Guitar Jams! Pastor Brad's Christian MetalShred Guitar World! Christianity--What makes God turn someone over to reprobate mind? Hey bro... if you go back and check out the context of that passage in Romans 1... you will see that the people Paul is writing about "CHOSE" to reject God... God simply let them do what they wanted--this is a lesson in CAUSE and AFFECT... they chose to reject God, so He let them go.... ROMANS 1 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him,(that was a choice they made... see that?) but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened (The Fruit of bad choices). 22Although they claimed to be wise (a proud, unrepentan heart), they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (The fruit of those choices)... I'll quit editorializing.... I'll just highlight and the key phrases... take of how WHO choses to reject WHO... you'll get it. Email me if you have any questions. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In 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. 28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil... I received this repsonse to this note... "Ok. So it's not where someone has sinned to many times and God turns them over?" So, I wrote back... Well... sort of yes, and no... Here's what i mean by that. If you choose to reject God over and over and over and over and over and over... you conscience can become callased to the point that you can no longer feel the convicting pull of the Spirit... at that point--it's not that God can't or isn't willing to forgive... but you can't repent--and without repentance--you can't receive God's grace... get it? Here's the BIG DEAL... If you are aware of the fact that you aren't perfect...that you're a sinner and that you need grace... that you need to let God's Spirit rule and reign in your life... you have NOT reached that point... EVERYONE screws up (sins)... when you stumble, repent, receive God's forgiveness with thanksgiving... and MOVE ON! |