angels will cast people into
God’s Lake of Fire, but they will have no one but themselves to blame if they
find themselves there: for God has done everything possible and reasonable to
keep them out of the Lake of Fire. This
is why the good message must be a revelation of God’s wrath. This is why God is so angry. We cannot possibly take idolatry to heaven
with us.
Furthermore, the sin
of idolatry has no defense before the judgment seat of Christ. God has repeatedly shined the blazing light
of His Glory into the lives of men: with the mark of Cain, with the rainbow
given to Noah, with the blazing pot witnessed by Abraham, in the burning bush
and later with the Glory cloud seen by Moses and two and a half million
Israelites, and so on down through history, with Solomon in Solomon’s temple,
until God was fed up with Israel’s sin in 586 BC. And yet, the Glory returned in Jesus in 4
BC. It is now given to The Church since
33 AD, on the Day of Pentecost. The
Church is the continuing light of the world, the light set on a hill that
cannot be hid, the candle that cannot be extinguished in the darkness. So fervent is the heat of God’s Glorious
light that even the blind know its heat; even the deaf hear its roaring. There is no defense because this light has
even penetrated our hearts. We have seen
it, and felt it, and heard it; smelled, tasted, and touched it: so we have no
defense in the court of final resort, the court of the living God. Save this….
Save this…. “It is enough that
Jesus died, and that He died for me.” My
idolatry will not fit into heaven. I
have only one defense, which is the light of God in the good message about
Christ. If I turn away from that, there
is no other defense.
Some think that Paul
is young and inexperienced. He speaks of
things which are not fully developed in his mind. Surely he is mistaken. The earliest possible date for Paul’s
conversion is 30 AD.[14] He was crucified no later than 67 AD.[15] This is a span of a mere 37 years. Paul after he escaped Damascus in a basket[16] was then in Arabia for
three years.[17] Paul did not become a missionary for fourteen
more years.[18] That reduces the maximum span of Paul’s
entire missionary work to 23 years or less.
He did not visit Corinth until his second missionary journey until
around 50-52 AD, where he spent a year and a half.[19]
It is unlikely that Paul wrote to the Romans prior to his third
missionary journey. He was also in jail in Caesarea for two years.14 The Epistle to the Romans was probably not written before 55.[20] This means that Paul has less than twelve
years left to live, he is already quite old, and his theology is fully
developed in the flaming pathos of trial and life. The idea that Paul is a novitiate does not
hold up to close scrutiny.
Moreover, Paul now
exhibits advanced theological and philosophical brilliance as he tackles
Plato’s concepts of the noumenal and the phenomenal. These, Paul defeats and dispatches in a few
brief phrases. He weaves the noumenal
and the phenomenal together in such a way that Plato’s idea of a separate and
distinct noumenon is destroyed. The
noumenon has no information that it did not receive or develop from the
phenomenon. This undermines all the
dualism fundamental to Greek philosophy.
Sadly, most translations make this subtlety of argument disappear. In any case Paul is no theological
lightweight when he writes Romans, if indeed he ever was a theological
lightweight. Among the doctors of The
Church, Paul has no peer, save Christ.
He ranks with Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and John the Baptist in clarity and
brilliance.
The Greco-Romans
were highly trained and earnest students of Greek philosophy. This philosophy must be replaced with
something better: namely, with the good message about Christ. The Greco-Romans were much enslaved to
idolatry as well. Perhaps as many as one
thousand idols were involved in the daily routines of Roman people. Everyone, including the Emperor himself had
idol worship obligations. The Roman
system of gods put more emphasis on practical issues and objects (Janus is the
god and guard of the doors). The Greek
system of gods put more emphasis on roles and virtues (grace for example).[21] The Egyptian system of gods included anything
zoological down to the common dung beetle.
The three systems were intertwined due to the Roman love of Greek
culture and language, and the Roman dependence on Egyptian wheat, without which
Rome could be sure of famine. The
philosophies and religions are interdependent as well.
Greco-Roman
Christians had been delivered from these philosophies and religions. However, as all converts know, conversion and
deliverance do not mean a complete riddance of sin, else Christians could live
sinless lives without difficulty.
Reoccurring temptations, guilt, and concern for the victims of past sins
are all part of Christian life. This
pathos builds humility. Greco-Roman
Christians need Paul’s support in their continuing conviction and determination
to remain ex-idolaters, just as Paul needs the support of the Greco-Roman
Christians to maintain his conviction and determination to remain an
ex-murderer. That’s what Christians do;
they build each other up in their warfare against sin. Paul provides a sober warning not to let
idolatry be reestablished in our lives. Still,
the emphasis is on the act of sin, rather on the sinner; on the ongoing
determine to practice sin, not on occasional stumbling, especially where
remorse and repentance are evident.
Moreover, the
Greco-Roman Christians had among their chief concerns the ongoing deliverance
of friends, family members, and neighbors from idolatry. Their apologetic and evangelism skills are in
need of development and honing.
At a fundamental
level, idolatry is the failure to render appropriate worship to God alone, to
give Him His due Glory. This being so,
the heart of the overthrow of idolatry rests on diligent worship. This is a spiritual battle, more than a
physical one. In Christian thought the
noumenon and the phenomenon are inseparable; on the other hand, the phenomenon
is brought under control through the noumenon.
