The Extent of Man’s Sinfulness (Part 1)

Romans 1:28-32

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.

(Verse 28-32) – And even as they did not like … - This was the true source of their crimes. They did not choose to acknowledge God. It was not because they could not, but because they were displeased with God, and chose to forsake him, and follow their own passions and lusts.  We ought to note that this is a real choice on their part.  Despite the fact that we could note that God does not work in them either to will or to do His good pleasure,  the fact remains that their sin is their own choice, and hence, their own fault and responsibility.  God does not make men sinners.  Men sin of their own choice and they will reap the results of those choices.

To retain God … - To think of him, or to serve and adore him. This was the first step in their sin. It was not that God compelled them; or that he did not give them knowledge; nor even is it said that he arbitrarily abandoned them as the first step; but they forsook him, and as a consequence he gave them up to a reprobate mind.  There is actually a further idea here, one that we see prominent in the present day.  It is not simply that they don’t want to honor Him, they don’t want any reminder of Him in front of their eyes at all, a matter we will take up shortly.

Because fallen mankind did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over in still another way, in this case to a depraved mind. The godless mind is a depraved mind, whose predetermined and inevitable disposition is to do those things which are not proper.

To a reprobate mind - A mind destitute of judgment. In the Greek the same word is used here, which, in another form, occurs in the previous part of the verse, and which is translated “like.” The apostle meant doubtless to retain a reference to that in this place. “As they did not approve or choose to retain God, etc. he gave them up to a mind disapproved, rejected, reprobate,” and he means that the state of their minds was such that God could not approve it. It does not mean that they were reprobate by any arbitrary decree; but that as a consequence of their headstrong passions, their determination to forget him, he left them to a state of mind which was evil, and which he could not approve.

The basic meaning of depraved is that of not standing the test, and the term was commonly used of metals that were rejected by refiners because of impurities. The impure metals were discarded, and depraved therefore came to include the ideas of worthlessness and uselessness. In relation to God, the rejecting mind becomes a rejected mind and thereby becomes spiritually depraved, worthless and useless. Of unbelievers, Jeremiah wrote, “They call them rejected silver, because the Lord has rejected them” (Jer. 6:30). The mind that finds God worthless becomes worthless itself. It is debauched, deceived, and deserving only of God’s divine wrath.

The sinful, depraved mind says to God, “Depart from us! We do not even desire the knowledge of Thy ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we entreat Him?” (Job 21:14-15). Although godless people think they are wise, they are supremely foolish (Rom. 1:22). Regardless of their natural intelligence and their learning in the physical realm, in the things of God they are devoid even of “the beginning of knowledge,” because they lack reverential fear of Him. They are merely “fools [who] despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:7; cf. v 29).

Even God’s chosen people, the Jews, fell into that foolishness when they rejected or neglected the revelation and blessings He had showered on them so uniquely and abundantly. “For My people are foolish, they know Me not,” the Lord declared through Jeremiah; “they are stupid children, and they have no understanding. They are shrewd to do evil, but to do good they do not know” (Jer. 4:22; cf. 9:6). Those who reject the true God are wholly vulnerable to “the god of this world [who] has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). It is not sufficient for the unsaved world to simply reject God; they must eradicate any reminder of Him from their presence.  They cannot allow any suggestion of their responsibility to Him to remain – it must all be swept away, for in their minds, that will remove their accountability and enable them to go on and be the rulers of their own lives. 

Which are not convenient - Which are not fit or proper; which are disgraceful and shameful; to wit, those things which he proceeds to state in the remainder of the chapter.  This sets the tone for the rest of the chapter and for the entire next section.  These things are not fit, they are not appropriate things for human being to be involved in.  None of them are acceptable, and all share the same condemnation.

The catalog of sins Paul proceeds to mention in Romans 1:29-31 is not exhaustive, but it is representative of the virtually endless number of vices with which the natural man is filled. We ought not to go forward without mentioning that the use of “filled” is significant.  It speaks of being thoroughly taken with the object.  Man is systematically and comprehensively packed or taken up with these character traits.  He has been so thoroughly overcome with them, that they are now the main characteristics of his being, rather than those characteristics that he was created to display by God.  these things are not merely present in man’s character, they are the main features of that character.

The first two terms in the text, all unrighteousness and wickedness, are comprehensive and general, synonyms that encompass the entire range of the particular sins that follow. Some versions include fornication between those first two terms, but that word is not found in the best Greek manuscripts. The idea is certainly not inappropriate to the context, however, because fornication is universally condemned in Scripture and is frequently included by Paul in lists of vices (see 1 Cor. 6:9; Gal. 5:19; Col. 3:5). Fornication is implied in the sin of impurity, which has already been mentioned in the present passage (1:24).

It will be helpful to us to study each of these terms a bit, generally to determine their sense and to enable us to apply them to our own lives and to our own times.

Romans 1:29

Unrighteousness - This is a word denoting injustice, or iniquity in general. The particular specifications of the iniquity follow. We ought to view this, and the next term as a general specification that both encompasses all that follows and that suggests to us that this list of terms is only an set of examples of a larger concept.  That which follows enlarges on the category, but does not exhaust its members.

Fornication - This was a common and almost universal sin among the ancients, as it is among the moderns. The word denotes all illicit sexual intercourse, not just that of the pre-marital variety. That this was a common crime among the ancient pagan, it would be easy to show, were it proper, even in relation to their wisest and most learned men. It was and is such a common event that it has, in all ages, bordered on being accepted, with a wink, as normal and not even sinful.

Wickedness - The word used here denotes a desire of injuring others; or, as we should express it, malice. It is that depravity and obliquity of mind which strives to produce injury on others.  In the largest sense it is the desire to benefit self, even at the expense of the hurt of others.

Covetousness - Avarice, or the desire of obtaining illicitly or improperly the possession of others. This vice is common in the world; but it would be particularly so where the other vices enumerated here abounded, and people were desirous of luxury, and the gratification of their senses. Rome was particularly desirous of the wealth of other nations, and hence, its extended wars, and the various evils of rapine and conquest.

Licentiousness - This word denotes evil in general; rather the act of doing wrong than the desire which was expressed before by the word “wickedness.” It simply points out that men tend to that which is evil and where there is no specific evil available, they create new.

Full of envy – This has been defined as “pain, uneasiness, mortification, or discontent, excited by another’s prosperity, accompanied with some degree of hatred or malignity, and often with a desire or an effort to depreciate the person, and with pleasure in seeing him depressed” (Webster). This passion is so common still, that it is not necessary to attempt to prove that it was common among the ancients. Once again, because it seems to be natural to the human heart, it is viewed as acceptable, if undesirable and is often passed over and even viewed as a good thing. It is one of the most common manifestations of wickedness, and shows clearly the deep depravity of man. Benevolence rejoices at the happiness of others, and seeks to promote it. But envy exists almost everywhere, and in almost every human bosom.