coincidentally...
So i went to CS public meeting today, where we looked at Romans 1:18-32. Needless to say the connections God made between post previous and the study were plentiful...
Basically we looked at "What's Wrong with the World" (wwwtw). We were asked who we blame for wwwtw? Something i've never really considered before... and was thus left rather speechless. Up until conversion (circa 2002/3) i probably would have/did blame society, politicians, greedy tycoons, etc, etc. But quite honestly, when asked the question today i drew a blank - it just hasn't occurred to me to blame someone. Then i realised that we're all to blame, sin, satan, etc.
Please excuse the severly lacking eloquence of expression!
So, the passage says that we (the world), in replacing God with idols, exchanged truth for lies. We got rid of God, so we got rid of truth. Now the world has decided that there is no distinction between what's right and wrong (can you say po-mo) and in doing so, has unknowlingly (??) exchanged the truth of a beautifully perfect sovereign God, for a lie and DOOM!!!! v.18 says the wrath of God has been revealed; He has given them over to their sin (vv 24, 26, 28). He has literally given the world what it wants, an unfulfilling, meaningless, discontented, unhappy, basically blech life. The world's problem is that they want the wrong thing. (What a poetically just punishment!)
Questions arising from this:
Assuming i'm right in assuming that biblically speaking, punishment is associated with God's wrath, then since we are protected by God's wrath because of Jesus' sacrifice, then does this mean we are not punished (in a biblical sense)? I am willing to argue that we are not punished in the sense of God's wrath, but rather punished for disciplinary purposes? that came out a whole lot better here than it did in our discussion...
For example, when i deliberately sin, or choose not to prevent myself from sinning, I am exchanging God's truth for a lie. Does God punish me as an expression of his wrath? This was discussed further - perhaps punishment could take the form of suffering under the devil's snares; feeling excessively guilty, playing down/ignoring God's promise of forgiveness, allowing ourselves to excuse away the sin, etc. Basically attempts at sabotaging our relationship with God. Does God allow us to succumb to these? or do we allow ourselves? What form does his discipline take? Does he always discipline us? Is there a difference between discipline and punishment?
it's all really quite confusing.
Basically we looked at "What's Wrong with the World" (wwwtw). We were asked who we blame for wwwtw? Something i've never really considered before... and was thus left rather speechless. Up until conversion (circa 2002/3) i probably would have/did blame society, politicians, greedy tycoons, etc, etc. But quite honestly, when asked the question today i drew a blank - it just hasn't occurred to me to blame someone. Then i realised that we're all to blame, sin, satan, etc.
Please excuse the severly lacking eloquence of expression!
So, the passage says that we (the world), in replacing God with idols, exchanged truth for lies. We got rid of God, so we got rid of truth. Now the world has decided that there is no distinction between what's right and wrong (can you say po-mo) and in doing so, has unknowlingly (??) exchanged the truth of a beautifully perfect sovereign God, for a lie and DOOM!!!! v.18 says the wrath of God has been revealed; He has given them over to their sin (vv 24, 26, 28). He has literally given the world what it wants, an unfulfilling, meaningless, discontented, unhappy, basically blech life. The world's problem is that they want the wrong thing. (What a poetically just punishment!)
Questions arising from this:
Assuming i'm right in assuming that biblically speaking, punishment is associated with God's wrath, then since we are protected by God's wrath because of Jesus' sacrifice, then does this mean we are not punished (in a biblical sense)? I am willing to argue that we are not punished in the sense of God's wrath, but rather punished for disciplinary purposes? that came out a whole lot better here than it did in our discussion...
For example, when i deliberately sin, or choose not to prevent myself from sinning, I am exchanging God's truth for a lie. Does God punish me as an expression of his wrath? This was discussed further - perhaps punishment could take the form of suffering under the devil's snares; feeling excessively guilty, playing down/ignoring God's promise of forgiveness, allowing ourselves to excuse away the sin, etc. Basically attempts at sabotaging our relationship with God. Does God allow us to succumb to these? or do we allow ourselves? What form does his discipline take? Does he always discipline us? Is there a difference between discipline and punishment?
it's all really quite confusing.