What is Idolatry? Idolatry is most literally translated as
bowing down or worshipping an idol, or an engraved image. But this is not the only kind.
Ephesians
5:5
For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person–such a man is
an idolater–has any inheritance in the
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1
Corinthians 6:9-10
9Do you
not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be
deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters
nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor
thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit
the kingdom of God.
1
Corinthians 5:11
But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls
himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a
slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.
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Anyone who claims to be Christian
but is an idolater is hell-bound, until they repent. Furthermore, a true Christian “must not
associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is”…”an idolater”. So whether you are an idolater or not, you
need to know who is.
Eph 5:3-5
3 But
among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of
impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people.
4 Nor
should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of
place, but rather thanksgiving.
5 For
of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person-- such a man is an idolater-- has any
inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (NIV)
Verse 5 tells us that there are 3
general categories of idolatry:
1.
Immorality
2.
Impurity
3.
Greed
Immorality, or outwardly bad behavior, has an obvious
meaning. All the outward behaviors
listed in the various scriptural
vice-lists should clarify what these damnable deeds are.
Impurity, on
the other hand, seems more elusive and less behavioral. Here is a passage where the same word appears
again in another list of deadly sins:
19 The acts of
the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and
debauchery;
20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of
rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
21 and envy;
drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that
those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness,
23 gentleness
and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
24 Those who
belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and
desires.
25 Since we
live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
26 Let us not
become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (NIV)
You
probably noticed that the usual list of sins expanded in this list as compared
to the others. I suspect that Paul may be
elaborating on the meaning of the words that appear before the semicolons –
“sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery”: Giving examples of the vague concept of
“impurity”.
Strong’s
translates impurity as:
167 akatharsia
(ak-ath-ar-see'-ah); --from 169; impurity (the quality), physically or morally:
KJV-- uncleanness.
Jesus
Himself defined “uncleanness” this way:
Mark 7
15Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather,
it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.' "[6]
17After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked
him about this parable. 18"Are you so dull?" he asked.
"Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make
him 'unclean'? 19For it doesn't go into his heart but into his
stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all
foods "clean.")
20He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him
'unclean.' 21For from within,
out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts,
sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance
and folly. 23All these evils come from inside and make a man
'unclean.' "
Matthew 5
Murder
21"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, 'Do
not murder,[1]
and anyone who murders will be subject to
judgment.' 22But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his
brother[2]
will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,[3]
' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in
danger of the fire of hell.
1
John 3:15
Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know
that no murderer has eternal life in him.
(Whole Chapter: 1
John 3 In context: 1
John 3:14-16)
Strong’s definition above speaks of moral impurity.
What does it mean to be morally impure?
Rev 22:14-15
14 "Blessed
are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of
life and may go through the gates into the city.
15 Outside
are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the
murderers, the idolaters and everyone who
loves and practices falsehood. (NIV)
Idolaters are mentioned along with
“everyone who loves and practices falsehood”. Moral impurity, such as loving falsehood, is
not always observable behavior.
A pop song that I heard as a boy baffled me until I understood this sin. The name of the song is “tell me lies”. A woman sang the song, because she preferred lies to truth; because lies made her feel good and the truth usually does not. The truth exposes sin.
Jeremiah
23:16
Lamentations
2:14
Ezekiel
22:28
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The truth exposes sin toward a
productive end:
Isaiah
1:18
The least behaviorally-observable
damnable sin (or sin unto death) that I can
find in scripture is “loving not the
truth”:
II Th 2:9-12
9 The
coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan
displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,
10 and
in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
11 For
this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the
lie
12 and
so that all will be condemned
who have not believed the truth but
have delighted in wickedness. (NIV)
II Th 2:9-12
9 Even
him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and
lying wonders,
10 And
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved.
11 And
for this cause God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12 That
they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (KJV)
They took pleasure in wickedness. Which type?
1 Cor 6:9‑10 makes it clear that idolatry is a type of wickedness.
Did they bow down to a real idol?
No. They just refused to love the
truth. That is all you have to do to
become an idolater. Why does God send
them a strong delusion? Because he
answers them according to their idols:
Ezekiel 14
Idolaters Condemned
1 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of
me. 2 Then the word of the LORD came to me: 3 "Son
of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling
blocks before their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? 4
Therefore speak to them and tell them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
When any Israelite sets up idols in
his heart and puts a wicked stumbling block before his face
and then goes to a prophet, I the LORD
will answer him myself in keeping with his great idolatry. 5 I
will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all
deserted me for their idols.'
6 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the
Sovereign LORD says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your
detestable practices!
7 " 'When any Israelite or any alien living in Israel separates
himself from me and sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked
stumbling block before his face and then goes to a prophet to inquire of me, I
the LORD will answer him myself. 8 I will set my face against that
man and make him an example and a byword. I will cut him off from my people.
Then you will know that I am the LORD .
9 " 'And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the
LORD have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and
destroy him from among my people Israel. 10 They will bear their
guilt-the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. 11
Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile
themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be
their God, declares the Sovereign LORD .' "
How does one set up an idol in their heart?
1.
Engaging
in any of the mental and/or physical behaviors used above as defining idolatry.
2.
Put
anything before/ahead of God.
