#28. Romans 1:24-25 – The Consequences and the Blessings (Indignation Series, Part VII)

Part II: The Conduct of Humanity

Wherefore God gives them over, in the desires of their hearts, to the uncleanness of dishonoring their bodies among themselves, those who alter the truth of God into the lie, and are venerated, and offer divine service to the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed for the eons! Amen!

There are many today who alter the truth of God into the lie. Notice the definite articles in front of “truth” and “lie?” The “truth” spoken of here is the same truth spoken of in Rom. 1:20, but here it is stamped out in favor of a clear alternative. A simple example follows: you can tell (and show) a Baptist that there is no concept or notion of eternal torment in the divine language of inspiration – but they will look at these verses and alter them – change the truth of God into The Lie – so that, instead of a loving Father, we perceive an angry tormentor.

The Lie is rampant in our churches today, which is why I’ve spent so much time hammering away at them for the first portion of this study. The doctrines inherent in Christian philosophy today are unproven and unfounded, made evident only by modernity and false translation. When held to the slightest bit of scrutiny, these doctrines (the trinity, free will, immortality of the soul, eternal torment, baptism in water, and more,) fold like cardboard. They line the inside of the church’s walls with orthodox imagery, whitewashing the text and stringing a bunch of disconnected verses together with assumption in order to uphold an opinion.

(That’s kind of not a good thing, by the way!)

The gatekeepers of these doctrines, from any generation, are in view here. These are the people that are aware that they are stretching the text, but refuse to retract prior statements in favor of the truth. These gatekeepers have no idea that their god is simply an amalgamation of other gods taught throughout human history. For example, the “justice” of Persian god Ahura Mazda, the “Lord of Light,” is described by Darius the Great as such: “The man who is loyal, I reward; the man who is faithless, I punish. It is by the favour of Ahura Mazda that people respect the order I uphold.” Does this sound familiar? It’s the same schlock that the Catholic church fed Italy/Roma’s peasants in the late 1400s, in the midst of The Vatican’s great dominance over the scriptures.

No, it’s not just the Persian god. You can go back to the Sumerians, with their pagan Inanna. Or the Assyrians’ Ashur. The relative construct of The Truth vs. The Lie has been around for millennia, enforced by militaristic command or social fear-mongering. In truth, faith should bring comfort, not pain (thank you, Ezio, for that banger of a line.) Faith is not an excuse to endorse fear, nor is it an excuse to wield it.

Thankfully, God does neither here. The point of this statement above is not stated to incite violence, or strike fear into the hearts of men (though it likely has.) It is a statement of fact, barred none. While the Ahura Mazda may have subjected through fear and self-righteousness (whilst himself lying about his role in creation,) the One Elohim does no such thing. God certainly hates the dishonorable natures inherent in us, yes, but it is a rational hatred; one that does not forget the cause of the dishonor (being God Himself.) God keeps irreverence and unrighteousness in the human heart, and as such gives all men over to this desire rooted in altering The Truth of God into The Lie.

This is disrespectful, of course. It’s certainly the effect of the “irreverence.” These people are venerated – that is, they are revered. These men who uphold The Lie are given the reverence that the Truth deserves. We can see how bad it is through Paul’s employment of the same terminology he used of himself previously. In Rom. 1:9, Paul offers divine service in his spirit in the evangel of God’s Son. In contrast, those who alter the truth of God into The Lie “offer divine service” to the creature rather than The Creator.

In this, we see a divine contrast between the acceptable and the disqualified. Those that offer divine service to The Lie are offering divine service to the creature. The two concepts (truth and lie) become personified in the second half of the verse – Creator (truth) and creature (lie.) It is, literally, the worship of another god, and there is no middle ground. For one to listen to the creature on a matter of creation is irrational, for no creature that we can speak to today was around at the advent of this earth (and the idols that many do speak to today don’t have the mouths to lie to us, thankfully.)

