Lessons #47 and 48
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ HCSB = Holman Christian Standard Bible +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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Punishment of handing over idolaters to all kinds of sinful conducts (Rom 1:28-32)
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. 29 They 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, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
The message of Romans 1:28-32 that we are considering is God punishes idolaters who although know the consequence of rejecting His righteous requirements reject them anyway, by handing them over to all kinds of sinful conducts. We started to consider the list that gives the results of God having handed idolaters over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts. We have considered the first three things in the list that gives the results of God handing idolaters over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts. The first is described as all sorts of unrighteousness as given in the phrase of Romans 1:29 every kind of wickedness. The second thing the apostle mentioned that controls the idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is in the word of the NIV “evil,” that we indicated in the passage of Romans 1:29 refers to perversion of virtue and moral principles from their purposes to evil ends. The third thing that controls the idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is greed as given in Romans 1:29. So, we proceed with the fourth.
The fourth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that controls the idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is mean-spiritedness described with the word depravity in Romans 1:29. The word “depravity” is translated from a Greek word (kakia) with several meanings that overlap with the Greek word (ponēria) the apostle used in the same verse that is translated “evil” but which we interpreted in our verse to mean “depravity” or “perversion,” that is, “the perverting of virtue and moral principles from their purposes to evil ends.” As we have indicated the two Greek words have overlapping meanings since both Greek words may be translated “evil”. For example, the Greek word translated “depravity” is translated “evil” in the encouragement the Holy Spirit gave to believers regarding how they should act as infants with respect to evil but to act as adults in their thoughts as stated in 1 Corinthians 14:20:
Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.
That aside, our Greek word translated “depravity” may mean “trouble or misfortune,” as it is used in Matthew 6:34:
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Another meaning of the Greek word refers to the quality or state of wickedness hence means “baseness, wickedness” as the word is used to describe what believers should avoid in 1 Corinthians 5:8:
Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and wickedness, but with bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth.
Still another meaning of the word refers to a mean-spirited or vicious attitude or disposition, hence means “malice, ill-will, malignity, hateful feeling, hostility”, as the word is used with meaning “malice” as part of vices believers should get rid of as stated in Ephesians 4:31:
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
In our passage of Romans 1:29, the word is used with the sense of “a mean-spirited or vicious attitude or disposition” hence means “malignity” or “desire to injure someone.” Thus, the idolaters God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts are controlled by malignity or desire to injure someone. The person who is controlled by such a thing is an individual with the “heart of stone” since no spiritual heart transplant has taken place for such a person. We know that only when a person is regenerated, that is, spiritual heart transplant has occurred, that the heart of stone is replaced with “heart of flesh” as per what Prophet Ezekiel stated in Ezekiel 36:26:
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Anyway, the fourth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that controls the idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “mean-spiritedness” described with the word depravity in Romans 1:29.
The fifth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “envy” as given in the sentence of the NIV of Romans 1:29 They are full of envy. Literally, the Greek reads full of envy. This is because there is no verb used in the Greek text; instead, we have a Greek adjective (mestos) that literally means “full” as “it pertains to filling up a space” as it is used to describe Peter’s fishing net being full of fish at the Lord Jesus’ command after His resurrection to cast his net at a certain location of the Sea of Galilee as recorded in John 21:11:
Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.
Figuratively, the word may mean “be filled with something” as “it pertains to being thoroughly characterized by something” as in the description of the wisdom from God as full of mercy in James 3:17:
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
In our passage of Romans 1:29, the word is used with the meaning “filled with something” in the sense of “being thoroughly characterized by something.” By the way, there is no considerable difference between our Greek word and the Greek word translated “have become filled” at the beginning of verse 29. That aside, the meaning of the word we have considered implies the idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts are characterized by “envy.”
The word “envy” is translated from a Greek word (phthonos) that means “envy,” that is, “spite and resentment toward the success or possessions of another.” Most of our English versions used this meaning of “envy” to translate our Greek word in our passage but a handful of English versions such as, the NCV and the TEV, used the meaning “jealousy.” The word “envy” and “jealous” are related that often the two are exchanged for each other. It is difficult to differentiate between the two but there is a difference. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of NT words give a good distinction between them. According to this source, envy desires to deprive another of what the individual has while jealousy desires to have the same or the same sort of thing for itself perhaps not necessarily desiring for the other to be deprived of what the individual has. This aside, envy is a sin that is usually triggered by the good fortune of another. Thus, it is the blessing of God on Isaac that triggered the envy of the Philistines as stated in Genesis 26:12–15:
12 Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the Lord blessed him. 13 The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. 14 He had so many flocks and herds and servants that the Philistines envied him. 15 So all the wells that his father’s servants had dug in the time of his father Abraham, the Philistines stopped up, filling them with earth.
