Given Over

Given Over
Words of Faith 7-14-2021
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2021
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Roman 1
    [26] Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. [27] In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

        What does it mean for God to "give over" a person to sin?

        God first gave sinful humanity over to sexual impurity and bodily degradation.  The next step in the journey, described in the text today, was when God gave them over to these lusts and unnatural relations.  God does not stand in the way of our sinful lusts and desires, no matter how abhorrent they may be.
        When we first encounter sin, we experience guilt and shame. It is part of that innate knowledge that God created within us.  God has equipped every human with a conscience that guides us.  But that conscience can be dulled.  
        We often will encounter people who have no conscience regarding the sin in their lives.  They may even claim to be Christian and yet are living in a sinful lifestyle.  Such people will often claim that they are "perfectly comfortable" with their sinful lifestyle.  
         Some may even say that God has "blessed" their sinful life or that God has given them "peace" about the life their living. They may even say that God has created the very desire for sin within them.  How can this be?  The answer is that such a person who has been "given over" by God to shameful lusts.  Over time as a person pursues a path away from God, the conscience becomes numb. Paul said that such a person might have their conscience seared as with a hot iron (1 Tim. 4:2).  
        Over time, the spiritual nerve endings that once warned a person of danger can become seared after repeated deliberate exposure to the hot iron of sin. Sin is very much like the ancient dread disease of leprosy that rendered physical nerve ending numb, resulting in the loss of fingers and toes to injury. Likewise, when the spiritual nerve endings of the soul are numbed to sin, horrible damage and deformity can occur.
         Paul is clear that there is still a penalty for perversion whether a person is "at peace" with their sin or not.  The immediate penalty is the terrible natural consequence of unnatural relations.  In addition to the terrible ravages to physical health, people who have chosen to descend into such lifestyles suffer incredible inner scarring and misery.  Some of the most miserable and lonely people are those who have been used and throw away by the subcultures of sin.
         One of the great lies afloat in the modern Christendom is the attempt to sanctify or bless unbiblical lifestyles based upon acceptability in the current culture rather than the truth of God's Word.  The church must resist the temptation to bless every lifestyle in which people feel "at peace."  Feelings are not the test of truth. Only the Word of God can separate our subjective feelings and wishful thinking from the truth.  For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double‑edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart (Hebrews 4:12).
         Our call for today is to pray for all those who have been given over to all shameful lusts, not just the shameful lusts we disapprove of.  Our call is neither to stand in judgment (God and His Word do this perfectly well) nor to condone such lifestyles (God and His Word will not allow such).  Our call is simply to pray and love with the uncompromised love of Jesus, who conversed with numerous people caught in sinful lifestyles.  Our call is to embody the freedom that is available in Christ.

           Lord Jesus, protect me by Your grace from the downward spiral of sin.  Give me compassion for the lost and a heart of intercession for those who have chosen to defy You and Your created order.  Allow Your freedom to be so evident in my life that those around me will see that freedom.   In Jesus' name.  Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2021
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)        
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2021 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.