Many Christians think that degeneracy is simply about sexual immorality. They love to target the unsaved who practise sexual sins such as fornication, adultery and homosexuality as the degenerates, all while having fornicated before marriage themselves and excusing their own sin on the basis of 'grace'.
However, such gross sins are only the symptoms of degeneracy, rather than constituting its essence. Romans 1:26-32 lists these sins as only a few sins among many others that are symptoms of degeneracy. Many professing Christians, many of whom are false converts, are themselves filled with all manner of unrighteousness (Romans 1:29) in being full of maliciousness, double-mindedness, gossiping, backbiters, unloving, unforgiving and unmerciful. Such are those who curse and threaten the true converts, the true prophets of God who speak truth and rebuke these false converts!
The essence of degeneracy is the deliberate rejection of God and His ways, in pursuit of pleasure and treasure. This leads to all the sins listed in Romans 1:29-32. The sins listed can be categorised into three types: love of self, love of money, and love of pleasure. Degeneracy is disordered love, whereby one loves what one should not love, but hate, and hates what one should love.
Degeneracy all starts with knowing God, but failing to give thanks for God. Degenerate people are always unthankful towards God, thinking that they do not need God, in being full of arrogance and pride. Their pride is Adamic in nature, wicked to the core, in rejecting God the Creator:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
(Romans 1:18-21)
Their hearts were foolish in rejecting God Himself, and as a result of this, their hearts were darkened. Not only do they have no light. They cannot even see the light because of the darkness of their hearts. Such is the tragic spiritual state of the degenerate person.
Owing to such darkness of heart, their minds become darkened. For they profess to be wise with their own knowledge, which is itself evil, and a rejection of God, and become fools. As a result, they are incapable of understanding the things of God, not even knowing what sin is, or knowing right from wrong:
Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
(Romans 1:22-25)
The degenerate person is not someone who is simply ignorant, but actively seeking to rebel against God. He is a person who is proud of not knowing God and proud of his sinfulness. He has no sense of shame. Lack of shame about his degeneracy, and the complete lack of knowledge about sin are the two cardinal signs of degeneracy. This dismiss rebuke or opposition to their sin as 'discriminatory', 'homophobic', 'racist', 'misogynistic' or 'sexist', 'judgmental', 'unkind', or ironically, 'unchristlike' or 'unchristian' - showing how degenerate they are in having not only no shame, but pride in their sins.
The unsaved tend to label people 'homophobic', 'bigoted', or 'misogynist' for rebuking their vile sins, while the false converts who profess themselves to be Christians, accuse those who rebuke their wickedness as 'unkind', 'unchristlike', 'judgmental' or 'abusive', perverting the Word of God.
A degenerate person is a person who is hardened in his or her sin, to the point of being beyond all repentance, except by the grace of God. Such a person is not simply ignorant as was the case of St Paul before conversion. Not all unsaved people are degenerate. Many unsaved people oppose all those sins listed in Romans 1:26-32, and are virtuous - but they are still under the judgment of God because their virtue is not counted as righteousness. For God requires perfection, what holiness is: For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20).
Since a degenerate person is hardened in his sin, and refuses to repent, hating God and loving his sin, God gives up the person to his vile passions.
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting[.]
(Romans 1:26-28)
These sins that are manifestations of degeneracy are then listed in Romans 1:29-32:
being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
These sins can be categorised as explained above into:
1. Love of self;
2. Love of pleasure; and
3. Love of money
All these loves are in and of themselves perverted, disordered love, in loving what one should not love. The root of these loves is the prideful rejection of God. That is what makes is so hard to evangelise to people who are so entrenched in the love of self, the love of pleasure and the love of money. For such people aggressively reject all knowledge of God, making it hard to even speak about God to them. Such people are not open to the things of God, but hostile.They are hostile to the things of God precisely because of their love of self, pleasure and money. They are mammonised, full of the love and worship of mammon, as opposed to God, only knowing how to pursue mammon, not knowing how to do good or even having basic moral decency.
Degeneracy starts with a mindset that rejects God out of pride, rather than ignorance, and that is proud of rejecting God. Degeneracy is a mindset that despises not only God, but everything about God and the ways of God. Such people are those who hate Christianity. But also degenerate are those who are professing Christians full of the love of self, pleasure and money, who do not seek truth, but seek to twist Scripture to justify their own love of self, pleasure and money. They are the ones who hate those who rebuke them for being mammonised.
