Romans: Idolatry Begins the Unraveling

If God has made Himself obvious to everyone, why don’t we worship Him?

The knowledge of God should lead us to worship and gratitude.

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?Romans 2:4

As man rejects God as He is clearly seen, the only other option is idolatry.

Man’s Response to God in Modern Psychological Terms

Trauma, A traumatic experience generally involves something negative or threatening to the individual. In the case of Paul’s analysis the trauma is produced by encounter with God’s self-revelation. For various reasons, God’s presence is severely threatening to people. God manifests a threat to human moral standards, a threat to the quest for autonomy, and a threat to the desire for concealment. God’s revelation represents the invasion of light into the darkness to which people are accustomed.

Repression, In psychological terms, repression may be defined as the process by which unacceptable desires or impulses are excluded from consciousness and thus, being denied direct satisfaction, are left to operate in the unconscious. The knowledge of God is simply unacceptable to the pagan, who buries what he knows or at least camouflages it sufficiently that it no longer poses a moral threat.

Substitution, This corresponds to what Paul says about exchanging the glory and truth of God with an idolatrous substitute. What results from the repression is the profession of atheism either in militant terms, or its less militant form of agnosticism, or a kind of religion that makes God less of a threat than He really is. Either option, atheism or false religion, manifests an exchange of the truth for a lie. The truth is exchanged for a lie simply because the lie seems easier to live with.

The abandonment of God and the pursuit of idolatry is the beginning of man’s downward spiral.

Man’s gravest error is rebellion against God.

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:Exodus 19:5

Degeneracy begins with idolatry.

When God clearly reveals Himself, man chooses to replace God.

“Given the opportunity to bask in the glory of the immortal God, people have rather chosen, in their folly, to worship the images of mortal human beings and beasts.” Rather than find God’s perfect plan for marriage, people search for hookups. Rather than serving God with their lives, people serve money and materialism. Rather than choosing to please God with their lives, people see to please others or themselves.

Idolatry is a violation of the first commandment.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.Exodus 20:3

Idolatry is a violation of the greatest commandment.

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.Matthew 22:36-38

To follow after other gods, one has to be willing to trade the worship of the true God to worship lesser fallible creations.

And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.Exodus 32:1-4

“The human heart is a perpetual idol factory.”

When those who rebel against God self-identify as wise, they misunderstand the meaning of wisdom. (v.22)

“The problem with man is not so much a lack of knowledge of God, as it is a refusal to acknowledge God, which at the bottom line is a question of moral honesty and integrity. Paul is saying that man begins his intellectual quest by refusing to acknowledge what he knows to be true. That’s what provokes God to anger.”

Obscurantist: a person who deliberately prevents the facts or full details of something from becoming known; a person who refuses to deal with knowledge that is available to them, who will not examine data that might run contrary to his own conclusions.

“That’s why God is angry. He is responding not to an intellectual weakness in the human race, not to a matter of mere ignorance, but rather to a moral problem. Man sets his heart steadfastly against God.”

Wisdom is more than knowledge. Wisdom is the application of knowledge.

Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.James 3:13-14

Knowledge: The stove is hot. Foolishness: The stove is hot, let me touch it. Simple: I don’t even know what hot is, let me touch it. Scorner: Sure, it’s hot and it hurts, but it’s fine. Don’t let anyone tell you what to do. Wisdom: Because the stove is hot, I won’t touch it. Wisdom, also: Let me make sure that everyone knows it’s hot and no one touches it.

True wisdom will always align with the wisdom of God.

There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.Proverbs 21:30

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever.Psalm 111:10

Wisdom is not intellectual or educational, but rather moral.

It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom.Proverbs 10:23

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.Proverbs 9:10

Are there areas that you’ve allowed idolatry in your own life?

Are there areas of your life where you are unwise?