When the Lord created us, He placed in our hearts an instinct to know what is right or wrong. Paul wrote about people who live a life in violation of God’s original creation, he described them this way, “They began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools” (Romans 1:21-22).

“Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it” (Romans 2:14).  This instinctive knowing is present in all of us. It is called a moral compass.  That instinctive moralistic compass informs us, but in can’t save us. Only by believing in Jesus will we begin to see beyond our personal morality, to embrace Jesus and His truth, and be truly set free.

At the moment when we believe in Jesus, we become a new creation. From that point on, we will understand more accurately what our freedom of choice means and why the Lord created us with that moral compass to see the first glimpses of what true freedom would look like. 

We are living in a time when these foolish ideas are becoming the norm. Expressions of this folly are seen every where, even in certain sections of the Church. When this happens, “God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies” (vs. 24). After defining a violation of male and female sexuality, Paul went on to provide a longer list of sin that would indict all of us. What Paul was addressing has a consequence, “They traded the truth about God for a lie” (vs. 25).

This moral slippage will result in this: “Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, He abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done” (vs. 28). It is our choice to make about how we live. We need to choose wisely or we will become fools believing and prompting lies.