Gave Them Over

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (Romans 1:28-32)

A Reprobate Mind

After humanity makes choices to reject the truth of God for a lie, we saw previously that God gave them up to uncleanness and idolatry. But they persist until God gives them over “to a reprobate mind.”

What is a reprobate? In Jeremiah 6:30, we read: “Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.” God has rejected them, and they are ripe for judgment.

Judgment

God told Abraham that He would send his descendants to Egypt, “But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Genesis 15:16). The society of the Amorites would get to a point where they would never seek repentance, and would be beyond hope of escaping their depraved state. We also see this for the antediluvians (Genesis 4:16-24; 6:1-7), Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:20-21) and Judah for Manasseh’s sake, even though he repented (2 Kings 22:11-17; 23:26). Individuals also include the Pharaoh of the Exodus (Romans 9:17), and those who clearly saw God’s power, and attributed it to the devil (Matthew 12:31). Without Christ, we are just like all of these folks. Likewise, as we get closer to the Day of Christ, we see that “God shall send them strong delusion” (2 Thessalonians 2:11).

All Unrighteousness

Just look at some of the traits listed here, which is what “all unrighteousness” looks like:

  1. Fornication: Sexual relations outside of marriage abound in these people. Marriage is less important, and we see the rise of broken families. Any children born will be in these unstable families. We see some of this in our society today.
  2. Wickedness: We see extreme evil in these people.
  3. Covetousness: What people have is never enough. They see and want more and more stuff.
  4. Maliciousness: The reprobate intentionally inflicts harm upon other people.
  5. Full of envy: Like being covetous, they want to be like others, and have their lives. They are full of jealousy.
  6. Murder: It is nothing to kill other people for whatever reason (1 John 3:15).
  7. Debate: Arguing and fighting with others, and the need to always be right is something that is seen in the reprobate.
  8. Deceit: They deceive others to harm or outwit people and get their way.
  9. Malignity: Like maliciousness, but with the intent to slander other people.
  10. Whisperers: Just as people murmured against Moses (example: Exodus 15:24) in order to undermine his leadership and possibly overthrow his rule, the reprobate does the same.
  11. Backbiters: Speaking slanderously to another person.
  12. Haters of God: Having rejected the truth for fabrication, they hate the ultimate Truth, God. They don’t hate the false gods or atheism, but hate the real God because they are accountable to Him.
  13. Despiteful: Being full of hate.
  14. Proud: Elevating yourself above God, being into yourself, and being narcissistic. This was the devil’s sin (Isaiah 14:13-14).
  15. Boasters: Just like being proud, this is when you like to draw attention to things that you do or traits about yourself. Ever see these videos on social media that show people helping the homeless and the like? See Matthew 6:6, 18.
  16. Inventors of evil things: The most horrid things that normal people would never think of. This is when you try to one-up something evil that has already been done. Who can outdo such and such evil?
  17. Disobedient to parents: Because of an increase of fornication, listed above, children do not have stable families and could be more prone to disobey their parents. Children also could be more disobedient just because of who they are. Either way, parents are disrespected.
  18. Without understanding: There is no true knowledge in them. In the age of devices with screens, we are dealing with a generation of people who are enslaved to technology and get information from ungodly sources.
  19. Covenantbreakers: People break promises, and it does not even phase them when they do so.
  20. Without natural affection: They do not care about their own families. In an age of abortion, women are murdering their own children to cover their own shame or to make their own lives easier.
  21. Implacable: People cannot be calmed from their rage or talked out of the evil they do.
  22. Unmerciful: People crying out for mercy yet they continue in their cruelty. I think of concentration camps and the slaughter of innocent people.

These sociopaths, “Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.” It is not only that they commit atrocity; they also enjoy it when others do such things.

This is just a glimpse of the fate of humankind. Without Christ, however, we would also turn into this. We needed to be rescued from this hopelessness. Thank God that He can and He did.