THE RIGHTEOUS WILL LIVE BY FAITH, Dr. Samuel Lee
HOLD TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD
Passage: Romans 1:26~32  
Key verse: 28a
26 Because of this, God gave them over(A) to shameful lusts.(B) Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.(C) 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.(D)
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over(E) to a depraved mind, so that they 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,(F) 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;(G) 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love,(H) no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death,(I) they not only continue to do these very things but also approve(J) of those who practice them.
Cross references
- Romans 1:26 : ver 24, 28
- Romans 1:26 : Eph 4:19; 1Th 4:5
- Romans 1:26 : Lev 18:22, 23
- Romans 1:27 : Lev 18:22; 20:13; 1Co 6:18
- Romans 1:28 : ver 24, 26
- Romans 1:29 : 2Co 12:20; 1Ti 5:13; Jas 3:2; 3Jn 10
- Romans 1:30 : 2Ti 3:2
- Romans 1:31 : 2Ti 3:3
- Romans 1:32 : S Ro 6:23
- Romans 1:32 : Ps 50:18; Lk 11:48; Ac 8:1; 22:20
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Source:  BibleGateway
1. Misuse of sex (26-27)
'God created them male and female...' (Ge 1:27) He created sex to bind a man and woman into one, to make a family to glorify God. Physical union represents the joining together of mind and heart. God blessed man and woman to live joyfully and fruitfully as stewards of his world. When people rebel against God's laws and seek meaning and temporary pleasure in the misuse of sex, they cannot escape the consequences of broken creation order. They must live as slaves of their sinful natures.
2. A depraved mind (28-32)
When people do not retain the knowledge of God in their hearts they lose life's meaning. When people are not slaves of God, but slaves of sinful desires, their minds become depraved. Human relations become loveless, filled with hatred and distrust. The role models of society teach that right is wrong and wrong is right--to justify themselves. Moral anarchy and chaos is the result.
Prayer: Lord, come and dwell in my heart and rule my thoughts and actions.
One Word: Retain the knowledge of God