Living In A World Of Permissiveness

<Romans 1:28-32>: 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. 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.

* Permissiveness – The sin/evilness of the Heart

* Naturalizing and approving sins.

E.g. Abortion – Pro-Choice

E.g. Homosexuality – Pro-Love

* High risk investment and trading – Specialization.

* Propagandas by leading figures of society (small groups).

* Decline in the Christian religion influence strip off all defence.

* New moral movement – Moral Relativism.

* Man is organic – When he is affected morally, whole being gets affected.

* Breaking down of family unit.

* Wrong attitude towards work (E.g. 4 days work week?)

* Young people’s attitude towards work (Avoid pain?)

* No biblical morals leads to lack of discipline/self-control. 

Be brought to clear perspective:  

1) Problem is not new – Have to learn from the past.

* <Deu 4:3-4>: 3 You saw with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal Peor. The Lord your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor, 4 but all of you who held fast to the Lord your God are still alive today. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

* German Philosopher Hegal: “History teaches us that man learns nothing from history”

E.g. Sexual Revolution and Abortion (1960s and 1970s)

E.g. At its peak, 2 million babies were aborted every year.

Read <Ro 1:20-32>:

20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.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. 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.

2) Know what is Man?

* Culture of permissiveness regard man as animals.

* Believe Man is driven purely by instinct and desires.

* Biblical View – Man is driven by beliefs, reasons and morals, and constrained by conscience.

* Shakespeare: “What a piece of work is a man, How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty, In form and moving how express and admirable, In action how like an Angel, In apprehension how like a god…”

* Whereas animals are governed by instinct, impulses and desires, Man is to govern and use them for the glory of God.

* Yet, the fall of man in <Ge 3> caused him to lose all these abilities.

* With that, man has got to be led (by spiritual leaders, judges, government).

Two important solutions for mankind.

1. To be led and constrained by law and order.

* Need for Christian ethics and discipline.

* Family instructions are needed.

2. The need for the Christian message.

* <Ro 1:18>: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

* The Son of God came as both redeemer and leader of men.

* A new born again life that comes through faith in Christ.

* A change of Nature – New aspiration, new desires, new impulses, new pursuits, new consciousness.

* <1 Cor 6:9-11>: 9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men[a] 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

*  <1 Cor 2:2>: “I resolved to know nothing except Christ crucified”.