This is the first act that God has committed in response to irreverence and unrighteousness, and it is one that no philosopher would have expected: He gives people over to the very thing that will further degrade the human condition. To us, this is completely unhelpful, and rather frustrating. We cannot fundamentally perceive this action that God takes as a good thing.

This is a part of that “reasoning” we were talking about earlier (1:22,) but it must be answered before we continue. If we detach from the emotional kickback, we realize that God is not, in this verse, trying to paint Himself in any sort of way. He’s not appealing to your emotions or trying to “convince” you of anything. He’s not seeking your input, either. He’s simply telling us how this goes. Those that retain the truth in injustice will naturally be given over to the uncleanness of dishonoring their bodies among themselves, which alters The Truth into The Lie, and thus have respect for the creation instead of the Creator. He is not threatening, but stating.

When we consider this fact, as opposed to some theoretical “implied threat,” we realize that there’s a bit of dramatic irony going on, here. The Creator, in truth, owns the creation He’s made. No one can claim that the Mona Lisa isn’t owned by Leonardo Da Vinci. No one can claim that Tolkien doesn’t own The Lord of the Rings. These creations are the property of their creators. The same is true of God; whether we like it or not, ultimately, He has authority to handle us as He will.

Now, there are many other passages of scripture (many of which are found in this very letter) which speak to the ultimate goal God has in view with every living creature, and they speak to everyone’s good – God’s, Christ’s, yours, mine, and more! This information is given through the evangel that Paul is about to supply. The indignation of God is not designed enlighten us; nor is it designed to make us want or desire Him. It is a *temporary* reaction. There is an expectation in view on the other side of this indignation (Rom. 8:20-21,) but it is first a necessary indignation to educate us on the might of His strength. which is not only displayed in His efficient maintenance on the entire universe in every passing moment, but His authority over any and all creatures who oppose His order. He must show first and foremost that He is sovereign over the human condition and its levels of depravity.

So, God gives them over. No, it is not the final destination of all men, or this passage would be at the end of Romans. No, this is the middle stage. Well… closer to the beginning stage than the end stage. In truth, there’s much more to the story (shoot, we haven’t even started considering God’s judgment, let alone His good news.) Right now, we’re covering information that you could get in (almost) any David Fincher movie. It’s regular news; men dishonor their bodies by preferring the lie. By endorsing these decaying theories that will inevitably die in the face of a victorious God, one aligns their very bodily functions – their divine service – to a dying lord.

This is the first consequence, but, as we will see, the other two consequences compound the issue, and color our understanding of “dishonoring our bodies among ourselves.” Before we consider the other two, however, let’s end this consequence on the same note that Paul did: God is blessed for the eons! What a strange juxtaposition to the shock of his previous statement, yeah? Though God gives us over to the uncleanness of dishonoring our bodies, He is blessed for the eons! What does this mean??

This is the first time that we see one of the most important concepts in all of scripture: aion. This word aion has been the cause of thousands upon thousands of translational errors across hundreds of different English transcripts. This word is vital to understanding God’s timeline, dwelling on His calendar. The word is often believed to mean “eternal,” or “eternity,” or “everlasting,” or “for ever (and ever,)” or “world.”

Wait, world?

Yeah, so some “scholars” claim that “world” works (Matt. 12:32 or 1 Cor. 3:18 in the KJV, for example.) As we’ve studied in the oldest Greek manuscripts, however, “world” is kosmos in the Greek. This should highlight the 30+ errors in the KJV, which translate this word as “world” without a second thought. It’s made worse when you consider a verse like Eph. 2:2, where the phrase “the eon of this world” is found. For those of you playing along at home, an attempt to translate this with the KJV interpreter’s logic would render the text, “The world of this world.” Since this makes no sense, we must concede the elephant in the room: the fact that kosmos and aion are used in the same clause should highlight that the two are not synonyms, and should not be treated as such.

While we’re at it, we’ve already found the closest conceivable term for eternity back in Rom. 1:18 (“imperceptible” in the CLV!) We cannot mindlessly claim that this word means “eternal” either, for there are many passages where the word aion, when translated as “eternal,” completely butchers a passage, or renders it incomprehensible. Take the previously cited Matt. 12:32, which says,

And whosoever may be saying a word against the Son of Mankind, it will be pardoned him, yet whoever may be saying aught against the holy spirit, it shall not be pardoned him, neither in this eon nor in that which is impending.

