Today, on Truth Time.
But you see, Paul said, If any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, that man's proud and knows nothing.
He has a corrupt mind and speaks perverse things, and he's destitute of truth.
Paul said, from such, do what?
Try to find common ground?
Sweep your doctrinal differences under the rug?
Compromise truth for the sake of unity?
Just smile and show grace now?
No, Paul said, from such, withdraw, withdraw thyself.
See, some claim Paul's their pattern, but when the rubber meets the road, they don't follow their pattern.
This is Truth Time Radio.
Welcome back as we continue today going verse by verse through the book of Romans.
Today will be the fourth installment.
We say thanks to all of you for the encouraging cards, letters, and emails from those joining us on the WTTR Truth Time mobile app.
Coming up on our one-year anniversary in July.
Hello to listeners who contacted us this week from Corpus Christi, Dallas, Orlando, Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa, New Jersey, Dalton, Georgia, Covington, Georgia, and Alberta, Canada.
Okay, in part one, we learned that when Paul used the term, Gospel of God, he was not talking about a separate gospel unto itself.
Paul never preached multiple gospels.
He preached one, and he called it my gospel, not my gospels.
In part two, we learned about the Acts 28 methodology that has been adopted by some mid-Acts teachers, which has led to creating all sorts of hybrid doctrines.
In part three, we pointed out how the Calvinist limited forgiveness doctrine has crept in, even though Paul never taught limited forgiveness, not even once.
For some, Paul's the pattern until he's not.
So watch out for those who cherry pick through Paul's epistles.
He wrote 13, yet in not one will you find a single instruction on how to get forgiveness.
You won't find it.
It would have been a waste of ink to tell others how to get their sins forgiven, knowing that God cannot forgive a sin that He's not even imputing.
Today we'll begin in Romans 1 verse 18, and we'll find out if this wrath of God is for us.
We'll talk about the oracles of God, and we're going to learn just what is a reprobate mind.
You may be surprised to find out that it's not what most teach.
It may also surprise you that reprobates are both saved and unsaved.
Okay, last session, we ended here in verse 17, where Paul referenced the book of Habakkuk.
Chapter 2 verse 4, you should give it a read.
In so doing, you'll see the wrath that's pronounced upon Judah immediately following verse 4.
And likewise, here in Romans, Paul goes straight to the heart of the matter here, straight to the wrath of God in verse 18.
Verse 18, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Paul is an excellent history teacher who gives us a history lesson here on how God's wrath was pronounced on Israel for their unrighteousness.
This is all about Israel, folks.
But to hear some tell it today, even though we're under the dispensation of grace, these fear mongers have somehow assigned this to us.
It's not.
For example, look at verse 18.
Take note that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who what?
Hold the truth in unrighteousness.
See that?
God's wrath was revealed from heaven in time past as punishment for Israel's disobedience.
And everything we're reading here is what's taken place since Israel's exodus from Egypt up until the birth of Christ.
Don't forget that.
You can find a reference to every single thing Paul speaks of here in verses 18 through 21, from Moses to the end of Malachi in the Old Testament.
So mark those.
Be careful and mark those who wrongly use this as a general statement concerning the entire world and the current unrighteous state of mankind.
We hear this repeatedly.
But just ask yourself, okay, when has the entire world ever held the truth in unrighteousness?
Answering that should put the idea of this being about the entire world to bed.
I cannot overstate how important it is, saints, that we stay true and honest to the context here.
For this to be a general statement concerning the unrighteousness state of the world, then would not the world have to be those who held the truth in the first place?
Pause a moment, take a breath, and ask yourself, what pagan Gentile nations, those who were without God, having no hope in the world, remember, which one of those nations could possibly be holding the truth?
People who know nothing of the one true and living God.
No, that premise has a factual predicate wherewith I would wholeheartedly disagree.
There's only one nation in time past who could ever qualify as holding the truth in unrighteousness.
Allow me to, with God's Word, of course, allow me to further demonstrate.
Get with me, Romans chapter 3 and verse number 1, What advantage then hath the Jew, or what profit is there of circumcision?
Verse 2, Much every way, chiefly because that unto them, the Jews, were committed the oracles of God.
Don't miss this, only the Jews could qualify.
To them were God's oracles committed.
So they were the ones who held the truth in unrighteousness.
This straight-up King James truth is outstanding.
No Bible corrector needed.
In order to build this, to build this Roman structure here, to build it right, we must make sure that the foundation is both level and stable.
That way, when we move further into the study and start applying the bricks, the structure will remain fixed, secure.
But if the foundation's off, we'll begin to experience all sorts of issues.
Okay, let's put some more meat on the bone here.
Acts chapter 7, verse 37, This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me, him shall ye hear.
Verse 38, This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake unto him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto us.
Verse 39, To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt.
