I recently visited a friend who is an amateur pilot. During a tour of his plane he walked me through its capabilities and some of the safety features. He noted that many of the more expensive models have the technology to fly themselves, to include hands-free landing. As we drove away, I asked if there had been any mishaps at the airpark since he’d moved in. He pointed toward the highway and said a pilot mistook the roadway for the runway, nearly putting it down among vehicle traffic before making a hard, last-minute recovery. I asked why the safety features did not prevent the pilot from the near miss, and he explained that the plane goes where the pilot directs it, despite the dangers. What’s more, once the airplane gets within a few hundred feet of the ground it will silence all alerts. At that point, it would seem, even the plane knows the pilot has fully committed to his course.
This is reminiscent of the warnings found in Romans 1:24 where it says, “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.” It is repeated in verse 26, “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.” God “giving them up” to their sin is like the plane that ceases to warn the pilot of rapidly approaching consequences. Indeed, the sinner has fully committed to a catastrophic course despite the warnings.
Consider what precedes the “crash” of God giving people up in Romans 1. In other words, what is packed into the “therefore” of verse 24 and the “for this reason” of verse 26? Like a plane’s “black box,” Scripture tells the reader what happened prior to the sinner’s collision.
The short answer is that truth was exchanged for a lie. The truth was that glory was owed to God. The lie was when men stole it for themselves. “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Rom. 1:21). Notice that it starts with the knowledge that honor was due to God, but they withheld it. Next, they claimed to be wise but became fools.
What was the reason that God gave them up to their dishonorable passions? “Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25).
Do you see the progression? They robbed God of His glory, claimed to be wise and then made their personal passions their idols. What starts with taking from God, ends with God giving them what they want. He silences the alarms, shuts off the flashing lights and lets them sail toward destruction.
The Bible is full of rich descriptions of the beauty of God’s law and the blessings of obedience to it. In Romans, however, are the severe consequences of entrenched disobedience. Those consequences are repeated in Psalm 106:15, “He gave them what they asked, but sent a wasting disease among them,” and in Hosea 4:6, “And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. Indeed, God is not an appeaser. He does not overlook sin or negotiate with sinners.
The Holy Spirit, the Bible, the church and Christian relationships are safety features God has designed for His children. It is how He alerts them when they begin to fly in an unsafe direction. In humility listen for the sounds of correction, be on the lookout for the lights of convicting truth and respond by pulling up toward Him and away from danger before He chooses to silence them! Pray that God would help you to be thankful, submissive and obedient when He is kind enough to send correction.
Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. (Rom. 11:22)