On Romans 1 - "God gave them over..."

I've always been fascinated by the progression of sin as outlined in Romans 1. As I mentioned yesterday, men are without excuse for knowing God. So as they choose to ignore God and continue in sin, there is a progression.

"Therefore God gave them over to the sinful desires of their hearts..." (v. 24) It starts with a desire to do something that we know is wrong. Paul includes in this list sexual impurity, exchanging the truth of God for a lie, worshiping created things rather than the Creator. When we ignore God, we start to give in to the temptations to do things we know are wrong.

"Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts..." (v. 26) After we give in to the temptations, we start to "lust after" the things we have given into. It becomes a passion to do these wrong things. These include unnatural sexual relations (Paul gives a list in verses 26 - 27).

"Furthermore, since they did now think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind..." (v. 28) After awhile, our minds become depraved because we keep giving in to the lusts of our flesh. "They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity" (v. 29). Paul lists among these evil things envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, insolence, God-hating, arrogance, boastfulness, disobedience to parents, senselessness, faithlessness, heartlessness and ruthlessness. I always find it interesting the disobeying parents is a sign of a depraved mind!

How many people in our society today have a depraved mind according to this? Quite a few! Paul says in verse 32 that "they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." Our society frowns on "intolerance" of sin. When we speak out against sinful behaviour, we are called intolerant and hateful. How God must weep for our nation.

The good news is that it is never too late to turn from our wicked ways at any point on this progression, though it is much more difficult to do so once we have a depraved mind. Praise God that He has provided a way for our minds to be cleansed from depravity and renewed in His Son, Jesus Christ.