“A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well. It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple; where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse. I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God” (A. W. Tozer).
Last time we looked at how man starts with himself instead of God and ends up in error. Man is a crooked stick by the fall and he should not use himself as a way to measure the truth of anything in terms of goodness. In this blog we will try to start thinking about ethics even though there is a clear and virtually indistinguishable link between theology and ethics. All wrong theology begins with low thoughts of God and all wrong living starts with low thoughts of God also. As in the last blog, we saw that sinful behavior starts with suppressing the truth about God.
“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen” (Romans 1:21-25).
In the above text what we see is that sin starts and continues in a downward spiral to the degree that man rejects the truth about God and is given over to a sinful and darkened heart. We must vigorously assert this in the realm of theology as well as ethics. In fact, if we note this text carefully we will see that bad theology leads to sin. It is the rejection of a high view of God that leads to bad theology and of bad ethics. The futile speculations of v. 21 are what theology is without a high view of God. Therefore, there is no such thing as a true ethic without the doctrine of God. Wherever sin is, a low view of God has preceded it. Wherever a person is seen in falling into more and more sin, a continual rejection of God has preceded it. In v. 21 we see that men do not honor God as God and so their speculations become futile and their foolish hearts are darkened. In their professions they think themselves wise and others call them wise, but in reality before God in their professions of wisdom they become fools. In other words, they have turned from the truth about God to a man-centered view of God and called that wisdom. It appears to be wise to others who also adhere to foolish speculations, but that is simply men who hate God banding together to support each other in suppressing the truth of God.
Verse 23 shows us that the foolish man exchanges the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible things. Is this limited to physical forms or things? I don’t think so. It can also take the form of idolatry in the heart. Whatever the case, the result is that God gives them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity. We must be careful here and not charge God with sin. He simply withdraws His restraining power and turns people over to what they want to do. In their very denial of His sovereignty and glory His sovereignty and glory are displayed in turning them over to sin. The sin itself is their punishment. It is not that they will be punished for their sin, though they will in hell forever if they do not repent, but the sin itself is punishment. The sin wreaks damage on their souls and bodies. Why did God punish them like this? V. 25 gives the reason: He punishes them because “they exchanged the truth of God for a lie.” What a powerful statement that should shatter man-centered views of theology and ethics. God turns people over to sin because they have exchanged the truth of God for a lie. It is impossible for man to go into sin without first rejecting the truth of God. This is a basic fact concerning true ethics.
What did man do in exchanging the truth of God for a lie? Well, “they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever” (v. 25). When a person turns from the truth of God and gives his love to something else, this is nothing else but a giving of his love to a creature and that is to worship and serve a creature instead of the Creator. All sin is rooted in loving something more than God. But what does a man really love who worships an idol? He loves himself and is trying to do something for an idol (physical or mental idol) to manipulate it to do something for himself. So in reality man turns from the truth of God in order to serve himself rather than God. All sin is rooted in exchanging the truth of God for something else that man loves. The root love for man if it is not God is himself. Man exchanges the truth of God in order that he may serve and love himself. He turns from God in order to live as his own wisdom dictates. That is idolatry.
God Loves... Himself 
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