It is not only that we have a direct assertion of the envy of the Philistines but the fact the Philistines stopped up the wells that belonged to Isaac’s father, Abraham, indicates that envy was involved since their intention was to deprive Isaac of the use of the wells his father dug. We should recognize that envy is not only a sin directed towards others, but it can hurt the one that gets involved in it. I mean that envy is one of those sins that a person commits and is directly impacted. This we derive from what it is said that envy could do to the body of the individual engaged in it as stated in Proverbs 14:30:
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
The clause but envy rots the bones is literally rottenness of bones envy. This is because the word “rots” of the NIV is translated from a Hebrew noun (rāqāḇ) that means “rottenness, decay.” So, the literal phrase rottenness of bones refers to a disease that weakness the bones, probably a cancer that causes pain to the bones that will eventually lead to death. This being the case, it is important that a believer should avoid envy as it is a part of the punishment of idolaters. Again, the fifth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “envy” as given in the sentence of the NIV of Romans 1:29 They are full of envy.
The sixth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “murder” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:29 murder. The word “murder” is translated from a Greek word (phonos) that means “murder, killing.” It is important we recognize that murder is an intentional taking of the life of another in contrast to manslaughter that is an unintentional taking of the life of another as we may gather from the punishment specified in the OT Scriptures regarding the taking of life of another person as we read in Exodus 21:12–13:
12 “Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death. 13 However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will designate.
A person may not be directly involved in taking the life of another but if that person planned it and someone else executed it, the person that planned it is guilty of murder. This we learn from God charging David with the death of Uriah although he did not personally take his life, but it was because he planned the death of Uriah, albeit through Israel’s enemies, that David was regarded as a murderer according to 2 Samuel 12:9–10:
9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
Similarly, Ahab was charged of the murder of Naboth although he did not directly take his life, but he was silent and so acquiesced to the wife, Jezebel, that arranged for the stoning to death Naboth for his property and so God charged him of murder as we read in 1 Kings 21:19:
Say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: Have you not murdered a man and seized his property?’ Then say to him, ‘This is what the LORD says: In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”
That aside, we should recognize that biblical standard of murder is more than physically taking the life of a person. A person who hates another is defined as a murderer according to 1 John 3:15:
Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
Anyway, the sixth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “murder.”
The seventh thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “strife” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:29 strife. The word “strife” is translated from a Greek word (eris) that refers to engagement in rivalry, especially with reference to positions taken in a matter and so it has several meanings. The word may mean “dissension”, that is, disagreement as it is used in describing the behavior expected of believers that involves avoidance of dissension in Romans 13:13:
Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.
The word may mean “quarrel, quarreling” as it is used to describe the state of affairs among the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 3:3:
You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?
The phrase quarreling among you is translated strife among you in some English versions. The Greek word may mean “discord” as it is used in describing the activities of the sinful nature in Galatians 5:20:
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions.
Another meaning of our Greek word is “rivalry” as the word is used to describe what Apostle Paul said about the reason some preach the gospel in Philippians 1:15:
It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.
In our passage of Romans 1:29, the word means “strife,” that is, “bitter conflict” or “heated, often violent dissension.” Thus, idolaters are characterized by hatred, fighting, and violent dissension since they are a sense fools who do not acknowledge God. On the contrary, the believer that is supposed to be wise avoids strife. This is implied in the contrast in Proverbs where the fool is contrasted to the wise using the word “strife” as stated in Proverbs 20:3:
It is to a man’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.
Anyway, the seventh thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “strife,” that is, “bitter conflict” or “heated, often violent dissension.”
The eighth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “deceit” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:29 deceit. The word “deceit” is translated from a Greek word (dolos) that refers to “taking advantage through craft and underhanded methods,” hence it may mean “trickery” as Apostle Paul used it in his sarcastic statement to the Corinthians, probably in response to those who accuse him of taking up some of the money collected by Titus and his companions for believers in Judea as recorded in 2 Corinthians 12:16:
Be that as it may, I have not been a burden to you. Yet, crafty fellow that I am, I caught you by trickery!
