Topical - Homosexuality

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Introduction:

An In-depth Study on Homosexuality*

It seems that they believe in homosexuality and are now trying to have the Bible approve it, rather than letting the Bible speak.

So often, what does that have to do with the passage or CONTEXT!

Why Study:

1.     Bills in the California Legislature:

16 Bills this year

a few one vote shy of passing

AB 257: Up to 50k for lawsuits against business plus call it an official civil right

AB 1059 Private insurances forced to cover these partners as a family

AB 310 Prohibit Church from non-hiring practices/ audit to prove no discrimination in past!

2.     More writings by Evangelicals supporting this practice

3.     Be ready to give a defense of the truth, speaking the truth in Love.

4.     Society has been duped in believing that 10% of the population is gay

-The Kinsey Report of 1948 established that falsehood

-Reality is 1 ½ to 2%

-The University of Chicago National Opinion Research Corporation set it at 7/10 of 1%

I.      Gen 18:16-19:29 Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:4ff)

A.   Three Homosexual Views

1.     Dr Hart:

“The key issue, why did God destroy the two cities.  The common assumption is homosexuality.  Three other sound possibilities: 1. The general wickedness mentioned in the previous chapter.  2. Attempted rape of the guests, and   3. Inhospitality.  The last is Biblical scholarship’s generally preferred interpretation today.  Sodom is used as a symbol of evil in dozens of subsequent Scripture references.  In none of these passages is homosexuality named as one of its sins;  Inhospitality is or pride greed and neglect of the poor.  Englishman D Sherwin Bailey argues the same way in Homosexuality in the Western Christian tradition as does John Boswell in Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality.”  (He is a Yale University Professor) 

 

2.     The last two texts argues that the men wanted to interrogate the visitors, “know them” (yada), because they thought they were spies. 

3.     Or: The sin was gang rape and not homosexuality, in a broader sense they were inhospitable.   

II.   Why did God destroy the cities????

A.   Gen 18:20

1.     The outcry was great and they were extremely wicked.

2.     There were not even ten righteous people in the city, and if you take Lot’s family as six people, there were not even four others who were righteous.

3.     These people were totally depraved and irredeemable.

4.     Lot’s influence was extremely limited.

B.    Gen 18:16-19 A Lesson for Righteousness for Abraham

1.     God was going to raise up a nation which would be a holy nation.

C.    2 Peter 2:6-10

1.     Notice the things mentioned:

a.      example for the ungodly (vs 6)

b.     filthy conduct (vs 7)

c.      tormented his righteous soul of the things he saw and heard (vs 8)

d.     walk according to the flesh (sensual) in the lust of uncleanness (vs 19)

D.   Jude 7

1.     Notice these terms:

a.      given over to sexual immorality

b.     gone after strange flesh

c.      set forth as an example

2.     Some see this as angels who had sex with women in Gen 6.

III. Response to the Homosexual Position

A.   Interrogation

1.     Sexual act- Lot was ready to give over his daughter.

2.     He said they did no know a many yet (19:8) surely does not mean they have not interrogated a man yet!!!!

3.     Homosexuals- From young and old from all over the quarters and then even when blinded they persisted.

-This shows they were totally given over to a lifestyle and enslaved to sexual sins.

The Term Yeda

1.     “yeda”- to know is determined on the context:

a.     Is Lot saying, don’t do this wicked deed, interrogate my daughters.

b.     He mentions they are virgins (19:8).

c.      He mentions they have not yet known a man, is he saying they haven’t yet interrogated a man up to this point.

d.     Gen 4:1 yeda- have sexual relations

B.    Gang Rape, thus Inhospitality

1.     God was going to judge them before this point, not for this incident of sexual perversion.

2.     He said their cry has come up before me continually (18:20).

3.     Would God annihilate two cities for bad manners, nowhere in the Scriptures is Inhospitality a capitol crime, but homosexuality is.  Would God destroy these cities for a non-capitol crime of Inhospitality and not destroy it for a capitol crime of homosexuality.

4.     To say they were inhospitable is to say the least, it is true they were inhospitable, but they were much more than that.  To say they were inhospitable is to say accuse a man who is driving drunk, 110 miles an hour down a 25 mile an hour street right when the children are walking home as a bad driver!!!

5.     Would God destroy two cities for being inhospitable.

The Use of Ezekiel 16:49

1.     Context:

a.      You must look at verse 50 as well!!!!

b.     Do you think God would kill for not taking care of the poor when you have abundance.

c.      It was an abomination.

