Idolatry and serving the Law

is romans chapter 1 verse 25 talkin' about serving the LAW, (creature) or are these animals as the pharisee's teach? for some reason it seemed to me it could be the law so when i checked my strong's concordance another word in the definition was "ordinance". also if you look down in verse 29 thru 31 it looks like the same description as those under the law. just wondered what someone who doesn't wear religious glasses thought? Rod

You see well, my dear friend, it is the same description!! While the religious Pharisee mentality is able to play around with a verse here and a verse there, the truth that connects them often tells a different story. I’m mean, there’s no doubt that Paul described an idolatry where men made gods in the form of animals, but instead of directing the attention on those pagans he kept on until he showed that all are exactly the same in the long run. He ends up describing the religious mind of the Pharisee as being the very epitome of the mind that is antagonistic toward God.

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. Romans 2:1

What’s the difference if those who pass judgment have made up their own performance standards or else have been given the right standards by which to judge? The highly moral Pharisee is no different than the bum in the ditch who compares himself to the guy who has fallen just a bit lower than himself (at least in his own perceptions). There’s always a way to justify yourself by comparing yourself to another … and this is the essence of law. In Christ those bogus comparisons are seen to be nothing more than legalities, for in him we are brought to the place of true righteousness!

Jim Minker