In our passage of Romans 1:29, the word has the sense of “craftiness,” that is, “shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception.” So, those who are idolaters or unbelievers are characterized by deceit so that such individuals are described figuratively as being pregnant with it in Job 15:35:
They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb fashions deceit.”
It is, thus, not surprising that Elymas, the Jewish sorcerer and false prophet, as an unbeliever, was described by Apostle Paul as filled with deceit before he pronounced judgment of blindness on him. His description of Elymas is given in Acts 13:10:
“You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?
By the way, it is because “deceit” is that which characterizes idolaters or unbelievers that the Holy Spirit commanded believers through the pen of Apostle Peter to get rid of it in 1 Peter 2:1:
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
Anyway, the eighth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “deceit,” that is, “craftiness” or “shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception.” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:29 deceit.
The ninth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “mean spiritedness” or “malice” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:29 and malice. The word “malice” is translated from a Greek word (kakoētheia) appears only here in the Greek NT; it means “mean spiritedness” or “malice” in the sense of “a character trait that feels a need to see others suffer.” It is not a surprise that the word “malice” is used to describe the idolatrous nations’ attitude that served as the instrument of God’s punishment on idolatrous Israel as we read in Ezekiel 36:5:
this is what the Sovereign LORD says: In my burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pastureland.’
The point is that malice characterizes idolaters or unbelievers. This is the reason that believers are commanded to get rid of it in their lives as stated in Colossians 3:8:
But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
The phrase but now indicates that Apostle Paul states what should be different from how believers used to live while they were unbelievers that included malice. In any case, the ninth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “mean spiritedness” or “malice” in the sense of “a character trait that feels a need to see others suffer.”
The tenth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “rumormongering” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:29 They are gossips. There is no verb used in the Greek so that the literal Greek simply reads gossips. Of course, the word “gossip” is translated from a Greek word (psithyristēs) that appears only here in the Greek NT; it means “rumormonger” or “gossiper,” that is, “one who is especially characterized by whispers and hushed tones.” Gossip is something attractive to people and so people are eager to hear it and consume it. This truth is stated in Proverbs 18:8:
The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts.
The phrase choice morsels is a way of describing tasty food that someone eagerly gobbles. So, the imagery of the phrase is to convey that people love to listen to gossip and easily take it in. In as much as people love to hear gossip, we should recognize that it can have disastrous consequences. For example, it can ruin friendship as stated in Proverbs 16:28:
A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.
Furthermore, if you love gossiping, you will inadvertently disclose something someone confided in you as also stated in Proverbs 20:19:
A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much.
The word “confidence” is translated from a Hebrew word (sôḏ) that refers to “confidential conversations” or “secrets.” A person who talks too much is prone to being a gossiper and, in the process, may reveal something someone told the individual in confidence. Hence, gossip as that found among idolaters is something that believers should avoid. In any event, the tenth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “rumormongering” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:29 They are gossips.
The eleventh thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “slander” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:30 slanderers. The word “slanderer” is translated from a Greek word (katalalos) that appears only here in Greek NT; it is a word that pertains to speaking ill of others and so means “a slanderer,” that is, “a person who attacks the reputation of another by slander or libel.” Slander is a vice a believer should avoid. Therefore, I will review what I had previously taught about slander.
What is slander? Let me start by stating what it is not. It is not concerned with reporting something wrong or misconduct we have observed to be true to the appropriate person who is in a position to do something about it. Several times in the Scripture, Apostle Paul referred to receiving a bad report concerning a congregation. For example, the apostle speaks of hearing a report of quarrels in the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 1:11:
My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
Someone also reported to the apostle concerning sexual misconduct in the church at Corinth, according to 1 Corinthians 5:1:
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that does not occur even among pagans: A man has his father's wife.
Similarly, someone reported of the laziness of some people among the Thessalonians, as we read in 2 Thessalonians 3:11:
We hear that some among you are idle. They are not busy; they are busybodies.
