Filled With All Unrighteousness (Romans 1:28-32) #3

The Gentiles Romans 1:18-32 Under wrath for rejecting God, 1:18-21Under wrath for rejecting God, 1:18-21 God “gave them up to…”God “gave them up to…” –Uncleanness, 1:24 –Vile passions, 1:26 –Depraved mind, 1:28 Refusing to know God leads to all manner of sin, 1:28-32Refusing to know God leads to all manner of sin, 1:28-32 –Extended list of sins that tear away at social fabric 2

CHARACTER ASSASSINS Romans 1:

Character Assassins: Haters of Men and God, 1:29-30  Whisperers (secret maligners)  Motive of hate, Psalm 41:7 (4-6)  Hurts in the end, Proverbs 26:22  Complaining and grumbling, Phil. 2:14  Cowardly, malicious sin, 2 Cor. 12:20 (Matthew 18:15)  Detracts from others by exciting suspicion against them and dropping hints they are evil 4

Whisperers are Cowardly! Whisperers are cowardly sneaks who have not the courage to come out in the open and say damaging things about others, but secretly peddle their slanderous statements and insinuations against the object or objects of their campaign of spite. They usually add: ‘Be sure not to use my name in connection with the matter, for I do not want to get mixed up in the mess.’ Such characters have been aptly termed ‘snakes in the grass.’ They would destroy a good name, and then gloat over what they had been able to accomplish. Only the Lord can properly award such characters.” -R. L. Whiteside, Commentary on Romans, 43 5

Character Assassins: Haters of Men and God, 1:29-30  Backbiters (slanderers)  To defame, speak evil against  A form of slander – Bolder than whisperings, yet still it does not face its object  Causes anger, Proverbs 25:23  Does not abide with God, Psalm 15:1-3 (101:5) 6

Character Assassins: Haters of Men and God, 1:29-30  Haters of God (“hated by God”)  “deniers of the being and providence of God, and showed themselves to be enemies to him by their evil works” (Gill)  These blasphemy God and His authority, 2 Tim. 3:2; 2 Peter 2:10 7

SINS OF SELF- IMPORTANCE Romans 1:30 8

Violently Arrogant Romans 1:30  An insulting person: “one who, uplifted with pride, either heaps insulting language upon others or does them some shameful act of wrong” (Thayer)  Insolent, 1 Timothy 1:13  Insultingly contemptuous  Saul, Acts 9:1; 26:11  Not evil for evil, Rom. 12:

Boasters Romans 1:30  To make more of oneself than is justified by reality  “Empty pretenders, swaggerers, braggarts” (A.T. Robertson)  Conceit, Romans 12:3, 16  Inflated estimation of oneself:  Of not needing spiritual help, Galatians 6:2-3  Of not falling, 1 Cor. 10:12 10

INVENTORS OF EVIL THINGS Romans 1:30 11

 Go out looking for trouble, Proverbs 1:10-16; 4:14-16  Resourceful to do evil, Jeremiah 4:22  Example: Seductress, Proverbs 7:5 (6-7)  Contrast: Disciples of Christ must be harmless as doves, Matt. 10:16  Innocent, Philippians 2: Inventors of evil things Romans 1:30

Full of All Unrighteousness  We must harbor no ill-will and contempt, Romans 13:8  By not knowing God people fail to properly value both God and man  Gospel can deliver them as it delivered us, Titus 3:1-3 13