A man becomes a slave to his idols

Romans 1:24–32
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In this chapter, Paul has been analyzing the civilization of the first century Roman Empire. He describes the moral life of great cities like Ephesus, Corinth, and Rome. However, the letter describes exactly what happened last night in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. Idolatrous worship still prevails in all parts of the world. Education, culture, and advancement do not free men from idolatry since the problem is basically spiritual. When I was in India, I saw a first-hand example of this. Although they are very advanced in the computer age, cows are made sacred. To kill a cow is as bad as murder. India cannot feed its starving millions, yet two hundred million cows are allowed to wander far and wide competing with man for food and damaging crops. Not even the government of India can liberate the nation from this false worship, and its efforts to do so are being met with stubborn opposition from the people.

False religious systems enslave people both sensually and spiritually. Paul describes the sensual enslavement when he said, “God gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves” (v. 24). Paul then moves on from describing sensual enslavement to describing spiritual enslavement which results from idolatry when he says that God gave up those “who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator” (v. 25). In other words, a man becomes a slave to his idols.

Application

Although I am not tempted to worship cows or other creatures, I need to be careful that I never worship my lifestyle and the things I may accumulate on this earth.