Spirit of Adultery

"From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.

Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. And instead of worshipping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshipped idols made to look like mere people, or birds and animals and snakes.

So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies. Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshipped the things God made but not the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever."
-Romans 1:20-25

Today's Bible Study is going to be just that; a BIBLE STUDY. No stories, just God's Word. It is deep, and could honestly take some time for you to study and think on, but I encourage you to take the time and do it. With that in mind, go back and re-read the above verses again, slowly.

Do you see the progression in a person's mind from knowing God to shameful, sinful acts? Let's break it down.
Verse 20 tells us that every person that has walked the earth has seen creation, and as a result, clearly sees that there is a Creator. Scripture specifically says "they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God." That word know, in the original Greek form means "to recognize, understand or come to know." We see that every person has the same opportunity to see proof of God's existence and to come to know God more deeply.
Verse 21 provides the response of most people to the evidence of God that they see "Yes they knew God (could recognize or understand) but they wouldn't worship him as God..." Worship here, literally means to "honor and glorify". In other words, they would not exalt God in their life.
Pausing for a moment; I think we all agree that it is easy to look at others, whether those we know, or know of, or those in history and think "you idiot, why would you do _________?" In Scripture we frequently see God's people turn from Him and begin to worship actual idols. In Exodus 32 we find God's people, camping at the base of Mt. Sinai where their leader Moses is communing with the living God, pooling all of their gold jewelery, melting it down and shaping it into a golden calf to worship. And we immediately think "you idiots! How could you do that? The Israelites had repeatedly experienced the power and miraculous provision of THE Living God, but they were also fresh from Egypt. Egypt was an idol worshipping nation, and was surrounded by neighboring countries who worshipped gods, specifically Baal who took on the shape of a bull. Baal was a symbol of power and fertility, and Israel was feeling powerless and fruitless, so they turned to their own methods to change their circumstances, and made God into a god they understood.

Here we see what Romans 1:21 is talking about when it says "they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like." God's people began to substitute who God really IS to their own version of God The result was, and still is today, a "dark and confused mind (mind literally erferring to the seat of thought and emotion)." That confusion, in the NIV, is referred to as "futile thinking," with futile meaning "worthless". That confusion or futile thinking leads us into believing we have it all figured out; until something, even the slightest thing, doesn't go according to our plan or process. The result, in verse 23 (NIV) says "and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images(literally likensses or portraits)." That verse makes me shudder. We can't have both. We can't hold onto God, really knowing Him and seeing Him at work in our lives while holding onto other images. We turn one in in order to leave with the other. We trade in God and walk away satisfied with our own version of him.

You are probably like me, if you have been in church for any length of time you have heard some sort of teaching on idolatry. Maybe you have heard that idolatry can be anything from obsessive hobbies, goals, ideas, even people. That is true. But it blew me away to really study Scripture over the past few weeks and find that MOST OFTEN, idolatry in our lives is actually when we take the Living God, and we mold him to fit our expectations, desires and circumstances. We THINK (in our dark and confused mind) that we have him figured out, as we are shaping him to fit our needs and fears, but really we have already turned the real HIM in, and walked away with a worthless imitation. My heart breaks because I am sure that I do this over and over again.

And it gets worse. Because we have turned the real Him in for an image, He lets us go our own way. He could force us to change, but He lets us keep walking down the path of futility. Scripture says that path leads to "whatever shameful things our heart desires" (v. 24). And what is it that our heart desires? Cutting to the chase, it is love. But since we have exchanged the God who IS love (I John 4:8) for an image, we turn to other means to find that love. The NIV says "God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another (v. 24). This verse is specifically referring to adultery, and likely even prostitution. For us it represents the larger picture of our selfishness; putting my needs and wants and desires before anything else. But I want to look at the spiritual correlations for sexual immorality.

God has been showing me recently, an epidemic in the "church". As I have been studying the book of Hosea, I have been stricken with the adultery of God's people. Without going too far in depth, we see in Hosea 4:12 that "A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God." Over and over we see the unfaithfulness of God's people, the sin of their unbelief. They didn't believe that God could rescuse and protect them, that he could deliver them or that he would fulfill the promises he made to them. Kind of sounds familiar doesn't it? But I bet you would have never used words like "prostitution" or "adultery" to describe your or my struggles!

