“  Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. “

I will finish chapter one in this study.

Let’s continue.

“  Who knowing the judgment of God, “

The Greek word “ epignontes “ translated “ knowing “ means fully acquainted with, recognize, perceive.

This statement of Paul contradicts every human philosophy, opinion, observation, outlook, interpretation, church doctrine, religious doctrine, psychological evaluation and any other human drawn conclusion known to man.

Like anything else, we either believe what Paul said or we don’t.

My friend, contrary to the world view, nobody is innocent.

As Paul said earlier in this chapter, all of us are given the knowledge of God’s existence, the knowledge of His righteousness, the knowledge of His judgment and the knowledge of God’s only plan of salvation and how to get to Heaven and this is all embedded in our heart, conscience and anything else God installed in us when He created us in His image and in His likeness.

“ For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

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: “    Romans 1:17-20

Paul also said that even though some human beings have not heard “ the Law” God will judge them by what He already put in their heart...if they lived by it or not.

“ For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:

Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. “    Romans 2:14-16

And what more, in addition to all this is it that we know, according to Paul??

“ that they which commit such things are worthy of death, “

The Greek word “ prassontes “ translated  “ they which commit “ means practicing, performing repeatedly or habitually.

This is clearly in reference to a lifestyle of commiting the sins Paul listed in this chapter.

Paul says they that do these things, also know they are worthy of death.

This reference to death is not simply physical death ( as most people would like to think ), temporary punishment in hell, and then to be allowed to go to Heaven after we have paid for our sins a little while.

Jesus clearly said hell is eternal…not a temporary place for temporary punishment for doing bad… as most people believe.

Jesus said about people who go to hell;

“ And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. “    Matthew 25:46

“ Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. “   Mark 9:48

Nothing temporary about any of this!

What is sad is that people who go to hell will realize they could have avoided hell by believing in Jesus while they were still living in this present life.

But then, it will be too late for them to change their mind about Jesus.

There are no second chances after physical death…according to the Bible.

Most religions teach a second chance after physical death and the Bible is the only book that does not teach a second chance after physical death.

Which will you gamble on when it comes time for you to die?

There is absolutely no documentation either secular or religious that proves any human being was able to come back and change his mind.

Keep in mind, though this statement of Paul is referring to the non-believer, Paul also warns those who are believers about judment with severe consequences as well, even though not with the same severity as for the non-believer.

Check this out;

“ …of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. “   Galatians 5:21

Paul uses the same Greek word “ prassontes “ translated “ do” which means practice, performing repeatedly or habitually as he did in the verse we are studying.

And what is the difference in the consequences of a lifestyle of sin for the believer as opposed to the non-believer?

As we have learned for the non-believer it is;

“ death “

For the believer it is;

“ shall not inherit the kingdom of God. “

To what extent Paul meant this consequence for the believer’s judgment to be is not clearly understood but it is obvious the consequence is severe, though not as severe as it is for the non-believer.

There is for sure a difference between eternal damnation in hell for the non-believer as opposed to not inheriting the Kingdom of God for the believer.

“ but have pleasure in them that do them. “

The Greek word “ suneudokousin “ translated “ pleasure “ means consent to, to think well of in common, feel gratified with, be pleased, pleasure.

Not only do people live in these sins Paul listed as a lifestyle but they love to live in these sins as a lifestyle.

Unfortunately, this applies to both the believer and the non-believer.

An evangelical church pastor had a member in his church who repeatedly asked him to pray for him and his sinful habit.

The pastor got tired of hearing this and finally said to this church member…” Your problem is, you love your sin.”

It is born again christians like this that Paul referred to in Galatians 5:21.

As with the non-believer, if a believer loves to live a lifestlye of the following sins Paul listed such as;

1.) whispering - that is, gossiping. It is sad when a believer can’t wait to hear the latest scoop on someone and then spread the gossip to someone else…whether it is true or not, it is still gossip.

2.) covetous - that is, in love with money, greedy.

3.) full of envy - that is, jealous and envious of other people to the point of hating them and doing them harm because of it.

4.) backbiters - that is, saying things to do harm to people which is always motivated by intense hatred.

and so on and so on…as we have already studied in depth - ( just read my earlier studies on Romans chapter one )according to Paul there will be consequences both for the believer as well as the non-believer, since God is just and fair and will judge both the non-believer and the believer…according to the Bible.

However, the consequences are far worse for the non-believer than for the believer.

As I have said many times, while everyone has his or her personal opinion about someone based on whatever reason, the only opinion that will matter is God’s opinion in His final assessment of us and how we lived our life.

Paul said;

“ Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. “    1 Corinthians 3:13

We as human beings know what we do and why we do it.

So does God.

While it is typical in today’s society which promotes the philosophy that none of us are responsible for our actions, God declares to us that we are responsible for our actions and only we can be blamed for what we do.

We will not be able to scream discrimination or claim we did not know any better... when we stand before God.   

Since I now have finished Romans chapter one I will momentarily stop my study on Romans but will resume later.

The Lord bless you!

Wayne Brown