Theology for Everybody: RomansSample

(Continued from Day 41)

What are the two ways of knowing or two types of revelation?

1. General Revelation—Paul refers to common revelation available to all people at all times and places. It is less specific than special revelation.

2. Special Revelation—It comes from specific ways God speaks to us, such as in the Bible or the life of Jesus Christ.

General revelation shows us how bad our sinful condition is in two ways:

·External Creation (Romans 1:19–20). We can look at the world God made and understand it reflects something of His nature, just as a piece of art reflects the artist. Creation reveals such things as God’s power, beauty, life, creativity, and order. However, we can also see how broken creation is at present.

·Internal Conscience (Romans 2:14–15). God put within us a conscience, and we can listen to it. Through conscience, we learn about the character of God. Conscience reveals such things as God’s goodness, wisdom, care, love, and justice. But we can also know by our consciences that we are sinners and out of relationship with a loving God.

One of the great hypocrisies of our day is that people deny God and become upset when we talk about God or sin. They function as though there is no lawgiver and no universal laws. Then they feel hurt, frustrated, or offended if injustice occurs. If there are no laws and no lawgiver, then to whom or what are they appealing? When a Christian becomes upset at immoral behavior or injustice, it is at least consistent with the idea that God placed a conscience within us that connects us to Him. We are appealing to the Creator from the conscience He gave us.

As sinners, we do not use God’s revelation to judge ourselves, discover our unrighteousness, or repent to God. Instead, we use His revelation to judge others while excusing ourselves. We pinpoint their unrighteousness and demand repentance from them. However, before you deal with someone else’s sin, it’s always best to deal with your own. If we thoroughly examine ourselves, we are far less likely to have any time to run around and judge others because we will be busy dealing with our sins. There is no excuse. We are all morally responsible for our own rebellion, unrighteousness, and ungodly conduct.

Today’s Reflection

Who or what do you tend to blame for your faults, failures, and flaws?