Now that sounds a lot like holding the truth in unrighteousness.
See, it was the Jews that held the oracles of God.
Therefore, contrary to popular preaching, Romans 1:18 cannot be referring to anyone else but them.
We mustn't read ourselves back in here where we don't belong, right?
Yes.
And for good measure, be sure to go read the rest of Stephen's Acts 7 sermon.
Like Paul did in Romans 1, Stephen here gave these men brethren and fathers of Israel a history lesson.
A history lesson that got him stone-cold dead.
Okay, Romans 1:19, Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them.
Again, more proof to show that the oracles of God were committed to Israel.
They held the truth.
And if you want to read more about this, my wife put together some scripture references here for us.
Deuteronomy 4:7 and 8, Nehemiah 9, verses 13 and 14, Psalm 78:4 through 7, Psalm 147:19 and 20, Isaiah 8:20, and Ezekiel 20, verses 11 and 12.
Let's continue.
Verse 20, For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
Now, we could try to make this verse line up with Psalm 19, The heavens declare the
glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Let's give thought to this.
Pagan nations didn't recognize the handiwork of the Almighty God by looking at the heavens, now did they?
Instead, they made up their own gods to worship.
So, we need to be more specific here.
If the oracles of God were given to Israel, and they were, and they held the truth of God, and they did, who better to recognize that the heavens declare the glory of God?
This is a good time to allow the law of logical conclusion to work for us.
We aren't just talking about someone being able to look up at the sky and decide that there is a God.
No.
Notice verse 20.
Here it says, Even his eternal power and Godhead.
Now think, no pagan Gentile nation in the history of time has ever been known to look up at the sky and understand the eternal power of the Godhead.
But Israel could, because the oracles of God were given to them.
So, who is it that Paul refers to here that was without excuse?
You're correct, Israel.
It's simply not possible that Paul is talking about other nations in time past being without excuse.
Let's go a bit further.
Get with me Acts chapter 14 verse 16 and watch.
Watch what he says here about God, Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.
See that?
If God suffered all nations to walk in their own ways, then they did have an excuse.
And watch what God said to the pagans on Mars Hill.
Acts chapter 17 verse 29, For as much then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is likened to gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
Verse 30, And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.
Now I ask you, how could ignorant pagan Gentile nations in time past whom God quote, Suffered to walk in their own ways be without excuse, while at the same time God winked at those times of ignorance?
Not possible.
An honest look at Scripture makes it clear that the oracles of God were not given to the pagan Gentile nations, but to Israel.
They were the ones entrusted with the truth, making them accountable and without excuse.
And they were expected to walk in that truth in order to lead the Gentile nations to the one true living God.
But they failed.
They failed miserably.
Paul goes on to tell us why Israel is without excuse in the verses that follow.
Verse 21, Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God.
Neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Verse 22, Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
Verse 23, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and forfeited beasts and creeping things.
Now pump the brakes and ask yourself, who were the people who knew God?
In time past, the uncircumcision, Gentile nations, they had no hope and were without God in the world.
Now obviously, the Gentiles could not have possibly held the oracles of God.
They could have not held the truth in unrighteousness, could they?
Regarding Israel being without excuse, think about this.
They knew God, but, they glorified Him not as God.
Neither were they thankful, became vain in their imaginations, their foolish heart was darkened.
They professed themselves to be wise, became fools, and changed the glory of incorruptible God into idols.
They went whoring after false gods.
You can learn more about it in 2 Kings chapter 17.
Read the whole chapter.
It's quite fascinating.
What you'll see is how Israel was taken captive by Assyria and the reason why lines right up with these verses, verses 18 through 25 here in Romans chapter 1.
And at the end of 2 Kings chapter 17, you'll see that even after God's wrath was revealed from heaven upon Israel in the form of their captivity, and even by the lions sent into the land to devour the people, that even the pagan Gentiles seeing all this had sense enough to recognize that the captivity of Israel was the reason for the lions.
Those Gentiles sent for the priest of Israel to come and show them the ways of God.
Yet the people of Israel continued to reject him, resulting in the Gentile nations continuing to worship their own graven images.
But those Gentiles, hey, they still feared God more so than the people of Israel did.
Interesting history.
Go study it and you'll learn a lot about God's purpose for Israel and His plan for salvation for the Gentile nations that should have came through them.
You'll learn of God's long-suffering as well as His wrath being revealed due to Israel's constant disobedience.
Most importantly, understanding these things from time past will help us to appreciate this dispensation of grace we're currently living under.
This helps us to better understand the nature and character of God.
Okay, let's read on.
Verse 24, Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves.
Verse 25, Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever, amen.
Verse 26, For this cause God gave them up into vile affections, for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature.
Verse 27, And likewise, also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men, working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meat.
Okay, let's park here a moment.
