‪#‎GOFAMINTDailyDevotion‬ Sun. 19/6/2016

18 June 2016

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19/6/2016 LESSON 3

DEPRAVITY OF HUMAN NATURE

Quarter’s Theme: BASIC CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES

Unit 1 – God’s Plan For Our Salvation (Lessons 1-4)

Suggested Hymns: G.H.B. 158, 165

Devotional Reading: ROMANS 3:9-18

Topic For Adults

DON’T IGNORE GOD’S REVELATION

Topic For Youths

CHECK LIST

Topic For Intermediates

DEPRAVITY OF HUMAN NATURE

Scripture Lesson

ROMANS 1:18-32

(RESPONSIBILITY MONTHS)

MEMORY VERSE

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting (Rom. 1:28) NKJV

DAILY DEVOTIONAL READING

Sun. 19/6/2016

Do Not Have A Debased Mind

Rom. 1:28-32

Those who reject God choose on their own accord not to acknowledge God. it is not because they could not, but because they are displeased with God. They choose to forsake Him, and follow their own passions and lusts. God, on His own, also gave them over to a debased and destitute mind as a consequence of their headstrong passions. With such debased minds, they could device and do anything but good. No wonder they engage in all the vices that are listed in the passage. They do them without any guilty conscience simply because their minds are debased and depraved. What is the state of your mind?

Point of Emphasis: Reject debased mind, have the mind of Christ.

Prayer Point: Jesus, fill my mind, heart and life with Your spirit.

BACKGROUND

To be depraved is to be morally corrupt and to engage in wicked acts. This is the
state of human being that came into this world, and this state was inherited
from the adamic nature. Only those who know God and accept the nature of God into their lives can escape and be freed from this depravity of human nature. Our lesson this week centres on those attitudes that are characteristics of a depraved person.

NOTE ON THE TEXTS

PART 1: SPIRITUAL DEPRAVITY (ROM. 1:18-23)

The highest form of spiritual depravity is the rejection of God, not acknowledging the existence of God or representing God with idols, and not giving Him the glory due to Him. The apostle Paul says such people will receive the wrath of God if they die in that condition.

Those in the conditions described above normally do the followings (i) suppressing the truth in unrighteousness, though their conscience and common sense is telling them the truth that God exists, but because they don’t want to believe in God, they suppress such truth (ii) The works of God in creation reveals the eternal power of God, the attributes of God, the Godhead of God, but they choose to say that the world came into being through evolutionary theory and there is no supernatural being behind the creation. (iii) There are some who even believe that there is God, but because of their ungodliness and unrighteousness, they did not give the glory due to God to Him by not believing in Him (iv) Those in this condition are not thankful to God for His providence over them. Rather, they ascribe their achievements, protection and deliverance from dangers which God provides to their own power, skill and smartness, and so they are futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts became darkened. (v) Such people usually see themselves as wise and all others as foolish; and (vi) They change God as an object of worship for idols and offer homage which is due to God to idols.

In a nutshell, anyone who is an atheist, polytheistic and idolatrous in any form is in state of spiritual depravity. Above all, all people who have been hearing the truth of the gospel and have not believed the gospel are in the state of spiritual depravity, it does not mater if they are bearing Christian names, or are going to Church or are even ministers in the Church of God.

PART 2: SEXUAL DEPRAVITY (ROM. 1:24-27)

Once a person is spiritually depraved, that depravity is going to be revealed in the area of sexual perversion. Because they did not acknowledge God, they did not know God, He left them to their own unclean desires. Without His guidance, they degenerated into ruinous moral and sexual practices. That God gave them up or abandoned them or ceased to restrain them from acting out their sentiments does not mean that God exerted any positive influence in inducing them to sin, but that His power to make them live right is not available to them.

These people are given up to vile or disgraceful affections. One of the eviden-ces of the shameful and disgraceful act is lesbianism, a sexual depravity where a woman marries a fellow woman as wife, so that one woman is the husband and the other is the wife. They changed the marriage institution against how God has planned it from the beginning (a man and a woman). Likewise the men, engage in gay marriage where two men are being joined together as husband and wife. These types of sexual perversion are referred to as homosexuality. This is the highest and newest type of sexual perversion in addition to already known sexual depravity such as fornication, adultery, incest, bestiality, etc. Remember that anyone who engages in sexual sin is a depraved soul in need of a Saviour and needs to repent before it is too late, for the wrath of God is coming upon the disobedient and unrighteous.

PART 3: SOCIAL DEPRAVITY (ROM. 1:28-32)

Man is not an island, he comes from a family, lives in a society and relates with people in his community. In all communities, there are acceptable standards of behaviour, put in place to make room for harmonious and peaceful co-existence. This normative standard includes moral rectitude for all citizens. However, it has been observed that depraved people could not live up to expectation, and therefore, they are usually found out to be violating set moral standard.

Since they did not like God nor the things of God, they are left with no other options than to engage in debased things because they cannot sit on the fence. If they are not on the side of God, doing the things of God, they will definitely be on the side of the devil, carrying out his devilish plans. They are given to a debased mind, a mind destitute of right judgment, losing ability to distinguish between right and wrong.

This debased evil mind leads them to engage in things that should never be done, indicating acts not just offensive to God, but also offensive by human standards. They are filled with (i) unrighteousness, i.e. injustice or iniquity in general; (ii) fornication – sexual sin; (iii) wickedness – desire to injure others; (iv) covetousness – desire to obtain that which belongs to others; (v) licentiousness – evil in general; (vi) full of envy – pain, uneasiness, discontent, accompanied with some degree of hatred or malignity, and often with a desire to depreciate the person; (vii) murder – taking of human life in whatever form; (viii) strife – contention or fight; (ix) deceit – fraud, falsehood; (x) evil-mindedness/malignity – misinterpreting the words or actions of others; (xi) whisperers – those who secretly and in a sly manner, detract from others or excite suspicion of them; (xii) backbiters – those who slander or speak ill of those who are absent; (xiii) haters of God – spiritual depravity; (xiv) violent – those who abuse or treat with disdain those who are present; (xv) proud – pride; (xvi) boasters – those who arrogate to themselves that which they do not possess and glory in it; (xvii) inventors of evil things – those that practise evil; (xviii) disobedient to parents – not showing honour to parents; (xix) undiscerning – without understanding; (xx) untrustworthy – covenant breakers; (xxi) unloving – without natural affection; (xxii) unforgiving – those who pursue the offender with unyielding revenge; (xxiii) unmerciful – destitute of compassion.

Anyone who engages in any of the list above or that has pleasure in or approves of the practices in the lives of those who do them deserves death.

CONCLUSION

Anyone with a depraved nature is an enemy of God, who is in constant opposition to God’s will and is in danger of God’s wrath. But you can change the course of your eternal destination today by giving your life to Jesus and letting Him be your Lord and Saviour.

QUESTIONS

Mention the highest form of spiritual depravity.
How has God revealed Himself to humanity?
What do you understand by lesbianism and gay marriages?
Mention 10 out of the 23 sins of social depravity.
What is awaiting depraved people?