Men Who Reject Christ Rom.1:16 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
The trouble with men who reject Christ, whether they reject him before they are saved or whether they reject him after they are saved (like college students talked out of their salvation), is that:
They are ashamed of the gospel of Christ – Rom 1:16 – Paul did not reject Christ – Paul was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ though preaching it caused him untold reproach and persecution. If a man is ashamed of the gospel of Jesus before he gets saved, he won’t accept Jesus as his Savior. If a man has already accepted Jesus Christ but he is ashamed of the gospel, he won’t confess him. This is particularly true when faced with family or peer pressure. Men are ashamed to let others know that Jesus is their Savior because they want to be accepted by others who are not living in righteousness.
They don’t believe the righteousness of God – Rom 1:17 – the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. Men who reject Christ don’t believe that they need the righteousness of Christ. Furthermore, men who reject the righteousness of Christ don’t believe God is right. They accuse him of wrongdoing, whether he is wrong about a moral subject, an act of God or an individual problem where he didn’t intervene.
They denounce the wrath of God – Rom 1:18 – men who reject Christ hold this truth of the wrath of God in unrighteousness. They condemn God for condemning men. But by condemning God for his wrath, men do the same thing for which they denounce God.
They corrupt the glory of God – Rom 1:23 – men who reject Christ change the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and so forth. They do this by worshipping images, for instance. They don’t have to be native tribesmen worshipping totem poles; they can be educated Americans using statues as aids to worship in church. They corrupt the glory of God in creation by teaching and believing evolution. Far too often, young Christians go to school believing in Jesus and graduate believing he is a fairy tale.
They change the truth of God – Rom 1:25 – men who reject Christ change the truth of God into a lie. They do this by misquoting the Bible and by retranslating it to say something that God didn’t say.
They know the judgment of God – Rom 1:32 – men who reject Christ know that “they which commit such things” (found in Rom 1:29-31) are worthy of death. They know that God is against what they are doing. But since they are against God, they justify themselves and go right on committing abominations against him.
Conclusion: you also know the judgment of God. I don’t believe you would be in church today unless you were somewhat curious about these things. Humble yourself, believe God’s righteousness, escape his wrath, give glory to God, live by his truth and follow his judgments.