Romans 2:22
22 Thou that sayest [lego] a man should [moicheuo] not
[me] commit adultery [moicheuo], dost thou commit adultery [moicheuo]? thou that abhorrest [bdelusso] idols [eidolon], dost thou
commit sacrilege [hierosuleo]? KJV-Interlinear
22 You
who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who
abhor idols, do you rob temples? ESV
Three things listed in this verse, of which most people
are guilty of but do not realize it, namely adultery, idols, and sacrilege, are
all cheating of one sort or another, and all deal with the focus of ones pattern
of life with regard to temporal things rather than on the things of the
spiritual life.
All three mark the disobedience of people, who profess
spirituality but in fact do not practice it.
Adultery is the intimate cheating on ones spouse. And also refers to the intimate cheating on
God by pursuing the things of this life rather than the intimate studies of
Gods word.
Idols are the cheating is the pursuit of things, even
secular things or religious substitutions, in place of the correct worship of
God through the intimate knowledge and understanding of Bible doctrine.
Sacrilege is the crime of violating sacred things. And any and all indifference toward Biblical
principles, any and all rejection of Gods plan, any and all substitutions of
your own spiritual or personal beliefs in place of true and correct spiritual
principles, any and all disregard of Gods mandates and so forth, are in effect
the commission of crimes against God and truth.
Cheating is not limited to sex or bowing to stones or
stealing from a church. All cheating
originates from the soul and the attitude that, you do not need Gods outline
for life and prefer your own pattern to live by.
Nearly everything in this world can be used as an
example of some spiritual principle.
While wealth and prosperity and happiness are good
examples of blessings, so too, crimes and poverty and indifference or even
pretense are good examples of spiritual flaws.
And while these things are not the actual spiritual
result, they give us worldly examples of what can be good and preferred, as
opposed to those things that are not preferable in life.
Never judge people by their circumstances or
appearances. The soul is the place of
spiritual reality, not the pocketbook. Only
God can evaluate and judge fairly and correctly.
Likewise, for those who engage in public spiritual
fronts, then hypocrisy becomes the big threat to their credibility and impact
on people who are naïve.