Most people read this and either immediately think that Paul is referring directly to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in time past, or they think of current events.
Yet Paul did not write this history, folks.
He didn't write this down to describe our current day and time.
And if you hear someone teaching this, teaching this out of context, claiming that it's about the current state of America, you're not hearing a minister of reconciliation.
You're hearing a fear-mongering fool who is ignorant to the dispensation of grace.
"God's going to get you for that sin."
So God's going to get you for the same sins he's already punished Jesus for?
If Jesus paid for the world's sins, yet people still go to hell to pay for their sins, apparently the cross work didn't work.
It was just a big waste of time.
That's double pay.
Saying people go to hell to pay for their sins is a false teaching and is totally out of order under the current dispensation of grace.
It doesn't belong in this administration.
Stop allowing these religious men in grace disguise apply these verses here in Romans 1 as if they're for us today, to us today, about us today.
They are not.
The context is not about the condition of the current Gentile world, nor about Gentiles in time past.
When these verses are given the honest, the literal reading they deserve, we see that Paul is given a history lesson that is all about Israel in time past.
We're all the way through verse 27, and he's still talking about Israel.
Some are just allergic to context.
He's still declaring why they are without excuse.
Here's more evidence, Isaiah chapter 3, verse 8, Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen, because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord to provoke the eyes of His glory.
The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom.
They hide it not.
Woe unto their soul, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.
See that?
Jerusalem is ruined and Judah is fallen.
It's not a mystery who this is about, but some come here and suddenly, context goes straight out the window, and they look down their pharisaical noses and use these passages to guilt people.
You can twist and pull and push and wrest all these verses, but listen, none of this is going to translate to we today who are under the spout where the dispensation of grace is being poured out.
No one alive today is experiencing God's judgment, period.
Israel was given the oracles of God, not Sodom.
Some homework for anyone interested, go study Matthew chapter 10, verse 15, Matthew 11, verses 23 and 24, Mark chapter 6, verse 11, and Luke chapter 10, verse 12.
Don't allow your thinking to be prejudiced to the point that you miss this.
Don't take God's judgment and wrath that He pronounced on Judah and Israel in time past, strip it from its context and apply it to America.
This is no more about America than 2 Chronicles chapter 7:14 is.
This is the dispensation of grace, not wrath and judgment.
Okay, moving on, verse 28, And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which were not convenient.
Verse 29, Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers.
Verse 30, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents.
Verse 31, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful.
Verse 32, Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Now please ask yourself, how can anyone who does not even know God retain Him in their knowledge, as verse 28 here says.
That would be quite the magic trick.
No, only the nation that was given the oracles of God knew God, and they made the choice to forget Him by pursuing after other gods, resulting in God giving them over to a reprobate mind.
And by the way, just what is a reprobate mind?
This term has been used incorrectly for ages, and is no different today.
Even among some who claim to be harbingers of truth, Bible school grads, club members who think they're scholars.
So they start correcting the King James Bible, and next thing you know, they've ended up inventing new doctrines.
This is what happens when you put Greek words and Webster's words above God's words.
To be a club member, you've got to be willing to compromise truth for unity.
But you see, Paul said, if any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, that man's proud and knows nothing.
He has a corrupt mind and speaks perverse things, and he's destitute of truth.
Paul said, from such, do what?
Try to find common ground?
Sweep your doctrinal differences under the rug?
Compromise truth for the sake of unity?
Just smile and show grace now.
No, Paul said, from such, withdraw, withdraw thyself.
See, some claim Paul's their pattern, but when the rubber meets the road, they don't follow their pattern.
They don't withdraw themselves.
No, supposing that gain is godliness, they just sweep it under the rug for numbers' sake.
They're willing to compromise truth for unity, and somehow they see this as nobility.
There's nothing noble about it.
If you're not a good steward of this word of reconciliation, you're consenting not to wholesome words.
If you correct God's word with a Greek or dictionary, you're consenting not to wholesome words, just as Paul warned.
Only a corrupt mind would do such things.
Paul said, Let no man deceive himself.
If any among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
Well, I'm just fool enough to believe my King James Bible and withdraw myself from these who tamper with it.
No wonder some can't understand the word of reconciliation.
How can they?
When they're constantly contorting, conflating, and outright misdefining God's words and terms.
I was reading the other day where Job said, The counsel of these sort of men are carried headlong.
Listen, saints, it's unwise to neglect to think through these things without giving them careful forethought.
Most of these King James Bible words and terms can be determined by comparing Scripture with Scripture and giving careful attention to the context as it's written.
Primarily speaking, God's word is its own internal dictionary.
And when we simply allow His holy, immutable word to do the defining for us, we discover that the word reprobate just means useless.
Watch this.
Not a Bible school Bible-correcting, self-appointed scholar here.