For generations this passage has been the framework for much religious cultism. The overwhelming burden of fear which has been procured at the thought of an offense that was so great, and so powerful, and so evil, that God Himself could not pardon it in this world or the next world, is insurmountable to all who are gripped by it. Yet we know that “world” is a mistranslation, now, because kosmos means world. And we know that, if we were to plug “eternal” or “eternity” into the passage, the negatives employed would have no effect. Consider: “Whoever may be saying aught against the holy spirit, it shall not be pardoned him, neither in this eternity, nor in that which is impending.”

This silly line is, of course, silly. The KJV folk couldn’t even translate it like this! How can an eternity come to an end?? And how can a second eternity follow??? They had to employ a different word to maintain their credibility. Yet this example (and many others, such as Matt. 24:3, 28:20, 1 Cor. 2:7, Eph. 1:21, ) as well as the fact that this word aion can indeed be plural (Heb. 1:2 – seriously, how are you supposed to account for a plural eternity???) it becomes readily apparent that eternity is not in view with this word.

Many make excuses for this blatant oversight by claiming that “words can have multiple meanings.” What?? This is the grammatical equivalent to slapping a band-Aid on someone with appendicitis! So, let me get this straight. You would tell me that a word that is clearly pointing to a set amount of time (such as an “age” or an “eon”) can simultaneously not point at all to a set amount of time (such as, “eternity,”) while sometimes pointing to the beginning of a set amount of time, but ignoring the end of that time (such as “for ever,”) but also sometimes adding more of “no ending” to that time (such as “for ever and ever,”) but then also sometimes just means “world” for kicks and giggles?

My goodness, what to tell the therapist! Look, this might be the convoluted messaging from the churches we’ve grown up around, but it is not the messaging of God. Believe it or not, when you consistently and affirmatively translate this word aion as “eon,” or “age,” you get a fascinatingly simple, detailed, and clear plan which resolves virtually all of the issues presented from the opposition concerning “universal salvation” and reconciliation (though they won’t admit to it at present.)

This word, eon, is inherently valuable. It is so valuable that God proclaims that the eons are His declaration, and that any apprehending them by faith are being adjusted to His declarations (Heb. 11:3.) The word only appears five times in Romans (its adjectival form appearing six times,) but I feel that one study of the eons as a whole is critical to understanding the blessings which unfold in Romans. If you would like to read of the framework for the eons now, I recommend following the links below to a later mini-series in this study, titled “Let’s Talk About the Eons.” Alternatively, I recommend the pdf God’s Eonian Purpose, and the YouTube videos titled “The Eons” by Martin Zender, also linked below. Of course, you don’t have to read all of this now, and I won’t assume you have done so in order to continue writing on this wonderful subject (I don’t get tired of writing about them.) But it is a fundamental concept to understanding where we are on God’s calendar, and where we’re going.

Romans - Let's Talk About the Eons

Romans - Let's Talk About the Eons, Part II

Romans - Let's Talk About the Eons, Part III

Romans - Let's Talk About the Eons, Part IV

God’s Eonian Purpose.pdf

Martin Zender, The Eons Part 1

Martin Zender, The Eons, Part 2

Where does that leave Romans 1:25? In the KJV, in Rom. 1:25, says that “God is blessed for ever.” While this is undoubtedly true, it is not the thought that Paul has in view, here. The word “eon” here will not alter our understanding of this verse all that much, but there will be others. God is indeed blessed for the eons. He is the only One Who can lay claim to this. Unlike the creature, the Creator is the only One Who exists throughout the entirety of the eons (not even Christ could claim this, for He was dead for three days.) The God of the universe transcends these eons – hence His blessedness. He is not subject to these eons; they simply serve His purpose, and prepare for His goals to be fulfilled.

Amen, indeed.