Bible Studies
The Idolatry of Romans 1 (Rom. 1:20-32)
Series: Lessons on IdolatryIntroduction:
1. The worship of idols grossly insults the true and living God. 2. Israel witnessed the true and living God as He had acted for her deliverance from Egypt. Cf. Psa. 106:7ff.a. He had demonstrated His great power over all the so-called gods of Egypt in the plagues.
b. He had demonstrated His reality at the Red Sea by parting the waters and allowing Israel to cross on dry ground.
c. He had provided water and food for this hoard of people as they journeyed toward the land He had promised them.
d. He had owned them as His own special people and promised them a land flowing with milk and honey.
3. But as they waited on Moses to come down from Sinai they rose up and made for themselves a molten calf and fell down and worshiped it. 4. We may look at them and marvel at their ignorance and their insolence, but idol worship may not be so far away from us as we think. 5. One of Paul’s most explicit elaborations on idolatry is found in Rom. 1:20ff. From this passage we learn many things that serve as a warning for us lest we too give in to the corruptions of idolatry.Discussion:
I. The fundamental fault of idolatry is the elevation of one’s own thinking above the revelation of God (Rom. 1:20-22).A. Professing to be wise, they became fools (v. 22).
1. God has made himself evident. He has revealed His eternal power and divine nature through what has been made.
2. “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge” (Psa. 19:1-2).
3. God has gone beyond the mere creation. He has revealed Himself explicitly in spoken and written form (Psa. 19:7).
B. Idolatry begins with a rejection of God’s communication.
1. Israel was too impatient to wait for Moses to come down from Sinai with the communication of God. She made a calf that could not hear nor speak and worshiped it.
2. People suppress the truth God reveals and go after their own way. With the off hand remark, “People interpret that in different ways,” they gloss over the truth of God’s revelation and go after their own thinking. “Yes, people interpret things in different ways, but what is God communicating to you? What are you going to do with what He says?”
3. Rejecting what God reveals and elevating one’s own thinking is idolatry.
II. Such idolatry opens the gate to all kinds of other sins (Rom. 1:24, 26, 28).A.“God gave them over.”
1. God allowed them to do what they wanted.
2. Recall my dad’s remark. “Go ahead then and do what you are going to do.”
B. When your heart is darkened and you do not have the light of God’s direction you will practice the deeds of darkness.
1. Israel had done so. Ezek. 22:1-16 says that she had been defiled by her idols (v. 4).
2. Verses 6ff describe her sins.
a. Treated father and mother lightly (cf. Matt. 15:3ff).
b. Oppressed the alien.
c. Wronged the fatherless and the widow (cf. James 1:27).
d. Despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.
e. Slanderous men have been in you for the purpose of shedding blood (note those that Jezebel (the idolater) hired to bring false accusations against Naboth that resulted in his murder, 1 Kings 21).
f. They committed all manner of sexual sins (10-11).
3. This is the same thing that Paul describes in Rom. 1. Their idolatry had given rise to all manner of sinful behavior (note verses 24-31).
C. There is an exchange that takes place in idolatry.
1. “They exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image” (23).
2. “They exchangedthe truth of God for a lie” (25).
3. “Their women exchanged the natural function for the unnatural” (26).
4. Psa. 106:20 says when Israel made the calf, “They exchanged their glory for the image of an ox.”
5. God asked Judah, “Has a nationchanged gods when they are no gods? But My people have changed their glory for that which does not profit” (Jer. 2:11).
D. Once people make this change they will not reflect God’s nature and attributes.
1. They are not righteous like God, but are unrighteous (Rom. 1:18-19).
2. Not wise as reflectors of God’s wisdom, but fools (v. 22).
3. Not truthful, but filled with deceit (v. 29).
4. Not good, but inventors of evil (v. 30).
5. Not loving, but unloving (v. 31).
6. Not merciful, but unmerciful (v. 31).
7. Such behaviors are worthy of death (v. 32).
E. God’s eternal power and divine nature as reflected in the creation can change people.
1. To the idolaters in Athens Paul said, “God gives to all life and breath and all things” (cf. Acts 17:25). God is a giver. You should be too!
2. To the idolaters in Lystra Paul said, “God did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness” (Acts 14:17).
3. To the rich young ruler (an idolater) was told that none was good, but God alone (Matt. 19:17).
4. Idolatry results in greed not giving (Rom. 1:29; Eph. 5:5; Col. 3:5).
5. Renewal to a true knowledge of God changes the behavior of idolaters (Col. 3:5ff; 1 Cor. 6:9ff; Gal. 5:16ff). Friendship with the world is hostility toward God (James 4:4).
6. The message of the gospel is that God is a giver. Allow it to transform you!
III. Idol worshipers not only practice but alsoencourage others to practice sinful behaviors. In other words they are evangelistic (Rom. 1:32).A. Is it any wonder then that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one?
B. Is it any wonder that the way is broad that leads to destruction?
C. “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever” (1 Jn. 2:15-17).
D. God worshipers are evangelistic too. They encourage godlike practices.
Conclusion:
1. Who does your life reflect you are worshiping? 2. Would you be changed? Bring Christ your broken life so marred by sin. He will create anew. Make whole again. 3. Kneel at the cross, give your idols up. 4. Be transformed by the giving God so that you become a giver.