IV. Additional Passages

A.   Lev 18:20 & 20:13

B.    The Homosexual View by Dr Hart:

“Leviticus is not generally go for our moral instruction.  Most Christians have probably never read it or even had bits of it read to them at worship.  It is the central thesis of Paul that Jesus has freed us from the Law.  Leviticus is that book of the Law which specifically to do with cult (sacrifice, ritual, priesthood, purity), it is in this regard that it touches on homosexuality.  The Hebrew word “toavah” is a cultic and not a moral term.  The English abomination means abhorrent, loathsome, unspeakably bad.  “Toavah” does not mean that at all it means ritually unclean.  Eating pork is “toavah,” having sex with a menstruating women is “toavah.”  You cannot come to worship after doing these things until you have been purified.  Nor does the naming of the death penalty  mark homosexuality as particularly heinous.  Also punishable by death in the Law is disobedience to parents, no age specified, picking up sticks on the Sabbath, adultery and many other actions.”

1.     Not say purified but put to death!

2.     Why not see these other things as heinous- as rebellion against God’s Law!

3.     Context:  (Not just ritual purity)

a.      The punishment shows you how God feels about the subject.

b.     Look at the other sins mentioned close to homosexuality:

-having your children pass through the fire (18:21)

-Mating with an animal (18:23)

-God kicked out the other nations for these practices since it defiled the land (18:24-25)

-Bestiality again in (20:15-16)

-Marrying a woman and her mother (20:14)

Do you think Moses is saying:

“If you have sex with an animal, just get ritually purified before you go and worship at the Temple or Tabernacle.”

4.     He is not just talking about ritual purity but morality.

C.    Further Elaboration of the Homosexual View:

“This prohibition only applied to the OT Priest for their ritual purity and not for their moral purity.  Since Jesus put away the Law, it no longer applies to the NT Christian.”

Ralph Blair, An Evangelical Look at Homosexuality

1.     A misunderstanding of the Law.  Moral aspects show us the will of God.  NT writers quote often from the Law.

2.     Can we set aside murder and idolatry since it is in the OT.

3.     Ritual purity and moral purity often go together.

4.     This section was not given to the Priests but to the entire Nation (20:1, 18:2).

D.   Further Elaboration of the Homosexual View:

1.     Dr Hart:

“Homosexuality obviously is not much of a Biblical concern, the Law has just two brief references to it.  None of the Prophets who were regarded as the conscience of Israel says anything about it.” 

1.     How many do you need?

2.     They were killed off: The critical problem was idolatry and the root.

3.     It was a capitol crime, thus it was important.

You have to purposely miss these points and be on a mission to find another interpretation which justified your conduct.

V.   Rom 1:18-32

A.   Context:

1.     Man’s sinful nature and condemnation, plus God’s justification for His condemnation.

2.     General Revelation to all mankind and not just Temple prostitutes or those in Rome.

B.    Dr. Hart: (Typical Viewpoint):

“This is the Jewish Paul looking across the Mediterranean at the Greco-Roman culture.  Homosexuality is not the focus of his condemnation but just one item on a list.  Paul’s explanation for all this is that they have refused to acknowledge God, therefore God has given them up to their own wicked desires.  The persons Paul describes differ in two significant respects from all or most of the gay people we find in our Church.  First, the latter had been Christian believers from birth and had lived generally upright lives. Two, They have not chosen to set aside heterosexuality for homosexuality.  The orientation that most Christian gay people find themselves with is homosexual.  It is possible that Paul did not understand genuine homosexuality.”    

1.     His Point: He is applying this to those who go against their natural desires, and since homosexuals natural desire is for the same sex, it does not apply to them.  And as a matter of fact, if you tell a homosexual to change their orientation, you are then bringing them under the very condemnation Paul speaks of in this chapter.  (See Romans 1:32).  This is the Constitutional Homosexual Argument: Homosexuality is constitutional, it is part of who we are, we are born with it, part of our genetic make-up, we inherit it, we discover that we  are homosexuals we do not choose it, it is something what we are and not something we do- thus this passage doe not apply.

Responses: 4 Responses Relating to the Context

A.   Context #1 Issue

1.     Context: The Wrath (orge) of God- a settled indignation vrs thumos

2.     A present tense which means he is presently and ongoing manifesting this wrath, by a future judgment and by the natural consequences of this sin (1:27).

