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For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. (Rom. 1:16-18)

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto SALVATION – to everyone that believes. But have we realized that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto reprobation to everyone who refuses to believe? This is the Truth that Paul is unfolding in Romans 1. Once you hear the Truth – hear and realize it – you cannot go back. You MUST choose.

Of course, there are folks who hear the gospel and neglect to choose. But that is the same as unbelief – it is the same as refusing to believe. There are others who reject it outright. And there are yet others who hear and believe – but later turn away. It is questionable as to whether they really believed to begin with. But that does not negate the fact that they have heard.

In Romans 1, Paul is bringing forth the fact that the same grace of God that God intends for our salvation – if we believe – will be the basis of our judgment – if we refuse to believe. And as we are going to see, the judgment of God is more than just a sentence passed. Rather, the judgment of God is that He gives those who refuse the light EXACTLY what they have chosen: Darkness – and everything that comes with it.

Romans 1 contains essentially the same principle that Jesus stated in Matt. 12:43-44:

When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he finds [it] empty, swept, and garnished. Then goes he, and takes with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last [state] of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. (Matt. 12:43-44)

If I am delivered from darkness but do not turn to Christ, or if I forfeit the Truth that I had found in Christ, my latter state will be worse than my former state. Thus, once I see the Truth I cannot go back. I am accountable. My destiny will either be salvation and all that is in Christ, or it will ultimately be reprobation and all that goes with it. This is obviously serious business – carrying eternal ramifications.

It is a principle: If I choose darkness rather than light – and keep choosing it over and against the light God continues to provide -- God will eventually have to give me over to the darkness I have chosen. But this will not be merely a doctrinal darkness. Rather, it will be darkness WITHIN – a spiritual condition -- my mind will become darkened; my heart will become dark. But as noted, this will happen only after a persistent and deliberate refusal or forfeiture of the light and Truth of Jesus Christ. And the reprobation will be progressive. But make no question about it, such a condition will be the result.

If I have seen the Truth I cannot go back – I can never be morally or spiritually the same again. I am no longer ignorant. Indeed, the light which I have seen will remain in front of me forever. God’s revelation of Jesus Christ will never be withdrawn. Thus, any refusal or neglect on my part is not a one-time event of unbelief. Rather, it is an ongoing and deepening choice of unbelief. And thus, the impact of it upon my life will be ongoing and deepening.

There is no such thing a NEUTRAL ground when it comes to these matters. Satan is never neutral. God is never neutral. And once God gives light, we cannot be neutral. Each of us, at all times, are either in the process of allowing God to adjust us according to the Truth in Christ, or we are in the process of adjusting the Truth in Christ to fit our self-will, self-righteousness, or other agenda. And ultimately, it will be all or nothing.

God has only ONE purpose and ONE Son. There are NO alternatives. And so when He reveals Christ His revelation will be relentless, ever present, and unchangeable. We will either embrace Christ by faith, or we will spend the rest of our lives, if not eternity, retreating from the one purpose and one Savior.

Paul is going to show in Romans chapter 1 the decent into reprobation and perversion that will come upon one who has seen the Truth, realized that they have seen the Truth, but who have SUPPRESSED the Truth – suppressed it IN THEMSELVES. The result of choosing darkness is that you receive darkness within yourself. Because you have abandoned or refused faith in Christ, you then become susceptible to your earthly lusts and particular patterns of the flesh. Likewise, because you have chosen darkness rather than light, you become all the more susceptible to the evil powers of darkness.

We can take what is revealed in Romans 1 and apply it as to principle to any person, any church, or any nation. It is an unchanging principle because God is an unchanging God. Truth is Truth. And the consequences for refusing Truth remain unchanging.

This decent into darkness is what is happening more and more in the world today – especially in our Judeo-Christian nations. These nations have heard the gospel – indeed, our laws, schools, governments, and moral framework were established upon the gospel. But now this is being forfeited. Thus, what is true for the individual is true for the nations that are comprised of those individuals. The honoring of the name of Jesus Christ – which was a very real restraint of the forces of evil – has been abandoned. And the evidence that the forces of evil are freely invading is around us everywhere.

But that is the world. What is happening in the world is also happening in the church. In fact, it is BECAUSE it is happening in the church that it is now happening in the world. The church of Jesus Christ is the reason why evil had been restrained. The preaching of the gospel and the faith of those who believed had pushed out the forces of evil and kept them out. But now so many in the church are suppressing the Truth in unrighteousness. Evil has gained access to them personally, and therefore, evil has gained access all around us.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation to those who believe. But the wrath of God is revealed from heaven AGAINST those who suppress the Truth – and you had to have known the Truth to suppress it – God’s judgment upon such is as sure as His salvation is certain for those who believe.

Paul reveals in Romans 1 the terrible possibilities of unbelief and a refusal of the Truth – possibilities that are becoming a reality in the church and in the world today. But that being said, God continually offers Christ. He continually extends salvation and grace. Indeed, the fact that God does continually extends to us His purpose in Christ is WHY refusing Christ carries such terrible consequences.