In each of these reports, there is no evidence that the apostle rebuked those who gave him the report. If the individuals who provided these reports to the apostle did something wrong or were guilty of slander, we would have expected the apostle to rebuke them or at least indicate that it is wrong to bring certain information to the notice of the spiritual leadership of a congregation, but he did not. Thus, it should be clear that reporting something wrong done by another to the one who can do something about it is not slander.
We have indicated what slander is not, so we state what it is. Slander is some form of communication that is usually untrue, designed to harm a person’s reputation and carried out usually in public although private communication is possible. We should be quite clear about what constitutes slander since providing truthful information to those in authority is not slander. There are three factors that, if present during the process of providing information to another, would turn that information into slander. First, there must be some form of hostility or hatred on the part of the informant. Second, the information given must be untrue. Third, the intention of the informant is to destroy the reputation of another. If any or all three are involved in information that one supplies, we have the case of slander. You see believers who love each other and are concerned for the spiritual welfare of their fellow believers could not meet these three elements that make reported information become slander. Because if you love a fellow believer and that person goes astray, you do not want to make a public display of the person’s failure, but you handle your knowledge of the individual’s failure in such a way as to help person even if that information is passed on to the spiritual leadership of the congregation. I want it to be clear that we understand that these three elements or any of them must be present in the process of passing information to turn it to slander. So, let me illustrate from the Bible where these three elements are clearly involved in slander. Our illustration is taken from instruction on how to deal with a man who impugns his wife’s virginity at the point of marriage, as we read in Deuteronomy 22:13–19:
13 If a man takes a wife and, after lying with her, dislikes her 14 and slanders her and gives her a bad name, saying, “I married this woman, but when I approached her, I did not find proof of her virginity,” 15 then the girl’s father and mother shall bring proof that she was a virgin to the town elders at the gate. 16 The girl’s father will say to the elders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he dislikes her. 17 Now he has slandered her and said, ‘I did not find your daughter to be a virgin.’ But here is the proof of my daughter’s virginity.” Then her parents shall display the cloth before the elders of the town, 18 and the elders shall take the man and punish him. 19 They shall fine him a hundred shekels of silver and give them to the girl’s father, because this man has given an Israelite virgin a bad name. She shall continue to be his wife; he must not divorce her as long as he lives.
This passage indicates that the man dislikes his wife, lies about her with the intention of destroying her reputation. So, it is clearly with slander that this passage is concerned. In any event, we should note that there are consequences for slander. For the man who slandered his wife was not only to be fined but also, he could not possibly divorce his wife as long as he lives which to some husbands could be considered a lifetime jail sentence with hardship. Anyhow, you should avoid slander.
Why should you avoid slander, you may ask? It is so that you will not grieve the Holy Spirit and so deprive yourself of the filling of the Spirit. Of course, there are other consequences for slander. Therefore, before you pass information on to the appropriate individual you must be certain that it is true, for if you lie because of your hatred for that individual, you are indeed asking for trouble. You will be disciplined by the Lord. Hence, it is advisable to pay heed to the instruction of Proverbs 30:10:
"Do not slander a servant to his master, or he will curse you, and you will pay for it.
Only a fool, after recognizing that there would be consequences to slander would go ahead and slander someone. No wonder a slanderer is described as a fool in Proverbs 10:18:
He who conceals his hatred has lying lips, and whoever spreads slander is a fool.
Therefore, it is spiritually beneficial not to become involved in slander. Not only should you not become involved in slander but also you should seek to avoid the company of those who love slandering others, as instructed in 1 Corinthians 5:11:
But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
However, if you become a victim of slander that should not cause you to become bitter towards the person who slanders you but as a believer controlled by the Holy Spirit, you should show kindness to such an individual. It is this kind of attitude that Apostle Paul says he and his team were involved in, as we read in 1 Corinthians 4:13:
when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.
I trust that you are now clear that slander is any untrue speech directed against someone, which is critical and designed to hurt the reputation of that person. If you are involved in slander, you should avoid it as per the command of the passage we cited previously, that is, Ephesians 4:31:
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
Anyway, the eleventh thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “slander” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:30 slanderers.
The twelfth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “hating God” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:30 God-haters. The expression “God-hater” is translated from a Greek word (theostygēs) that appears only here in Greek NT; it means “hating God” so that the meaning “God-hater” is appropriate. Those so described are characterized by “intense dislike and antipathy toward God.” Actually, anyone that is involved in idolatry is a hater of God. This is implied from what God said about the punishment to be doled out to those who are involved in idolatry as stated in Exodus 20:5:
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.