B.    Context #2 Issue

1.     Context: General Revelation which everyone has thus all are without excuse.

2.     Not a localized aberration of Temple prostitution, pedofilia, in Mediterranean life of the Greco-Roman culture.

3.     A universal proclamation .

5 Steps :

a.      they suppress the truth

b.     idolatry

c.      God gives them over

-to the lusts of their heart in impurity: He lets their own lusts manifest themselves!

d.     The exchange the natural use of their bodies

e.      they encourage others to do the same

C.    Context #3 Issue

1.     Context: Homosexuality Singled Out

2.     One item- but it is singles out and described.

3.     Paul didn’t understand about constitutional homosexuality:  How is it then he is writing in a way that accepts constitutional homosexuality????????  If Paul didn’t about it, how is he talking about it.  Plus we should throw out the rest of his writings.

4.     Logic: Then how is what he says on the subject right at all.

5.     Use: It has one meaning- function

D.   Context #4 Issue

1.     Context: Words Used about Homosexuality

a.      vs 24  uncleanness and the lusts of their hearts

b.     vs 24b to dishonor their bodies (not the natural function)

c.      vs 26 vile passions

d.     vs 26b the natural use- (see notes on this word)

e.      vs 27 burned in their lust

f.      vs 27b shameful

g.     vs 27c the penalty of their error which was due to them

h.     vs 28 a debased mind

i.       vs 28b those things which are not fitting

Homosexuality is an act of rebellion against God- the product of God giving people over a depraved mind.

Born that way Responses

1.     Science has not determined the point, yet there is contrary evidence which doesn’t get much press.  You don’t establish a law based on one research project.  Biased research since it was a homosexual.    The phallus was smaller- could it be that it is a result rather than the cause.  Plus these are some of the same people who rejection God as creator and accept the idea that we came from monkeys!

a.      No biological, genetic or hormonal evidence to substantiate this claim.

b.     John Hopkins School of Medicine, Masters and Johnson and Albert Einstein College of Medicine have went on public record and stated that homosexuality is a result of environmental factors, sexual preferences are learned and they have their origins in the mind.

c.      Science is on a mission to find out what causes homosexuality, not on a quest to discover if it is not biological- There seems to be a bias here!

2.     Genetic Argument- Just because a person may have that desire, it does not make it acceptable.  We all are sinners with desires yet it is not proper or Biblical to carry them out.  Example- a temper; Just because you have a temper does not mean you can go buy a James Bond car so that you can blow up those idiots in front of you in rush hour freeway traffic.  People with XYY chromosomes have a natural inclination to violence, but we hold them accountable.  Laws are enacted to stop or hinder desires.

3.     The idea is completely foreign to the text: He mentions nothing about constitutional homosexuality.  Nowhere in the Bible is there a prohibition against desiring the opposite sex if you are naturally a homosexual.

4.     Who does this passage apply to if this passage only applies to those who have a desire for the same sex naturally.  Who has sexual relations who does has no desire.

#5 The Natural Function

1.     The word function here (xrasis- krasis) has one meaning- function, esp with regards to sexuality.

2.     It used only twice in the Bible, both are found in Rom 1:26 and 27.

3.     The focus is not on natural desires being violated but on function functions being violated.

4.     Your function is not determined by what you want, but what you were created or designed to do.

5.     Natural is not determined by what you want sexually but is determined by how you function sexually.

6.     The body was designed to function in a specific way, and men were not designed to function as homosexuals.

7.     Here is where science breaks down in their research, since they see things from evolution and not design.

8.     Jesus expressed the design in Matt 19:4-5 Created them male and female and become one flesh.

9.     The passion is degrading when it is expressed in an unnatural way or function.   The desire is unnatural since it abandons the natural function.

10. Extramarital sex is wrong because it exploits the natural function in an immoral way: Homosexuality is worse since it goes beyond, it is an immoral act based on a perversion of a natural function.

11. They can never have a natural function because bodies not made that way, just look at nature and the way we are created. 

VI. I Cor 6:9-10

A.   Homosexuals- (malakos) lit soft tot he touch and was used to describe the man passive in a sexual relationship with another man.

