REFINED BY FIRE

1. REFINED BY FIRE JoLynn Gower 493-6151 352-2458 jgower@guardingthetruth.org

2. WORD FOR THE JOURNEY • Matthew 7:21-23  "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROMME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.‘ • DOES GOD MAKE MISTAKES? IS HIS WILL PERFECT? • WHAT PART DOES DISCIPLINE PLAY IN THIS THINKING? • Romans 1:16 – 11:36 is the longest theological argument in the New Testament

3. THE WISDOM OF GOD • Romans 1:16-18  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUSmanSHALL LIVE BYFAITH.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness… • Ungodliness: asebeia: wickedness apart from God • Unrighteousness: adikia: iniquity; not in right standing • Suppress: katecho: to hold back something that is known • You cannot suppress something that you have never seen or heard about

4. HOW IT BEGINS • God is clearly seen through His creation • Romans 1:20  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. • Romans 1:21  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. • Speculations: dialogismos: arguments, reasoning • Theologians are delighted that the astronomical evidence leads to a biblical view of Genesis—but curiously, astronomers are upset. Robert Jastrow, quoted in the article Does God Really Exist?, 

5. THE GREAT EXCHANGE • Romans 1:22-23  Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. • Exchange: allasso: to actively choose one thing in place of another • Exchanging God for something of their own making • 1 Corinthians 10:31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. • Romans 1:24-25 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

6. WHAT NATURALLY FOLLOWS • Depravity of worship is rapidly followed by bodily immorality • Romans 1:26-27  For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. • Romans 1:28  And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper… • Romans 1:32 …and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

7. WHEN WE CHOOSE GOD • Ephesians 1:8-12 … In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. • Summing up: anakephalaiomai: to bring everything together in one place • Someone needs to tell us about this

8. THE WAYS OF GOD • Isaiah 55:6-9 Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.  Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. • We are not humanly capable of thinking like God • John 16:13  “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.”

9. THE END OF THE ARGUMENT • Romans 11:33-36  Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!  For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THELORD, ORWHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIMTHAT ITMIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN?  For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. (Isaiah 40:13 and Job 41:11) • Because we have finite minds in an unredeemed body, we still are not able to completely understand the wisdom of God • GOD’S WISDOM IS ABOVE OURS; THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT GOD’S WISDOM IS ALSO ABOVE THE DEVIL’S!

10. THE BEGINNING OF CORRECTION • Romans 12:1-2 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. • Conformed:syschematizo: to fashion oneself according to • Transformed: metamorphoo: to change one’s form • Renewing: anakainosis: renovate; change from something old or worn out to something fresh THE RENOVATION TAKES PLACE IN OUR MINDS

11. HARDENED MIND • Romans 1:28-31  And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; • Romans 8:6-8 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,  and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.