28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,
30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;
32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
Vs. 28 - And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,
“did not see fit to acknowledge God ” - This echoes verses 21 and 23. They “did not honor Him as God” and “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for... incorruptible.” The truth is out there - “that which is known”, and “His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen.” God is not hiding. He is not keeping secrets about Himself from us. To be sure, there is lots of things we won’t be able to comprehend because He is vastly beyond us. We are finite; He is infinite in every way. We can refuse to believe in God - that is our choice.
“ God gave them over ” - Echoing verses 24 and 26. Why would God allow them to fall away? Why didn’t He stop them? Those types of questions are common. I ask you, would you rather be free or be a robot? Would you rather make your own decisions, or would you prefer to have your choices programmed into you?
Some of the great science fiction stories (in books and movies) including the “I, Robot” series from Isaac Asimov, or the “Terminator” movies, or the “Blade Runner” movie (based on a story by Philip K. Dick) deal with the problem of artificial intelligence and autonomy. The writers are acutely aware that machines do not have souls, and therefore should not be allowed to make certain moral decisions. Asimov came up with the clever three prime directives of robotics, to make sure that the machines would not supplant humans, always protecting humans.
The artificial intelligence of the machines began destroying human life in the Terminator movies. Decisions were based on raw data and protection of the machines rather than the value of the creators of the machines. War between machines and humans was the result. Human life has more value than machine “life” no matter how smart or capable the machines became.
God does not want you to be a programmed machine, doing only what you’ve been told. That is not a relationship. Our pets, dog and cats, have more autonomy than that! God has allowed us free rein in any decision tree we come to in life. We can choose His way, or go our own. Each has consequences. In any case, God ‘gives you over’ to your decision - allows you to live with the consequences of your decisions.
Some decisions will lead to depraved behavior. Some will lead to peace with Him. If you develop a habit of making decisions leading away from God, the “giving over” becomes a habit that deforms the conscience, leading you deeper and deeper into things which are not proper.
Vs. 29-31 - being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;
“being filled...” - I mentioned earlier that Paul was not picking on homosexuality (vss. 26, 27) as he described their impurity or degrading passions. In verses 29-32, God provides a list of twenty-two (22) sins in which Paul describes “a depraved mind” - see the list below. A ‘Cliff Notes’ version is seen in 1 John 2:15-16: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” This is the kind of list that should start with the phrase ‘includes, but not limited to the following’.
The sins are the symptom of the illness that infects us. The illness is the sin nature we inherited from the ‘Original Sin’. It is almost as if the sins do not matter because they are the acting out of the way we are. It does not matter if you do not murder another person if you are arrogant - both show you are a sinner and need salvation.
Some of the sins on the list are personal, internal, and perhaps never visible to the people around you. The ‘visibility’ or public display is unimportant, for it is sin, period. God knows your sin, even if you will not acknowledge that fact.
Some of the sins on the list are inter-personal - the way you treat others, the lack of value you place on others. These sins may be committed, and observed by others. The disapproval that may arise is witness of your sin, but only the record kept by the Lord is important.
Vs. 32 - and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
“they know the ordinances of God... practice such things worthy of death... do the same” - Even though the people know what is being done is wrong, both in the short term and for eternity, they do it anyway. This is the Biblical definition of ‘fool’.
“hearty approval” - The depraved mind is the logical conclusion of active rebellion and passive indifference to God. The depraved not only act out the sin nature, but also encourage and tech others how to do the same. The sins are celebrated! Examples: Gay pride parades. Shouting out your abortions (encouraging women to brag about having an abortion). Spring break week bacchanal. Vilification of Christians. Personal destruction of those who disagree with the main stream media.
Some of the strongest language in the OT and NT is spoken against people who lead others into destruction. See: Mark 9:40, 42; Isa. 5:20-23. Paul is almost furious in the letter to the Galatians regarding teachers who are leading people away from the true gospel. See also: Matt. 7:15-23, 24:4-5; 2 Cor. 1:13-15; Col. 2:8; 2 Tim. 3:1-7, 4:3-4; Tit. 1:15-16; 1 John 4:1-6; 2 John 1:7-11.
If you start considering the attitudes of non-believers starting with verse 19 through verse 32, you see a death spiral - going from indifference to God, to disbelief, active opposition, to celebrating their disobedience, to urging others to join them in sin.
The attitudes go from being centered on God to chaos.
(this assumes that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are not rebellious to the point of defiance. Most believers are not ‘in your face’ to God)
***The list of sins:
(including, but not limited to the following:)
- unrighteousness - violating law and justice (especially God’s)
- wickedness. - depravity, evil purposes & desires
- greed - desire to have more, covetousness, avarice
- evil - ill-will, desire to injury, break laws
- envy - jealousy
- murder - killing others, slaughter
- strife - wrangling, contention
- deceit - guile, to mislead
- malice - bad character, malignant subtlety
- gossip - secret slander
- slanderers - defamers
- haters of God - exceptionally impious, and wicked
- insolent - prideful, insulting others
- arrogant - placing self above others, overweening self-estimation
- boastful - empty pretender (on the other hand, it’s not bragging if you can pull it off)
- inventors of evil - plotters of wrong things and actions
- disobedient - not compliant
- without understanding - unintelligent, stupid
- untrustworthy - covenant breaking, faithless
- unloving - without natural affection
- unmerciful - without mercy (unable or unwilling to see that compassion is needed.)
- hearty approval - to be pleased together with, consent, agree
***
End of Chapter
***
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