1.     Thayer: effeminate: a male who submits his body to unnatural lewdness.

2.     Arndt and Gingrich: men and boys who allow themselves to be misused homosexually.

B.    Sodomites: (arsenokoitas) lit a male ion bed, or the one who is active in a homosexual relationship.

1.     Thayer:   arsan- a male  koita- a bed   one who lies with a male as with a female, a sodomite.

2.     Arndt and Gingrich: a male who practices homosexuality, sodomite.

VII. Rom 1:27 The Penalty

A.   Pat Buchannon, syndicated column of April 25th of 1993 included a study of over 5200 obituaries over a five year period in 16 homosexual newspapers:

1.     39 average age of men dying with aids

2.     41 average age of all homosexuals dying of all causes

3.     Only 1% lived to 65 and older

4.     Only 3% to over 55

5.     Cuts two to three decades off life expectancy

6.     3 Times as likely to have alcohol or drug abuse problems

7.     14 times for likely to have syphilis

8.     23 times more likely to contact VD

9.     1000’s more times to contract aids

B.    San Francisco Study:

1.     Twice rate of Hepatitis A

2.     3 times Hepatitis B

3.     22 times National Average of VD

4.     Men murdered is 50 times more than national average

5.     50 times the number of suicides

C.    Promiscuous:

1.     43% admitted to having sex with over 500 partners

2.     28% over 1,000

3.     Only 2% with less than 10 

D.   Boston Globe Sept 1997:

1.     1 out of 4 suffer domestic violence

Wisdom 11:16 “one is punished by the very things by which he sins.”

Leon Morris in his Romans commentary- “being a sinner is the punishment of sin.”

Conclusion Drawn by Pro-Homosexual Viewpoint

Dr Hart:

“A modest conclusion which can be drawn from a careful reading of these Biblical passages in their historical context is that the Bible offers us no solid ground for a comprehensive condemnation of same sex relations.

Objection: You are spreading hate!  Bigot, Homophobic, Prejudice, Discrimination.

Objection: What about Grace  One must repent before they can be cleansed, and if one continues to say it is OK, they will never come to the Lord

Romans 1:24-32 God’s Abandonment of Man and It’s Consequences

Verse 24

A.   Therefore- The word shows God’s response, which is to turn them over to their own sinful natures or sinful desires. 

1.     The reason this word is used is due to the fact it throws the reader back to the preceding  verses.

2.     God is responding to the willful rejection of General Revelation.

3.     God revealed Himself to man (vs 19-20), man rejected God (vs 21), man then rationalized his rejection (vs 22, 18b), man then replaced God with false images, one that even looked like himself (vs 23).

 

4.     God gives over- He is active in this process, not passive.

 

5 Steps :

a.      they suppress the truth

b.     idolatry

c.      God gives them over

      -to the lusts of their heart in impurity: He lets their own lusts manifest themselves!

d.     The exchange the natural use of their bodies

e.      they encourage others to do the same

5.     The reason this word is used is due to the fact it throws the reader back to the preceding  verses.

6.     The people are without excuse.

7.     God does not just turn people over, it is only after their willful rejection of the truth.

B.    The Giving Over

1.     God simply gave them over to their own passions.

2.     This fact is mentioned three times (1:24,26,28):

a.      It does not mean immediately (Jezebel in Rev 2:20-21, Noah’s era Gen 6:5 with 1 Peter 3:20).

b.     God’s patience is seen when you compare Gen 6:4-6 with 1 Peter 3:20 which speaks of  “the patience of God waited” when dealing with that generation.

c.      It does not mean that God causes them to commit these sins.

d.     It does not mean they have no chance at this point to be redeemed.

e.      The purpose seems to be that they would repent (2:15).

f.      The Lord seems to be striking in order to heal (Is 19:22).

C.    Mercy & Wrath (1:18 is the context)

1.     Mercy: God turns them over with the hope they will come to their senses and repent like the prodigal son:

2.     Wrath: There is a point of no return (known only to God) when the heart is so hard it cannot repent.  At this point man is completely turned over to their vile passions.  he wrath will come in the future.

D.   The Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?  NO!  Not Yet!

E.    Impurity

1.     akatharsia: general term for uncleanness and was used of decaying matter, especially the contents of the grave.

