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28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. ~ Romans 1:28-32
Today, we conclude our study of Romans 1 where we have been considering the essence of sin in v.24-25, the ultimate expression of sin in v.26-27. And, today, we will consider the extent of sin in v.28-32.
The theme of Romans is the gospel of Jesus Christ reveals God’s righteousness, and, by believing in the finished work of Christ on the cross, man can be made right with God. We do not realize how amazing God's grace is until we have discovered the awfulness of His wrath. Before we can understand the good news of salvation, we must first know the bad news of condemnation. This is why the Apostle Paul addresses the sinfulness of man in the first three chapters of Romans.
In Romans 1:18 we read, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness."
The bad news is we have been separated from God and life itself, and, we all are bound for the ultimate consequence of our sin which is Hell. Rebellious man is continually being given over to the consequences of his rebellion against God whose wrath was awakened by our sin. Sin is a death always dying.
As we have considered the essence and the ultimate expression of our sin, today, we come to Paul's third usage of the phrase "God gave them over."
In v.28 of today's passage we read, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting."
This is the beginning of the extent of man's sin. Rebellious and sinful man does not want to retain God in his knowledge. So, God gave man up to his desire to exist independently of Him. We abandoned God! As a result, God has let us go our own way. And, with sin as our master, we are led to a debased, reprobate, defective and corrupt mind. As a result, man chooses to do things that are not fitting, things that God never intended for us to do.
In v.29 of today's passage we read, "being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers."
The first three words of this verse says it all. It does not read, "affected by" or "influenced by." It reads, "being filled with." This means man is continually being filled with the consequences of thinking God is a fool and he is not. "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'"
That word "unrighteousness" means to delight in doing what is opposite of God. This means man deliberately has departed from that which is best for him. The first expression of this is seen in his sexual immorality. The Greek word used here translated "sexual immorality" is the word from which we get our English word pornography which literally means the messages of prostitutes.
This leads to "wickedness" which means the sexual perversions to which pornography leads us. Interestingly, this word "porneia" is most often used of Satan in the Bible. It is active malice. It is not only doing evil, but being evil.
The next sin on the Apostle's list is "covetousness" which reveals the ultimate desire behind all sin. Covetousness is greed, craving more than we have and wishing we had what somebody else has. The problem with this: we will never be satisfied by anything this world has to offer us.
Next is "maliciousness" which comes from the Greek goddess, "Kakia," who personified the spirit of vice and immorality. This goddess was depicted as a vain, plump and heavily made-up woman dressed in revealing clothes.
And then there is "full of envy" which means hating someone because they have what you want or they are what you want to be. Following this, there is "murder," which is killing someone without just cause. And, "strife" which is being argumentative and anxious to fight about whatever. And then, "deceit" which literally gives the picture of a fish hook being set in the mouth. And then we have "evil-mindedness" which is spite or revenge with the desire to hurt or to harm another. And then, there is the word "whisperers" which is the word for gossipers and describes private slander.
In v.30-31 of today's passage we read, "30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful."
As if this list were not bad enough, the first descriptor used in v.30 is "backbiters." This word describes people who openly slander others. They do this because they are "haters of God," people who do not respect God. They, like Satan, admit God exists but they so hate Him that they openly defy Him.
Then there is the word "violent" which reveals these people have contempt not only for God but for everyone. Then there is the word "proud" which describes a people who display an attitude of superiority. And, then there is the word "boasters" which describes those who vocalize their seeming superiority.
The list next reveals those who are known to be "inventors of evil things." They invent devices designed to express filthiness. "Disobedient to parents," and "undiscerning" go hand in hand since how we grow in respect for authority enables us to think most clearly and logically. "Untrustworthy" and "unloving" also go hand in hand since the word used for "unloving" describes someone who lacks natural affection or brotherly love. The list concludes with "unforgiving" and "unmerciful" which both reveal that they are heartless, cruel, ruthless, and lacking all grace.
In v.32 of today's passage we read, "... who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them."
Once sin runs its course, it drives us deeper into its dungeon of despair and destruction, even though we may not display all of these sins listed. This is the wrath of God at work and rebellious man is sadly left to the essence, the ultimate expression and the extent of his depravity. The problem is not with God, as some suggest. The problem is that man loves his sin too much. As a result God has given rebellious man over to his own destructive self. The design behind giving man over to himself is the hope that when sin has beaten him up so badly that man has been made ready to welcome the light of God back into his life. For those who get the message, eternity will be the most welcomed sight ever.