Prayer, fasting, almsgiving, kindness, mercy, peace, and love are the
weapons of Christianity.
Paul concludes this
section with the observation that when humans gave up on God, He complied with
their wishes. God forced humans to live
with the consequences of their actions.
Humans gave up on God, and God gave up on them. The results were disastrous. Every other sin known to man, according to
Paul, is the result of idolatry. In
general, idolatry results in a filthy, disease ridden heart and a filthy,
disease ridden body.
The solution lies in
the praise of our loving Creator.
We wish this was all
there was to it; that Christianity had prevailed over the past two
millennia. It appears that Christianity
has failed to deliver its saving message to human civilization. This is the post-modern era. If Paul is correct, and he is, the immediate
cause is modern idolatry. Modern
civilization is characteristically antinomian.
Even our churches foster a laxity of worship: Phariseeism and Sadduceeism
run rampant among us. Science, growth,
and profitability are made into modern idols.
Debt and usury enslave us in every facet of life. War and murder are ordinary everyday events.
If we sincerely wish
to return to God, we need to more diligently seek out and confess our sins,
intensify our solemn praise and worship of God, and get busy about the task of
selflessly loving one another. Then, and
only then, we shall be the ex-idolaters, we claim to be. As it now stands, we spend more time
worshipping our own ideas, the god we have created in our minds, after our own
image: namely, the idol named Self.
Conclusion
Since shortly after
516 BC the Jews have struggled with the idolatries of Phariseeism with its
self-conflicted and confusing set of numerous rules, while Sadduceeism believed
nothing heavenly. The Greco-Roman Christians
struggled against the self-conflicted and confusing barrage of numerous idols.
This section of
Romans 1 is not written to accuse the Greco-Roman Christians of idolatry. They are ex-idolaters, led by the Holy
Ghost. This section of Romans 1 is written
to enlist the Greco-Roman Christians as soldiers in God’s war against idolatry,
and to sharpen their apologetic and evangelistic weapons.
Neither is this
section of Romans 1 written to condemn the Greco-Roman people for their evident
idolatry; it is written to redeem them from that idolatry.
This section of
Romans 1 is not about the occasional stumbling in sin, of which all are guilty;
it is about the practice of idolatry.
Practice involves determination to sin, stubbornness of will, defiance
of God, and regular ongoing deliberate repetition of acts of idolatry. Practice is being at premeditated war with
God. Practice, the practice of idolatry
is clearly condemned.
Paul’s discussion
might have been drawn from the Law; it is not.
Instead, Paul draws his discussion from elements of Greek philosophy and
defeats both the philosophy and the idolatry linked to it. Paul will eventually, in later chapters,
bring the discussion to the Law, but here he meets the Greco-Roman Christians
on their own turf, with the very things they have been taught and believed all
their lives, up to the hour when they became Christians. Philosophy and idolatry are already overthrown
in their hearts; now they are shown the same victory from reason.
[1]
Without excuse is close. However, the
idea is that they stand convicted in the court of final resort, and have no
legal defense for their actions, which in retrospect have simply been silly and
stupid. This is the final epitaph for
all human life.
[2] As
strong as this statement is, Paul assiduously avoids the blunter, harsher
middle, “They made fools of themselves.”
Paul is being as gentle and kind as reality permits. He seeks to avoid alienating anyone: but in
the end, he cannot avoid the truth, nor can we.
[3]
The problem is not that they owned an image or a picture. The problem is that they exchanged that image
or picture for the living God.
[4]
Possibly a direct reference to Roman coinage, together with the worship of
Caesar and his wife as gods. The Greeks
were even more absorbed with human face and form than the Romans
[5]
Birds play a prominent role in Roman worship: especially the eagle and the
chicken, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augury
[6]
The wolf was especially popular in Rome, bulls were prominent among the Greeks,
and in Egypt everything was worshipped
[7] The
snake is not so popular among the Romans, but common enough among the Greeks
and Egyptians, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snake_worship#Ancient_Near_ East.
[8]
Establishing a “beside” relationship between the Creator and the creation, is
to set them in competition with each other.
What could be more insulting to the Creator than to be contrasted to His
own creation, let alone an image of that creation? The church members from a Greco-Roman
culture, with its countless competing idols, easily got the point.
[9] James
1:20
[10]
Hebrews 12:1-17; John 8:31-36
[11]
Matthew 25:41
[12] 1
Corinthians 10:19-21
[13]
Matthew 25:31-46
[14]
Some folks believe that Jesus was crucified on Wednesday or Thursday. These are rare. Most people are comfortable with the idea
that Jesus was crucified on Friday, the Passover. From astronomy we know that there are only
two possible years where the position of the moon would indicate a Friday
Passover: 30 AD and 33 AD. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Apostle
[15] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Apostle
[16]
Acts 9:25
[17]
Galatians 1:11-19
[18]
Galatians 2, the Judean famine occurred in 45-46
[19] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Apostle
[20] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle_to_the_Romans
[21]
Here is one opinion about Greek and Roman differences over their many gods, http://www.diffen.com/difference/Greek_Gods_vs_Roman_Gods
[22] If
you have been blessed or helped by any of these meditations, please repost,
share, or use any of them as you wish.
No rights are reserved. They are
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