2.     The Jews used it of being both ceremonially and physically unclean.

E.    Our Role

1.     Col 3:5-6 “pt to death….”

2.     Eph 5:3 & 1 Th 4:7.

Verse 25

A.   Repeats the reason the Gentiles are worthy of God’s wrath.

1.     As I studied this junk I needed to break away and worship the Lord and cleanse my mind.

Verses 26-27

A. The Specific vile passions are mentioned: Homosexuality and Lesbianism

1. When a person suppresses the truth of God, this will be the result in a society.

2. Nature- Homosexuality is against nature (1:26-27).

3. Scriptures on the Subject

a. Death Penalty Lev 20:13

b. It is an Abomination Len 18:22

c. Other OT references Gen 19:4-9, Lev 18:22,Dt 23:17-18,Judg 19:22-24,I Kings 14:24,15:12,22:46,2 Kings 23:7,Is 3:9,Lam 4:6.

d. NT references: 1 Cor 6:9-11,Eph 4:19,1 Tim 1:10,2 Pt 2:6,Jude 7.

e. It carries with it a unique punishment/consequence (1:27)- See also Gal 6:8-9.

B.    Lesbianism First

1.     Women are usually the last to be affected by the sins of humanity, especially in the area of family and relationships.

2.     Hodge:

“Paul refers first to the degradation of females among the heathen, because they are always the last to be affected in the decay of morals, and their corruption is therefore proof that all virtue is lost.” (Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans)

C.    Vile

1.     The word means degrading, dishonoring, shameful.

D.   Passions

1.     We get the word pathos from this verb.

2.     Thayer’s Lexicon supplies the definition: “ungovernable desire.”

3.     The sexual burning level of the homos is quite strong and abnormal, as seen in Gen 19:11 where the men were even under God’s direct judgment were still seeking the men.

E.    Natural Use

1.     The emphasis is on use and not desire.

2.     Natural: lit: “what things grow into” or “essential nature.”

Natural Use/Function

a.      No biological, genetic or hormonal evidence to substantiate this claim.

b.     John Hopkins School of Medicine, Masters and Johnson and Albert Einstein College of Medicine have went on public record and stated that homosexuality is a result of environmental factors, sexual preferences are learned and they have their origins in the mind.

c.      Science is on a mission to find out what causes homosexuality, not on a quest to discover if it is not biological- There seems to be a bias here!

Context Issue:

1.     Context: Words Used about Homosexuality

a.      vs 24  uncleanness and the lusts of their hearts

b.     vs 24b to dishonor their bodies (not the natural function)

c.      vs 26 vile passions

d.     vs 26b the natural use- (see notes on this word)

e.      vs 27 burned in their lust

f.      vs 27b shameful

g.     vs 27c the penalty of their error which was due to them

h.     vs 28 a debased mind

i.       vs 28b those things which are not fitting

Sexual Orientation?????

 

Hendriksen writes that one’s sexual desires or “sexual orientation is non  the point at issue.  What matters is what one does with his sexuality.”

 

#5 The Natural Function

1.     The word function here (xrasis- krasis) has one meaning- function, esp with regards to sexuality.

2.     It used only twice in the Bible, both are found in Rom 1:26 and 27.

3.     The focus is not on natural desires being violated but on function functions being violated.

4.     Your function is not determined by what you want, but what you were created or designed to do.

5.     Natural is not determined by what you want sexually but is determined by how you function sexually.

6.     The body was designed to function in a specific way, and men were not designed to function as homosexuals.

7.     Here is where science breaks down in their research, since they see things from evolution and not design.

8.     Jesus expressed the design in Matt 19:4-5 Created them male and female and become one flesh.

9.     The passion is degrading when it is expressed in an unnatural way or function.   The desire is unnatural since it abandons the natural function.

10. Extramarital sex is wrong because it exploits the natural function in an immoral way: Homosexuality is worse since it goes beyond, it is an immoral act based on a perversion of a natural function.

11. They can never have a natural function because bodies not made that way, just look at nature and the way we are created. 

12. Research has shown that an intrusion of “foreign protein” into that part of a male’s body causes (According to A.E. Wilder-Smith who had three earned doctorates):

a.      Physical trauma

b.     A breakdown of the immune system

13. This is not a political issue: The government has not moral compass by which to decide such an issue, we must look to the Bible and Scientific research.

14. Scriptures on God’s design: Gen 2:24, Matt 19:5, Mark 10:7-8, 1 Cor 6:16, Eph 5:31, Heb 13:4.

15. “When man forsakes the Author of nature, he inevitably forsakes the order of nature”

                                     John MacArthur

2.     People with XYY chromosomes have a natural inclination to violence, but we hold them accountable.  Laws are enacted to stop or hinder desires.

