In the book of Romans chapter 1, Paul is generally talking about the gentile world (he will get to the Jews a bit later.).
Romans 1:21.”Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
The gentile world knew about God..for the invisible things about God has been shown in nature, so they are without excuse.(verse 20).
I will now focus on Romans 1;29-32. It certainly seem that these people has become “full of themselves”..having rejected God, failing to glorify Him..being un-thankful, have lead them down the slippery slope of sins and ungodliness. God gave them over…
Look at verse 29..being filled with. This phrasing means a state of being filled to the point of overflowing.
Their minds have become “depraved” now, meaning morally corrupt, wicked, perverted, deviant, so their thought patterns and actions follow suit in unrighteousness.
Paul listed over twenty different ways in which the mind can be focused once turned away from God. Here are some similar scriptures, read 1 Cor. 6: 9-11(we read last week), Galatians 5: 19-21, and Col.3:5.
This list taken from Life Application Bible commentary..THE BOOK OF ROMANS.
Every Kind of Wickedness--The opposite of righteousness, the absence of justice.
Evil--What is sinister and vile.
Greed--Relentless urge to get more for oneself.
Depravity--A condition of moral evil.
Envy---Desire for something possessed by another.
Murder--Greed, envy, and strife, left unchecked, could lead to even killing another in order to obtain what is desired.
Strife--Competition, rivalry, bitter conflict.
Deceit--To trick or mislead by lying.
Malice--Doing evil despite the evil that has been reeived.
Gossips--They create problems by rehashing idle talk or rumors concerning others’ personal lives.
Slanderers--Destroy another’s good reputation.
God-haters--Not only do they ignore God; some actively hate him and attempt to work against any of his influences.
Insolent--Arrogant behavior toward those who are not powerful enough to fight back. This particularly refers to a person’s attempt to shame another without mercy.
Arrogant and Boastful--Making claims of superior intelligence or importance.
Invent ways of doing evil--Trying new kinds of perversions.
Disobey their parents--When God’s authority is tossed aside as worthless, parental authority cannot be far behind. How unfortunate that the parents, in many cases, had set the example. By ignoring God’s authority, they set the example for the children to ignore parental authority.
Senseless--Unable to discern spiritual and moral things.
Faithless--Not keeping one’s promises or doing one’s duties; unreliable, untrustworthy.
Heartless--Unfeeling, unkind, harsh, cruel.
Ruthless--Without pity or compassion, merciless.
Let’s take a look at verse 32. “Who knowing the judgment of God, that they that commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them”. Romans 2: 2 let’s us know what will happen to those who commit such things. You may ask..but how did they know God’s death penalty. Remember..we are made in the image of God, man has a basic moral nature and conscious. Even psychologists attests that it’s indeed rare for a person not to know “right from wrong”, they say this is a extremely serious personality disorder very hard to treat.
Most people know when they are wrong; however they may not care. Some say “I realize it’s wrong but “I want it”..I know it’s dangerous… even deadly.. But it’s worth the risk. Try as they might, man knows that sin deserves death. (Romans 6:23).
I will send another study help soon. Looking to hear each of you Thursday night.
Blessings!