The degeneracy of a person, family, community, society, nation or civilisation brings the swift judgment of God. God will never bless any degenerate person, family, community, society, nation or civilisation. Such will always be under all kinds of curses.
However, such gross sins are only the symptoms of degeneracy, rather than constituting its essence. Romans 1:26-32 lists these sins as only a few sins among many others that are symptoms of degeneracy. Many professing Christians, many of whom are false converts, are themselves filled with all manner of unrighteousness (Romans 1:29) in being full of maliciousness, double-mindedness, gossiping, backbiters, unloving, unforgiving and unmerciful. Such are those who curse and threaten the true converts, the true prophets of God who speak truth and rebuke these false converts!
The essence of degeneracy is the deliberate rejection of God and His ways, in pursuit of pleasure and treasure. This leads to all the sins listed in Romans 1:29-32. The sins listed can be categorised into three types: love of self, love of money, and love of pleasure. Degeneracy is disordered love, whereby one loves what one should not love, but hate, and hates what one should love.
Degeneracy all starts with knowing God, but failing to give thanks for God. Degenerate people are always unthankful towards God, thinking that they do not need God, in being full of arrogance and pride. Their pride is Adamic in nature, wicked to the core, in rejecting God the Creator:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
(Romans 1:18-21)
Their hearts were foolish in rejecting God Himself, and as a result of this, their hearts were darkened. Not only do they have no light. They cannot even see the light because of the darkness of their hearts. Such is the tragic spiritual state of the degenerate person.
Owing to such darkness of heart, their minds become darkened. For they profess to be wise with their own knowledge, which is itself evil, and a rejection of God, and become fools. As a result, they are incapable of understanding the things of God, not even knowing what sin is, or knowing right from wrong:
Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
(Romans 1:22-25)
The degenerate person is not someone who is simply ignorant, but actively seeking to rebel against God. He is a person who is proud of not knowing God and proud of his sinfulness. He has no sense of shame. Lack of shame about his degeneracy, and the complete lack of knowledge about sin are the two cardinal signs of degeneracy. This dismiss rebuke or opposition to their sin as 'discriminatory', 'homophobic', 'racist', 'misogynistic' or 'sexist', 'judgmental', 'unkind', or ironically, 'unchristlike' or 'unchristian' - showing how degenerate they are in having not only no shame, but pride in their sins.
The unsaved tend to label people 'homophobic', 'bigoted', or 'misogynist' for rebuking their vile sins, while the false converts who profess themselves to be Christians, accuse those who rebuke their wickedness as 'unkind', 'unchristlike', 'judgmental' or 'abusive', perverting the Word of God.
A degenerate person is a person who is hardened in his or her sin, to the point of being beyond all repentance, except by the grace of God. Such a person is not simply ignorant as was the case of St Paul before conversion. Not all unsaved people are degenerate. Many unsaved people oppose all those sins listed in Romans 1:26-32, and are virtuous - but they are still under the judgment of God because their virtue is not counted as righteousness. For God requires perfection, what holiness is: For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:20).
Since a degenerate person is hardened in his sin, and refuses to repent, hating God and loving his sin, God gives up the person to his vile passions.
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting[.]
(Romans 1:26-28)
These sins that are manifestations of degeneracy are then listed in Romans 1:29-32:
being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
These sins can be categorised as explained above into:
1. Love of self;
2. Love of pleasure; and
3. Love of money
All these loves are in and of themselves perverted, disordered love, in loving what one should not love. The root of these loves is the prideful rejection of God. That is what makes is so hard to evangelise to people who are so entrenched in the love of self, the love of pleasure and the love of money. For such people aggressively reject all knowledge of God, making it hard to even speak about God to them. Such people are not open to the things of God, but hostile.They are hostile to the things of God precisely because of their love of self, pleasure and money. They are mammonised, full of the love and worship of mammon, as opposed to God, only knowing how to pursue mammon, not knowing how to do good or even having basic moral decency.
Degeneracy starts with a mindset that rejects God out of pride, rather than ignorance, and that is proud of rejecting God. Degeneracy is a mindset that despises not only God, but everything about God and the ways of God. Such people are those who hate Christianity. But also degenerate are those who are professing Christians full of the love of self, pleasure and money, who do not seek truth, but seek to twist Scripture to justify their own love of self, pleasure and money. They are the ones who hate those who rebuke them for being mammonised.
The degeneracy of a person, family, community, society, nation or civilisation brings the swift judgment of God. God will never bless any degenerate person, family, community, society, nation or civilisation. Such will always be under all kinds of curses.
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