Tuesday: Crucibles of Sin
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Romans 1:18, NKJV).
Everything we do has a consequence. If you stand in the hot sun with ice cream, it will certainly melt. Cause and effect always go together. And no matter how desperately we may want things to be different, it is the same with sin. It always reaps consequences.
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It is not that God sits in heaven wondering what terrible things He could do to people who sin; no, sin itself comes with its own built-in consequences.
The problem is that many times we think that we can somehow outwit God, and sin without experiencing the consequences. It never happens. Paul makes it very clear that sinning has consequences not only for eternity but painful and distressing consequences today.
In Romans 1:21-32, Paul describes the process of people falling into sin and the consequences of those sins. Read these verses prayerfully and carefully and summarize the essence of what Paul is saying, focusing specifically on the stages of sin and the consequences.
A couple of verses earlier Paul describes these consequences as the “wrath of God” (Romans 1:18). God’s wrath in this passage is simply God’s allowing human beings to reap what they sow. Even for Christians, God does not always intervene immediately to remove the pain that results from our own actions. Many times He allows us to experience the consequences of our actions in order for us to understand how deeply damaging and offensive our sin is.
We have been considering the consequences of breaking God’s moral laws. But what about breaking God’s health laws? Our bodies are God’s home. If we abuse our bodies by failing to eat healthfully or to exercise, or if we regularly overwork, this is also sin against God. And this has consequences that can create the conditions of a crucible.
| In your own life, how have you reaped the immediate consequences of your own sins? What lessons have you learned? What changes must you make in order not to go through something similar again? |
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It may come as no surprise that I agree with the lesson today when it expresses that sin is a cause and effect phenomenon whereby "sin itself comes with its own built-in consequences".
Further, I also agree with the lesson that God's wrath as per Romans 1:18,24,26,28 "is simply God’s allowing human beings to reap what they sow".
And yet further still, I also agree that there is no fundamental difference between the functional nature of moral and natural laws in that the type of law that is involved in both moral and natural law/s is inherent cause-and-effect principle.
If I may, I would propose that keeping these above principles at the forefront of our mind greatly assists our capacity to, in turn, progressively grow in our understanding of how God's ways are in fact higher than our human ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Study says:
Everything we do has a consequence. If you stand in the hot sun with ice cream, it will certainly melt.
*Cause and effect* always go together!
Comment:
A perfect example of *cause and effect* is in this scripture, as follows:
13 No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone.
14 But each person is tempted when he is *drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire*
15 *Then after desire has conceived* = CAUSE
*it gives birth to sin* = EFFECT
and when sin is *fully grown* it gives birth to death. = EFFECTS
The thoughts CAN be from Satan or SELF
, as Jesus was under his attacks in the wilderness with temptations, and overcame with scripture and the leading of the Spirit. He can help us to do the same!
BRING *EVERY THOUGHT CAPTIVE* TO CHRIST ! 2 Corinthians 10:5
A GOOD CAUSE AND EFFECT.
Shalom 🙏
"Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee." Ps. 119:11
"Great peace have they which love Thy law and nothing shall offend them." Ps. 119:165
If we have love and peace in our hearts, I would say that is the most powerful vaccine for preventing sin from entering even our hearts.
Amen 🙏
What puts the Word into the heart aka motivations ?
Answer: the mind that's in unity with Christ Jesus through the holy Spirit !
I have had a bad temper at times throughout my whole life. When I have exploded I've seen my little children (4yo and 6yo) become scared of me, not wanting to be around me, disobedient, etc. Thankfully, there was a safe person for my children, my husband who they would confide in. I felt horrible I couldn't have a closer relationship with my children.
I've prayed that God would help me be patient and humble, and He has brought crucible experiences in my life to teach me. I can praise God that He is giving me victory over my temper. And a life without a temper is a beautiful life indeed. When I feel my anger coming on I am finding better outlets: walking away, praying, singing hymns, and quoting the Bible.
Thanking for sharing and your honesty. I’m experiencing the exact same thing with my temper and my 5 year old daughter. Thank you for your encouraging story of overcoming. Please pray the same for me! God bless
Yes, I will be praying for you sister. Your job IS the most important. And between you and me, teaching children has its benefits. Adults can be hypocritical!
Thank you! I will be praying for you as well.
Rebecca, thank you for sharing your heart to the encouragement of all who read.
I found that if I just reached out to God with a heart cry of "Help me!" He could take the pressure off before I released it with my words. In time, this turning to God becomes as natural as a flower turning to the sun.
May God continue to bless you on your journey.
Thank you for your prayers. I know of a young woman who was paralyzed and in a wheelchair. She was healed by prayer 10 years ago. She is still walking! I know there is power in prayer!
Speaking of cause and effect, Even King David, after repenting and forgiveness, had bitter consequences to his sin that continued the rest of his life.
