The Way Out

Paul tells us in Romans we are without excuse for not believing because God gives us a consciousness of Himself which is reflected in the glory of His creation. In other words, He has given us proof throughout creation and has quickened our spirit to recognize Him in it (Romans 1:19-20).

It is important to note verse 20 ends with a comma: “…So men are without excuse,” (v 20) Verse 21 begins with the word BECAUSE. It is a complete thought when read through, as shown here:

For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that THEY ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE,
BECAUSE that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened.”

They KNEW GOD! He is referring to believers. They KNEW God, but they did not glorify Him AS God and they were not thankful.

Sweet sister in Christ, may I in all humility ask you to consider: You know God, but do you glorify Him as God? And, do you give Him thanks?

I ask not to condemn, but rather, because it was a hard question for me, as I did not like the answer.

The remainder of verse 21 and the verses which follow give a very clear yet frightening description of the results if we fail to do these two things. For this scripture, let’s use the NIV, as it uses modern vernacular to plainly show these consequences, rather than being hidden by the pretty and somewhat unrecognizable words used in the King James Version. These consequences are not pretty and should be laid bare.

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.
25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.
27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done.
One may read the above and think, “Well, I have never done those horrible things, so I’m good.” Read on dear sister.
29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips,
30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy.
32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Wow. And, ouch. I invite you to go to the Lord in prayer, asking Him to reveal through the power of the Holy Spirit at work in you which of these you are guilty of committing. Ask Him to quicken your heart as you read through the list again, one item at a time. If we ask with a fervent and sincere heart ready to admit, confess, and repent, He is faithful; He will show us the truth of our sinfulness in order that we may repent and have forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness.

As believers we tend to think we are not guilty of big sins, just the occasional small one. But, let’s be honest with ourselves before the God Who already knows.

• Envy
• Murder
• Strife
• Deceit
• Malice
• Gossip
• Slander
• God-hater
• Insolent
• Arrogant
• Boastful
• Invent ways of doing evil
• Disobey parents
• No understanding
• No fidelity
• No love
• No mercy
• Approve of those who do these things



We would shy away from anyone who is a God-hater, but what about gossip? Am I a gossip? Do I approve when others gossip with me? Am I merciful? Do I sow strife with my complaining or slander?

Paul tells us clearly; these sins are a direct result of failure to glorify God as God and failure to give Him thanks.

Many years ago, I was told the word glorify means “to give an accurate estimation of.” When God commands us to give Him glory, we are to give an accurate estimation of Him. In doing so, we cannot possibly over-state His attributes. The harder we attempt to put His glory into words, the more we see how impossible it is to fully glorify Him. He is beyond our comprehension. In our attempts to glorify Him as God (Rom 1:21), we will always fall short and sin (see Rom 3:23).

We should not miss that it states we must glorify Him AS God. Do we live out our lives giving Him the accuracy AS GOD of our life? Or rather, do we live most of the week making less of Him than is accurately due Him, and then try to make up for it with a little praise and worship on Sunday?

Again, the presence of these specific sins in our lives are given by inspiration to be the direct result of our failure to glorify God as God. However, He promises the same sinfulness and depravity when we fail to give Him the thanks due to Him. Count your blessings! Name them. One by one.

We are to give Him glory, thanks and praise.

As a young Christian, I did not understand why God would require us to praise Him and glorify Him. To illustrate the effect of praise, someone near and dear to me replied, “Ok, tell me all the things you admire about me.” And so, I began to list off qualities of them I love and appreciate. As I did, a change happened in both of us. For me, having my attention drawn to these things made me appreciate them more.

When we focus on glorifying God and giving an accurate estimation of Him, we by comparison become small. As it should be. “He must increase, I must decrease.”

He is AWEsome! He is amazing! He is Beautiful! He is Powerful! And SO much more. I am none of these things. The best I can manage is as filthy rags in contrast.

Only when we fully understand we are nothing and He is everything, can we possibly give Him the glory and honor due Him. Only then can we see clearly all the thanks we owe Him. The consequences for failure to do so is sin and depravity. But, praise God, He has shown us the way out.