Not the Greek.
Not Webster.
But just watch what God says about it.
Jeremiah 6:30, Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them.
The timeless truth, the timeless principle from the prophet Jeremiah referring to reprobate silver as those rejected of the Lord during the time of the coming wrath.
The reprobate silver is the corrupted part of the silver that is to be removed when the silver is melted down to be made pure.
It's useless.
The analogy of reprobate silver in Jeremiah 6 is a reference to cleansing Israel of those that are corrupt in order to create a pure nation of believers who fear and worship God.
So, if someone is reprobate, it simply means they're useless for God's plan or purpose.
Paul is the only other writer in Scripture to use the word reprobate.
He does so in Romans 1:2 Corinthians 3, and 13, 2 Timothy chapter 3, and Titus 1.
In 2 Timothy 3, he declares men of corrupt minds as being reprobate concerning the faith.
As with so many other things, once again we see what Paul teaches here does not line up with denominationalism.
They claim if you keep rejecting God, rejecting His call to salvation by refusing the conviction of the Holy Ghost, then He'll turn you over to a reprobate mind.
Then your chance of salvation is forever gone.
Pretty scary, huh?
They teach that reprobates are lost and without hope of ever being saved.
But that's not what Paul says about it, now does he?
It's a form of Calvinism to suggest that God removes someone's free will to hear and believe the gospel of salvation.
As if God's going to force this reprobate mind on them.
That's nutsville.
And sadly, it's even being taught in some grace circles.
They claim reprobate means unsaved, but it just means useless, as we just discovered.
Obviously, unsaved people are useless regarding the will of God, but there are also saved people who are useless in that regard as well.
The reprobate category does not denote salvation or lack thereof.
It just declares that the person is useless to God in their current state of mind.
Say a person gets saved and then lives a life using their liberty as an occasion to the flesh, not caring that the will of God is to see all men saved.
Well, they're saved, but useless.
They're reprobate.
Or, how about a man who once taught the truth, but has now decided that it's more important to disprove Paul's unique apostleship, so he starts blending Paul's teachings in with the twelve apostles and trying to turn our attention away from our blessed hope and the glorious appearing we're supposed to be looking for.
These are examples of reprobates.
Reprobates who are saved people.
They don't lose their salvation.
They aren't cursed to have a reprobate mind for the rest of their lives.
They're just useless in their current state of mind.
Saved or lost, reprobate minds need to repent and believe the truth.
And they have that opportunity as long as they have breath.
The entire chapter of Jeremiah 6 will give you a pretty clear picture of what the reprobate minds of Israel looked like at that time, as well as the wrath that's revealed in that passage.
It's for the cause of those things listed in Romans 1 verses 29 through 32.
Okay, we'll end it here today, but next time we're going to provide more scripture references describing exactly how Israel is documented, documented, ladies and gentlemen, to have committed those things listed in these verses.
This is not as some teach, the world in general.
No, the context is not about the state of the world today and our current events.
Paul's very specific here as he gives us a wonderful history lesson.
So next time we'll provide more scripture, more documentation that demonstrates that he's speaking of time past Israel.
They were the ones who committed the things listed in these verses.
And then I'll demonstrate how these things directly connect with Romans chapter 2.
We're not stopping here at the end of chapter 1, because the context carries over into the next chapter without a pause.
Chapter 2 speaks about exactly what Paul outlined in chapter 1.
So we'll go straight through without pausing or trying to change the subject because the context does not change.
Okay, per adventure, you're here today and you've yet to believe the gospel and have not become thereby a possessor of eternal life as an ambassador for Christ commissioned with the word of reconciliation, I've got good news.
It's life changing.
Listen, when Christ died, you along with the rest of the world were completely forgiven.
And the resurrection was the proof of that.
Proof that the sacrifice was accepted and God was satisfied.
So what did he do?
He stopped charging sins.
Now, is this good news exclusive to those who consider themselves godly believers?
No, it's for ungodly unbelievers.
Thankfully for us, we learned that forgiveness wasn't just for his friends, but for his enemies.
Romans 5:6, When we were yet without strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.
Verse 10, While we were enemies.
How's that for good news?
Good news overlooked by religion and sadly, even some in the greater grace space.
Christ forgave his ungodly enemies while we were in unbelief.
The work was finished and peace was made.
Reconciliation is a beautiful thing.
God made peace with his enemies.
Now we through faith, we acknowledge that peace by agreeing with him.
We don't make peace.
It's already made.
Made in our behalf.
We just believe it.
God reconciled us by the death of his son.
Now we reconcile him through faith.
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, was buried and rose again according to the scriptures.
Believing that won't save you, but believing that alone will.
Don't add to it.
Just receive it as a free gift.
Truth Time Radio.
We're not here to just expose right from wrong, but right from almost right.
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