Today, anyone that hates the name of Jesus Christ is a hater of God. This, we may deduce from the assertion of Jesus Christ regarding the implication of hating Him recorded in John 15:23:
He who hates me hates my Father as well.
The point is that anyone who hates the Lord Jesus Christ or hates the word of God is indeed a hater of God. Thus, the twelfth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “hating God” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:30 God-haters.
The thirteenth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “insolence” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:30 insolent. The word “insolent” is translated from a Greek word (hybristēs) that is used seven times in the Septuagint primarily with the sense of arrogance or pride, as for example, it is the word that is used to describe the proud as those who would be the object of God’s judgment in Isaiah 2:12:
The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled),
However, the word occurs twice in the Greek NT; it is used with the meaning of “violent” by Apostle Paul to describe his pre-salvation state in 1 Timothy 1:13:
Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.
In the second occurrence of the word in our passage of Romans 1:30, the word means “insolent or hubristic person,” that is, an arrogant person that is “characterized by offensive, disrespectful acts or statements that are outrageously forward or bold.” It is thus not surprising that the Jewish historian Josephus used our Greek word to describe the men of Sodom for their offensive language about homosexuality that certainly ignores God as recorded in Genesis 19:5:
They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
So, we should understand that our word in Romans 1:30 describes an individual who has no regard for God and so boldly sins, so to speak, or utters words that dishonor God and His word. In any event, the thirteenth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “insolence” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:30 insolent, that is, an arrogant person that is characterized by offensive disrespectful acts or statements that are outrageously forward or bold.
The fourteenth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “arrogance” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:30 arrogant. The word “arrogant” is translated from a Greek word (hyperēphanos) that means “arrogant, haughty” in the sense that a person proudly overestimates the individual’s means or merit to the point of despising or treating others with contempt. It is with the meaning “proud” that the word is used in Apostle Peter’s quotation about God’s attitude towards the arrogant in his instruction for believers to be humble as we read in 1 Peter 5:5:
Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
In our passage of Romans 1:30, it means “arrogant” in the sense of “being characterized by feelings of unwarranted importance out of overbearing pride.”
Arrogance is, no doubt, proud and unpleasant behavior directed towards others by an individual that thinks self to be superior to others in whatever way the person evaluates self. However, we should recognize it as a rebellion towards God. Thus, it is not surprising that arrogance is equated to idolatry as we read in 1 Samuel 15:23:
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”
Idolatry is a rebellion against God in that He is replaced by some other objects. Thus, arrogance that implies focus or worship of self is compared to idolatry. It is often self-confidence in one’s achievement that breeds arrogance. This fact was demonstrated by Nebuchadnezzar who became arrogant because of his achievement as narrated in Daniel 4:29–30:
29 Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
Of course, as soon as Nebuchadnezzar spoke arrogantly God made an example of him with punishment described in Daniel 4:31–32:
31 The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. 32 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.”
So, we should be warned against arrogance since God punishes people because of it as recorded by Prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 2:17:
The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
Our focus is on arrogance as that which characterizes those in idolatry, but we should recognize that even believers could be drawn to it. This, we can demonstrate first by the charge of Apostle Paul against some in Corinth as we read in 1 Corinthians 4:18:
Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you.
Furthermore, it is because of its possibility among believers that the Holy Spirit warned the rich among believers to be careful about it as stated in 1 Timothy 6:17:
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
An important fact we should remember as we are faced with the temptation to become arrogant is that whatever we are or whatever we have is from God and so there should be no room of thinking we achieved anything by our own goodness or effort. In effect, we also should endeavor to have as part of our thinking what the Holy Spirit gave through Apostle Paul recorded in 1 Corinthians 4:7:
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
Anyway, the fourteenth thing Apostle Paul mentioned that characterizes idolaters that God handed over to despicable or morally reprehensible thoughts is “arrogance” as given in the NIV of Romans 1:30 arrogant. There is more, we will continue with that in our next study, but we end with a reminder of the message of this section which is considering is God punishes idolaters who although know the consequence of rejecting His righteous requirements reject them anyway, by handing them over to all kinds of sinful conducts.
09/13/24