People approach religion in different ways.

Some time ago during our seminary chapel, a guest speaker preached a sermon on 'How big is your God?' This pastor challenged our students with how they should pray to the almighty God: 'If you really have a faith in God, then you will ask for a Pajero (an expensive 4WD sports utility vehicle), not a Kia Pride." I would call his approach, 'the health and wealth gospel religion.'

How about 'the taxi-driver's religion'? When I am in a taxi, I usually see two little statures of Mary and Jesus on the dashboard. The driver looks at these idols and prays for safety from accidents and hold-ups.

And then there are those folks who want to make sure that they go to heaven when they die. So they go to church 'just to make sure.' I call this 'the insurance man's religion.'

Each approach is good for something. They promise

• Blessings of healing and material prosperity and healing of our bodies
• Protection from accidents and bad company
• Salvation in the life after

You might say, "Well, that is good. I need them all — blessings, protection and salvation!" After all, we all face life's problems and we need all the help we can get.

This is what popular religions are all about. To put it in a crude term, a popular religion sells because it promises some sort of utility in religion. We believe because it serves a useful function in our lives, be it healing, success, wealth, protection, and even salvation for the next life (hence no more fear of death in this life).

As good as it may sound, however, there is a major problem with these approaches to religion. They are not what the Bible teaches. No, not exactly. The fundamental problem with the popular religion is that, in its final analysis, it is MAN-CENTERED, instead of being GOD-CENTERED. It answers the question, 'what can the religion do for me?' rather than asking the question, 'what can I do to be right with God?'

This morning, let us listen carefully to the argument of Paul, as he outlines before us the most important reason why we must come to God and worship him and why we must turn our backs against the popular religion.

The Beginning of a True Religion
What is Paul trying to accomplish in the Book of Romans? You may know that it is a very logical, carefully argued theological book. That is true. He is being very precise with his words, as he is in other letters, and he welcomes us to enter into a debate with him concerning the necessity of a religion based solely on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

He starts with the grand statements about how he feels about the gospel:

     o I am obligated to all people
     o I am eager to preach the gospel
     o I am not ashamed of the gospel (vv. 14-16)

The reason why he feels this way is that the Good News (the gospel) is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.

Hinidi ko ikinahihiya ang Mabuting Balita tungkol kay Cristo, Sapagkat ito ang kapangyarihan ng Diyos sa ikaliligtas ng bawat nananampalataya. (Mga Taga-Roma 1:16)

In short, he tells us that the gospel has the power to save us from the wrath of God (1:17).

Paul's Indictment of Humanity: The Need for the Gospel
How is it possible that we are living under the wrath of God? Let us examine what he says:

• Men suppress the truth by their wickedness. (vs. 18)
• They exchanged the truth of God for a lie (vs. 25)

How did we do that?

• God made his power and his divine nature plain to all … (but they chose not to recognize) (vs. 20).
• They knew God, but they did not glorify or give thanks to him. (vs. 21)
• They exchanged the glory of God for images made to look like creation (vs. 23)

In other words, the main problem here is the messing up of the creation order. People have messed up by worshipping the creation (idolatry) rather than the Creator.

So what was God's response?

Paul uses the expression 'God gave them over …' three times. It is tantamount to 'God abandoned them.' Life without God is a curse. It is living under his wrath already.

Paul connects sexual sin as the result of a heart living in the sinful desire. Why, I wondered, did sexual sin the top of the list? Sexual sin in Paul's days likely referred to infidelity that included various acts of immorality outside one's marriage confinement. Such acts were a frontal assault on the sanctity of marriage, the one and only human institution which was started BEFORE the fall of man. God mentions marriage in Genesis 1:27 but sin does not enter until Genesis 3.

When people refused God, the first thing they did away was the covenant of marriage. You see that the problem with adultery is that it stands for everything God is not. He does not break his covenant with us. In the same way, he expects us to keep the covenant we have made with others, the marriage covenant being the most important one. But in adultery, we break that covenant.

The other day I read in the newspaper that Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are postponing their wedding, not because their relationship is in trouble, but because they do not want this sacred day to be marred by too much media attention. The couple said, "We began to feel that the spirit of what should have been the happiest day of our lives could be compromised. We felt what should have been a joyful and sacred day could be spoiled for us, our families and our friends."

Jennifer wants this day to be sacred. When I read that, I could not help but become cynical about the whole thing. At 33, this will be her third, "I do, until death due us apart." If she really meant the wedding vow each time, then this is the third reincarnate Jennifer Lopez all over.

