Section 4
to give Him up for something else. The people exchanged God for idols. God is glory; idols are vanity. God is reality; idols are a falsehood and a lie. How foolish and awful it was for man to exchange God for idols! Many have exchanged God for their self-made idols—their future, po sitions, degrees, and goals. They care for these idols, not for God.
These four aspects of the source of wicked ness constitute the origin of every kind of evil and sinfulness.
The Result of Giving Up God
Being Given Up by God
The first result of giving up God is being given up by God. When you give up God, this forces God to give you up. It is terrible to be given up by God. When a person has been given up by God, he will never do good things. He will not improve but will descend lower and lower.
According to Romans 1, God gives people up to three things. First is uncleanness (1:24). When a person gives up God and forces God to give him up, that person will be defiled, immediately becoming involved with uncleanness. Second, God gives up people to passions of dishonor, to