Our most common understanding of the word prostitution is "sexual intercourse for money or for hire." But there is another definition; "the act of offering or devoting one's talent to an unworthy use or cause." I believe that we, as people, are so desperate for love and belonging, that we will sell ourselves or devote ourselves to things that are unworthy of our devotion. We saw in Romans that God's people "exchanged the truth of God for a lie," but look now to Psalm 106:20 which says "They exchanged my Glory for an image of a bull, which eats grass." And to Jeremiah 2:11 & 13 which say "But my people have exchanged [My] glory for worthless idols...[they] have done two evil things; They have forsaken me...and they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all!" In other words, they sold themselves out instead of remaining faithful to God (adultery) and they created their own cracked and hollow methods and answers to their problems (idolatry). The study notes in my Bible say "who would set aside a fountain of living water for a cracked cistern, a pit that collected rainwater but could not hold it? God told the Israelites they were doing that very thing when they turned from him, the fountain of living water, to the worship of idols. Not only that, but the cisterns they chose were broken and empty. The people had built religious systems in which to store truth, but those systems were worthless." So worthless in fact, that every time we exchange God for our own version of him, or we sell ourselves elsewhere, we are left completely unsatisfied. Hosea 4:10 says that "they will eat but never have enough, they will engage in prostitution but will not increase, because they have deserted the Lord to give themselves to prostitution..." And did you know that it gets worse than just unsatisfied? Romans 1:28 talks about a depraved (literally corrupt and worthless) mind which leads to all forms of sin and wickedness (see Romans 1:28-32). And Isaiah 44:20 tells us that "he feeds on ashes, a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself..."

Let's bring it home now. The whole point of the months of study we have done in God's Word is for freedom. Freedom from sin, fear, pain, hopelessness and on an on. How DO we break free? How DO we "tear down the strongholds" and reprogram our minds and "take our thoughts captive?" The practical steps given in Beth Moore's book are excellent. Many other authors and teachers have given equally great steps and tips. In fact so many have done incredible teaching I really don't have anything new to add. I will give you this simple summary. To avoid the downward spiral of not really knowing God, exchanging God's glory for idolatry and turning to a spirit of prostitution, we have to KNOW God. And according to what we looked at in Romans 1:21, we also need to worship Him and thank Him. These are daily practices. They are also daily choices. If you are not reading your Bible regularly, and spending time with GOD, you are already suffering from a dark and cofused mind. Just about anything sounds good for you. You look for the quick fix or solution to your problems and circumstances. You elevate your own desires and pleasures above all else. And you sell, offer or devote your talents to an unworthy use or cause. You exchange the glory of God for lies. And you end up empty, feeding on nothing, and unsatisfied, with no way to save yourself. I don't say this because I sit in a seat of judgment, I say this as an authoritative declaration of God's word. If you are guilty of putting ANYTHING before your pursuit of God, you have chosen idolatry. If you have sold yourself or devoted yourself to things that are unworthy of your devotion, you are guilty of spiritual adultery or prostitution. There is only one conclusion to come to. We must repent and turn from our ways. We must believe that God can and wants to forgive and restore us and put us back to into a postion to serve him (Jer. 15:19). And we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds by refusing to conform to the patterns of this world. (Romans 12:2). We lose God, almighty, loving, LIVING God, to our idolatry and adultery, but we don't have to. The road to slavery always ends in slavery. Break free.

Di's comments, your assignment:
Just reading this week's study is assignment enough. It's deep I know, and how I ended up on this topic I have really no idea except that it was God's agenda and not mine. So read it and then re-read it, being careful to read EACH SCRIPTURE and ask God to help you apply it. If it is a lot for you to process, come back to it in another day or so. DO NOT believe the lie that this is TOO deep for you, or that you are not smart enough (or Christian enough) to grasp it. He will help you grasp it. Reply with any feedback that may be helpful to others as to how you applied this.