Paul says that God abandoned them and now they live in sexual impurity, in degrading of their bodies. They worship and serve the created beings, rather than the Creator. This is the lot of those who live under the wrath of God.

Paul repeats the phrase again, "God gave them over." And yet, this time, he uses homosexuality as the chief example. Why? It is because homosexuality represents the basic disregard for the order of creation: men and men in indecent acts, women and women also in indecent acts. The act of homosexuality then is the epitome of disrespect and contempt for the order of creation.

Those who defend homosexuality try to read this passage differently, that what Paul really meant was that only sex conducted against the nature of one's true orientation is wrong. Thus, if you are homosexual, you must not engage in heterosexual activities, and vice-versa.

You might ask, 'how is it possible that one can come up with that kind of interpretation from this passage?' I must remind you that there are some well-meaning theologians, who read the text in the original Greek and somehow able to convince themselves and also try to convince others that that is what Paul is really saying in this passage. It is beyond me.

You will recall that not too long ago, a practicing homosexual priest was appointed as a bishop in the Episcopalian Church in the States. So you know that for many people homosexuality is not a sin. But Paul would not agree with that, precisely because it is a profound offense against God and his created order.

Have you heard of a phrase, 'One apple a day keeps a doctor away'? It is a word-play. Here in the Greek text, there is also an obvious word-play going on. In simple terms, Paul says, 'you did not approve of God, and God gave you a mind incapable of approving what is good from evil'

Paul says that people did not consider worthwhile (not approving) to have God around. So, God in turn 'gave them over to a depraved mind' or the mind that is incapable of approving what is good from evil. Some translations uses the word 'corrupt' for the word 'depraved.' A depraved mind is corrupt because it is incapable of discerning what is right from wrong. Therefore, from a depraved mind come corrupt acts.

The result was that man is now full of every kind of wickedness (that just about says it all). This explains the root of human problems. We are all corrupted and defiled. The list in vv. 28-31 is painfully exhaustive. And the truth is that all of us fall into one vice or another at one time or another. This, then, is Paul's indictment on humanity. Apart from God, we live as criminals, a sure sign that we are live under God's wrath (vs. 18). Apart from God's help, we cannot save ourselves.

THE MARK OF A TRUE RELIGION: 'WE ARE ALL GUILTY'
What is the true religion? It sincerely asks, "What must I do to be pardoned from the wrath of God?" You see, then, that the real issue is not some healing of our bodies or being saved from bankruptcy. As much as those are important issues in life, we have even more fundamental issue to deal with: We have profoundly offended God the Creator and He is angry with us.

Last time I preached this message (several years ago back in Toronto), a church member brought her roommate out to church. This happened to be her roommate's first trip to church in years. Her friend did not return, because she was offended by my sermon. But did not Paul say that the message of the cross is offensive? First, it must offend you, then, and only then, can it comfort you. Only when we acknowledge that we are guilty and stand condemned before God, then are we ready to talk about a true religion.

Yes, we are all guilty. But we know that Christ died for us while we were yet sinners (5:8). God came to us to rescue us from this rebellious situation. Without Jesus Christ and His gospel, we are totally helpless and hopeless.

A popular religion will never convince those who are self-assured and self-reliant, those who feel they have no need to come to Jesus Christ. Religion to people like that is no more than a psychological clutch and a source of wishful thinking. Why go through the motion of asking God for something, when you can provide that with your own hands? It is lazy after all and unethical, leaving things to divine favors and chances, when you could get it yourself.

But Christianity is not a popular religion. It shows us that we are sinners before the holy God. John Wesley is the one often associated with the open-air preaching. Do you know why he preached his messages out in the open? After all, he was an Oxford graduate and his father was a minister in the Church of England. He must have had a sense of decency that preaching belonged to the prestigious pulpits of the established churches, not in the open air. The reason why he started the idea of the open-air preaching was because he was not invited to preach in the established churches. His message of the gospel for the sinners was too vulgar for those church men and women who live in decency. So John Wesley traveled thousands of miles on horseback, sharing the message of repentance and the assurance of forgiveness to the people of England.

We must move beyond the stage of a popular religion. We do not call people to Jesus because they are hungry and sick. We call people to Jesus because they are sinners and they need God's forgiveness. The challenge before us is, 'How do we call people to repentance without having a condescending attitude?'

May the LORD give you wisdom and insight as you witness to your officemates and relatives. May they see the genuine spirit of humility and thanksgiving in your hearts and give glory to God.