I Cor 6:9-10

A.   Homosexuals- (malakos) lit soft tot he touch and was used to describe the man passive in a sexual relationship with another man.

1.     Thayer: effeminate: a male who submits his body to unnatural lewdness.

2.     Arndt and Gingrich: men and boys who allow themselves to be misused homosexually.

B.    Sodomites: (arsenokoitas) lit a male ion bed, or the one who is active in a homosexual relationship.

1.     Thayer:   arsan- a male  koita- a bed   one who lies with a male as with a female, a sodomite.

2.     Arndt and Gingrich: a male who practices homosexuality, sodomite.

The Danger in Church and Society

Society has been duped in believing that 10% of the population is gay

-The Kinsey Report of 1948 established that falsehood

-Reality is 1 ½ to 2%

-The University of Chicago National Opinion Research Corporation set it at 7/10 of 1%

LA School District: Project 10 which believes that 10% of all people are homosexual, has been introduced to the School System.  In their literature they have comments like: Do you feel uncomfortable with people of the opposite sex?  Do you feel rejected?  Do you feel unnattracted to people of the opposite sex?

Cardinal Mahoney- recently opened the RCC doors for a special service for the homosexuals and lesbians.

American Presbyterian: recent statement to vote upon by church leaders: “To abandon all traditional teachings against pre0marital, extra-marital and homosexual sex in favor of a new Christian ethic of justice love which would not condemn any relationships where there is genuine equality and mutual respect.

20% of Episcopalians Priests are homosexual

Evangelical Lutheran, United Methodist and some Presbyterians presently ordain homosexuals.

One denomination says that homosexuality is no more abnormal than left-handedness.

E.    Burned & Lust

1.     The word literally means “to be inflamed,” where 1 Cor 7:9 mentions a natural burning.

2.     Lust orekei- ardent longing, lust, cf. Orego: “to desire eagerly, to reach out after, to stretch out” (1 Tim 3:1, 1 Tim 6:10, Heb 11:16).

3.     These particular words are only found here in the NT.

4.     14 out of 15 Roman Emperors were homosexuals (Barclay).

F.     Committing What is Shameful

1.     Used here and only in Rev 16:15.

2.     It is derived from a and sxama (without proper form): It carries the idea of indecent acts, improper behavior.  In Rev 16:15 it refers to shame as in a person’s private parts.

G.   Error

1.     NIV uses perversion.

1 Cor 6:18 The Penalty

1.     Immorality is a sin against one’s own body.

B.    Pat Buchannon, syndicated column of April 25th of 1993 included a study of over 5200 obituaries over a five year period in 16 homosexual newspapers:

1.     39 average age of men dying with aids

2.     41 average age of all homosexuals dying of all causes

3.     Only 1% lived to 65 and older

4.     Only 3% to over 55

5.     Cuts two to three decades off life expectancy

6.     3 Times as likely to have alcohol or drug abuse problems

7.     14 times for likely to have syphilis

8.     23 times more likely to contact VD

9.     1000’s more times to contract aids

B.    San Francisco Study:

1.     Twice rate of Hepatitis A

2.     3 times Hepatitis B

3.     22 times National Average of VD

4.     Men murdered is 50 times more than national average

5.     50 times the number of suicides

C.    Promiscuous:

1.     43% admitted to having sex with over 500 partners

2.     28% over 1,000

3.     Only 2% with less than 10 

D.   Boston Globe Sept 1997:

1.     1 out of 4 suffer domestic violence

Wisdom 11:16 “one is punished by the very things by which he sins.”

Leon Morris in his Romans commentary- “being a sinner is the punishment of sin.”

Browning: “We pay the price of lies by being compelled to lie on still.”

Thomas Watson: “Sin….puts gravel in our bread and wormwood in our cup.”

Verse 28

A.   The third giving over relates to the fact they did not deem this knowledge of God worthwhile.

B.    A good translation of this verse is:

 “And since they did not deem it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God.”

1.     This seems to focus on man’s arrogance.

2.     They did not deem God worthwhile!!!!!!!

C.    Depraved

1.     adokimos: not standing the test, was used of metals that were rejected by refiners due to impurities.  It was used of coins that were substandard.  The impure metals were then worthless and useless.

2.     Denney Writes of Having a Depraved Mind:

“a man in which the definite distinction between right and wrong are confused and lost.”

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