In this remarkable passage, Paul explains how people walk away from God. He lays out the tragic sequence of steps that carry us away from our Creator. And the main point of Paul's blunt analysis is clear: God didn't move away from us; we moved away from Him. He didn't reject us; we rejected Him because we wanted a different god, one we could control, one who wouldn't demand that we live holy lives. We discover that humans aren't innocent victims who've been helplessly enslaved by the devil, but rather rebels willing to lie to ourselves and others in order to break free from God's authority. No one can accuse Paul of flattering us. He does nothing to spare us from the ugly truth. But the reason he does so is not to leave us condemned and ashamed, but rather to show us how to come back to God. He wants us to understand that we can't come home apart from deep repentance and grace. He doesn't want us fooling ourselves into believing we are essentially good people in need of just a little correction. No, to come back to God we must retrace the rebellious steps that led us away. We must recognize our rebellion and surrender at last to the Father who will insist that we become holy and pure like His Son. And thankfully, when we do, we find He is able to bring even hardened rebels like us back to Himself.

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