The consequences of breaking the laws of health can be seen clearly when we eat refined sugars and refined carbohydrates, our average blood sugars are elevated. What we don't see imediately is the deteriation it causes to our bodies, because of the delayed process, but we have the experience of others in the past to know that the consequences are taking place, and can thus be slowed by overcoming our previous habits. To Him that overcomes eternal life is given. Revelation 2:11. How to overcome. Surrender yourself to God. Choose to be willing to be made willing. Made willing by whome? Christ will make you willing to be made willing if you consent. That is by being born again in Christ. 1John 5:1-5.
Thanks, John.
It breaks my heart when I see earnest followers of God cut their lives short by neglecting the laws of our body which are as much the laws of God as are the Ten Commandment.
Satan has drawn many into his snares through tempting them to self-indulgence through the indulgence of appetite. That's why the first temptation Satan used on our Savior was to tempt Him to satisfy His own appetite instead of trusting God to provide. Thinking of how much He suffered should help us realize how important the overcoming of physical appetite (appeals to all of our senses, not just food) is to our spiritual life and eternal salvation.
Self-indulgence of any kind is a direct violation of God's laws, and it seems Satan tempts people to focus either on our spiritual lives or our physical lives when, in reality, they are closely bound together. Indulgence of appetite dulls our senses so that we do not properly discern the will of God. And, yes, it can do what the author suggests - it can shape a crucible of suffering for us - something the Lord never intended.
A quick check for our readers: Can you briefly name the 8 Laws of Health?
A quick check for our readers: Can you briefly name the 8 Laws of Health?
Hint: NEW START
Good. So who can list the laws that are represented by each of the letters of this great acronym?
Nutrition
Exercise
Water
Sunlight
Temperance
Air
Rest
Trust
This is NewStart
In today's scripture, Paul seems to be saying that we start life with a clean slate. If we don't choose God, He gives us over to sinful acts and their consequences.
Seems to me that we are born sinful and in need of a Savior every step of the way.
Or ..
We are born innocent but lack the holy Spirit because of the Adam and Eve. (They lost unity in Spirit with God) !
We need to be born from above to receive the Holy Spirit aka Born Again !
There are consequences to our actions and sometimes praying won't make them go away.God promises to be there and help us through those consequences.
The lesson author rightly notes that
But neither the author nor Paul give us reason to believe that God does not actively intervene in human lives to either soften the consequences of sin when the "natural consequences" might be death, for instance, or to impose consequences that are not "natural" but necessary.
There have been times in the history of God's people, for instance, when God intervened to signally punish high-handed sin in such a remarkable way that all were impressed that it was indeed the hand of God and not a natural event. One such example is the time that the earth opened up to swallow the tents of Korah, Dathan and Abiram in direct response to their rebellion. It helped the rest of the congregation to consider soberly their own response to God and put a little healthy dose of "fear God" in them to prevent them from harboring equally rebellious attitudes.
Then there is the story of Ananias and Sapphira in the New Testament. They piously came to Peter to donate all the proceeds from the sale of their property (so they pretended)so they could get standing among the believers and share in the common fund. Peter explicitly asked Ananias for how much he sold the land, and Ananias lied. As a consequence God executed judgment on him by striking him dead. When Sapphira repeated the lie, the same thing happened to her.
Here's the story as it is told in Acts 5:1-12
Note how these two signal judgments of God affected all who saw and heard. They learned that, even though God Himself gave His life for sinners, it is a fearful thing to presume to lie to the Almighty.
The Bible has many promises of blessings for the righteous, yet the righteous also suffer - sometimes to the death, just as Christ did.
The Bible is also full of warnings of bad things to happen to the wicked, yet sometimes, as noted in the Psalms, the wicked prosper and go comfortably to their graves.
Thus we learn to understand that, although the final reward of the righteous is eternal life and the final reward of the wicket is eternal death, there are many different paths for God's children to walk. We may have to walk "through the valley of the shadow of death," but we can know that He is with us in that dark valley, and even in the valley, He will restore our souls.
Studying the Scripture references, I find that the true crucibles of sin(ing) comes about with the rejection of God’s Way after having learned about it. When reading Rom.1:21-32, I could not get a clear understanding of the context; I needed to go back and started with Rom.1:12, finding that the context of these verses is the authenticity and sovereignty of God’s Gospel – His Will and Way - as delivered by Jesus Christ, and for us to live accordingly.
Though known and understood by them - Rom.1:17-20 ”For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written – The just shall live by Faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the TRUTH in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in (or, to) them; for God hath showed it unto them.” ; v.20 - ....”even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are (or, that they may be) without excuse.’ It appears that those Paul refered to used it for their own self-aggrandizement and might have encouraged others to follow them.
Now I see the context and can understand who’s ‘heart was darkened’ – Rom.1:21-22: ”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.”
These verses focus on dismissing the sovereignty of God - His Will and Way - in spite of knowing better. This leads me to think that Paul is referring to a certain type of people who, by forming their own truths, reject God’s Truth and therefore loose their relationship with God and are left to their own devices.
Rom.1:28 - ”And even as they did not like to retain (or, to acknowledge) God in their knowledge, God gave them over to reprobate (or, a mind void of judgement), to do those things which are not convenient; …” - v.22, by ‘professing themselves to be wise, they became fools’!