Mark
12 (New International Version)
The Greatest Commandment
28One of the teachers of the law came
and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he
asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
29“The
most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our
God, the Lord is one.[e] 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your mind and with all your strength.’[f] 31The second is this: ‘Love your
neighbor as yourself.’[g]There is no commandment greater than these.”
This most important command is
summative, not exhaustive. How this
command can be lived out in daily life is knowledge that we find in God’s
commands, or law. The only alternative to idolatry is forsaking everything in order to study and obey
God’s word/law and voice.
So idolatry is an automatic default
setting for human beings. People don’t
just put
God first in all things without being taught to do so.
Romans
1
God's Wrath Against Mankind
18The wrath of God is
being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men
who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be
known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For
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 men are without excuse.
21For 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. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and
reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts
to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They
exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the
Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their
women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same
way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with
lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received
in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the
knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to
be done. 29They 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, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent,
arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their
parents; 31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although
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.
Heart idolatry is again referred to
in verse 24. While images are explicitly
mentioned in verse 22, they “worshiped and served created things rather than the
Creator”. You cannot serve
both created things and God. It must be
one or the other. Here is a list of
created things that most “Christians” put before God (by disobeying his law):
1.
Greed
2.
Sexual
Relationships
3.
Selfish
ambition/strife
4.
Entertainment
I could go on, but these idols are
mentioned in the Romans passage above. This list could actually include
anything that is created. The only thing
that cannot be an idol is the one true Creator. This passage makes more sense
in light of this fact:
Luke
14:26
"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his
wife and children, his brothers
and sisters–yes, even his own life–he cannot be my disciple.
(Whole Chapter: Luke
14 In context: Luke
14:25-27)
The word “hate” can also be
translated as “love less”, or “love secondarily”: Only after your duty of love is fulfilled to
God, should you then attempt to love others.
Another way to test yourself to see if you are an idolater is to
look at how you spend your time and money.
Is it for the sake of the gospel?
Or is it for the sake of you?
Mark
8:35
For whoever wants to save his life [
(Whole Chapter: Mark
8 In context: Mark
8:34-36)
Jesus cannot fit inside of your
life. Your life is led by you, and not
Him. This will not work. You must first lay
your life down and make room for Him and His life to come in. How do you do this? By giving up your life:
1.
your
time
2.
your
material
resources
for His sake and for the Gospel.
Obeying
the gospel is the only cure for idolatry.
We are all idolaters by nature.
Ezekiel 14
Idolaters Condemned
1 Some of the elders of
6 "Therefore say to the house of
7 " 'When any Israelite or any alien living in Israel separates
himself from me and sets up idols in his heart and puts a wicked stumbling
block before his face and then goes to a prophet to inquire of me, I the LORD
will answer him myself. 8 I will set my face against that man and
make him an example and a byword. I will cut him off from my people. Then you
will know that I am the LORD .
9 " 'And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the
LORD have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and
destroy him from among my people
This is
good preaching in our day: “Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable
practices!” As you continue to read this long passage of
scripture, ask yourself this: When God
said he “will answer him myself in
keeping with his great idolatry” what did God mean?
[passage continued from above]
Judgment Inescapable
12 The word of the LORD came to me: 13 "Son of man,
if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand
against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its men
and their animals, 14 even if these three men-Noah, Daniel [1]
and Job-were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness,
declares the Sovereign LORD .
15 "Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they
leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it
because of the beasts, 16 as surely as I live, declares the
Sovereign LORD , even if these three men were in it, they could not save their
own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be
desolate.
17 "Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, 'Let
the sword pass throughout the land,' and I kill its men and their animals, 18
as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD , even if these three men were
in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be
saved.
19 "Or if I send a
plague into that land and pour out my wrath upon it through bloodshed,
killing its men and their animals, 20 as surely as I live, declares
the Sovereign LORD , even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save
neither son nor daughter. They would save
only themselves by their righteousness.
21 "For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: How much worse
will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments-sword and
famine and wild beasts and plague-to kill its men and their animals! 22
Yet there will be some survivors-sons and daughters who will be brought out of
it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions,
you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought upon
He meant that He would, among other
things, “send a.. plague-to kill its men”. This seems to throw a wrench in the “Healing is always God’s will”
theology that we Pentecostals push. That
is why I do not emphasize healing ministry in exclusion to the other 2 main
aspects of a word for “healed”: SOZO—to
save, heal, and deliver.
You see the word “save” above in
verse 19? How can they yet save themselves from the impending
curse of sickness that they have brought upon themselves through
idolatry?
1
Timothy 4:16
Watch your life and doctrine
closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself
and your hearers.
(Whole Chapter: 1
Timothy 4 In context: 1
Timothy 4:15-17)
Acts 2
39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far
off--for all whom the Lord our God will call."
40With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them,
"Save yourselves from this
corrupt generation." 41Those who accepted his message were
baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
They can save themselves from the
curse of sickness through their righteousness and that is God’s will. Peter made this point well, and perhaps now
it is easier to understand in light of all the associated scriptures you have
read.
1Peter 2
But if you suffer for doing good and
you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were
called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you
should follow in his steps.
22"He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his
mouth."[5]
23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when
he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who
judges justly. 24He himself
bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and
live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25For
you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and
Overseer of your souls.
For more on this correlation between
sin, salvation, and God’s healing power, see “Healing-God’s will”.
1
John 5:21
Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
1
John 5:20-22 (in Context) 1
John 5 (Whole Chapter)
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deadly sins or “Wickedness” document.