“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.” — Romans 1:28
If we study the culture of the Romans and Greeks, we can see how both civilizations were rich in arts, philosophy, and fables. Yet these very things led to their own corruption. Their creativity and intelligence were great gifts, but without reverence for the true God, their wisdom became foolish. They worshiped many gods, gods made in the image of man that is corruptible, emotional, and imperfect. And as they worshiped these corruptible gods, they themselves became corruptible in their actions. The idols they created reflected their desires. What they adored, they became.
The Apostle Paul discussed this in Romans 1:24–27.
In verse Romans 1:24, he describes how idolatry leads to impurity, when people exchange the glory of God for images of creation, they are “given up to uncleanness.”
In verses Romans 1:26-27, Paul speaks of how this rebellion against God’s design leads to perverse conduct. Paul did not say that only homosexuality is sin. Anyone who acts outside of God’s design is committing lawlessness and sinning against Him. He is is pointing us back to Genesis 1 and 2, where God purposefully designed and created male and female to be joined together in covenant and to reproduce. God’s design for sexuality was clear: one man and one woman, joined together in marriage, reflecting His creative purpose.
Paul warns us of two things that God gave us up to: uncleanness and vile passions. Before we address the third one, we must understand that these two lead to the third, which is the most terrifying condition of any human being.
Worshiping other gods is disobeying the first commandment,
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)
We should never worship anything, not even ourselves. Only God deserves our worship.
When God gave us up to vile passions, it falls under the second commandment, which includes all the rest ,
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39)
“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10
When our passions become perverted, when we treat others as objects of desire instead of people made in God’s image, we sin not only against them but against God Himself. Every act of sexual corruption or violence, every abuse of another’s dignity, is an assault on the image of God in that person. We were created by God and for God.
But do we truly live for Him? We all sin against Him. When we worship idols, we sin;. When we corrupt ourselves and our neighbor, we dishonor God. We have no excuse.
What’s truly terrifying today is how, even among Christians, some twist the Scriptures to justify what God has clearly called sin. We see debates about abortion, homosexuality, and other moral issues. They both claiming to be Christians but how can anyone claim to be part of the body of Christ while twisting Scripture to defend wrongdoing? Honestly, that terrifies me.
It’s exactly what Paul says:
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge…” (Romans 1:28)
The word “knowledge” here means exact, advanced, thorough knowledge. They refused to hold on to the true understanding of God and to grow in that knowledge. That’s why Paul says:
“Who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” (Romans 1:25)
Then again, he speaks of those who
exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.” (Romans 1:26)
We no longer know the righteousness of God. How can a holy God, who said to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5), and David says, “You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13), ever approve of taking a life He Himself purposed to be conceived? How can a holy God, whose hands knit us together in the womb, ever approve of us tearing apart what He has woven with love?
How can the same holy God, who designed man and woman to reproduce. Who gave command to a man and woman, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28) turn away from His own design? The union of man and woman was designed by God Himself, blessed by His word, and established for His purpose. To reject that design is to reject the wisdom (knowledge) of God.
Do we truly know God?
That is what we are seeing today, people taking God’s truth and twisting it to suit their desires. It’s frightening, because it shows how far the human heart can fall when it refuses correction. We do not truly acknowledge God anymore. We care more about what we think is right than what God says is right.
And that’s why the Scripture says, “God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.” (Romans 1:28) Why did He do this?
Read what God says in Ezekiel 6:9,
“Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations.”
God was crushed because of our adulterous hearts, because we didn’t just commit adultery in the physical sense, we departed from Him spiritually. We turned our hearts away from God who loved us the most. God gave us up, not because He wanted to, but because we chose to depart from Him. He allowed us to follow the path we desired, even though it broke His heart. It wasn’t His will for us to be corrupted; it was our refusal to stay close to Him that led us there.
The word “debased” comes from the Greek word adokimos, meaning “reprobate”. A mind destitute of sound judgment, unable to discern right from wrong. In the Greek text, this same word appears earlier in the verse “like.” (Greek: dokimazō) . The apostle Paul intentionally connects the two, “ As they did not approve or( test, examine, scrutinise (to see whether a thing is genuine or not) to retain God in their knowledge, He gave them up to a “debased” or disapprove (Greek: adokimos) mind. This means that their state of mind was such that God could not approve of it. How could God approve of something that contradicts His own Word? His Word reveals His nature, His character, His statutes, and His judgments. To approve sin would be to deny Himself. And how can a holy God approve of anything that stands against His own holiness? He cannot, because God never changes.
Futhermore. It does not suggest that they were made reprobate by any arbitrary decree, but rather that, as a consequence of their stubborn passions and determination to forget Him, God left them to a condition of mind that was evil and could not be approved. The Lord had already warned through the Psalmist,
““Hear, O My people, and I will admonish you! O Israel, if you will listen to Me! There shall be no foreign god among you; Nor shall you worship any foreign god. I am the Lord your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt; Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. “But My people would not heed My voice, And Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, To walk in their own counsels.” Psalms 81:8-12
When we continously reject the knowledge of God, our reasoning becomes darkened. The apostle Paul also wrote,
“having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.” Ephesians 4:18-19
You know, this kind of condition the unwillingness to approve what God calls sin and still trying to justify it, is what Jesus said is the reason for divorce “the hardness of heart“.
Jesus said:
“Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” – Matthew 19:8,
That same hardness of heart is what makes a person reprobate, to put it simply. The hardness of heart is the unwillingness to change, to humble oneself, or to obey what God says is right. How can a relationship be restored if one person refuses to put in the effort to repair it? to seek counsel, to attend therapy, to repent, and to make amends for the wrong actions? Without repentance and humility, reconciliation becomes impossible. This is why we must preach repentance!!
Another ground for divorce that Jesus gave is sexual immorality. He said:
“And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” Matthew 19:9
How can you stay with someone who continually does not value you or the relationship? Sexual immorality defiles the covenant. When a person treats intimacy carelessly, they are not taking God’s covenant seriously.
That’s why the Israelites were punished, not merely because they sinned, but because they failed to keep the covenant they had agreed upon with God. He said,
“They broke My covenant, though I was a husband to them.” Jeremiah 31:32
Yet even after all this, God has not given up on us. He put on flesh and died for us on the cross to demonstrate His own love toward us, paying for our sins with His own life. He shed His blood on the cross as the propitiation for our sins, crying out for us to return to Him.
Today is the day! Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31)
Some say, “Once someone is saved, they are always saved.” That is true! because salvation is a gift.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)
We did not earn this gift; we received it. But the danger comes when we turn away from that gift, when we stop walking in the faith we professed.
So, my brethren, run the race! Overcome what needs to be overcome, because the Holy Spirit in you is greater than the spirit of this world.
“You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come… shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38–39)
So keep running the race! I know it’s hard. The guilt that comes when we sin or disobey God that conviction is actually a good sign, because it shows your heart is still tender toward Him.
When you fall, repent quickly. When you stumble, humble yourself before God.
Our heart and flesh may fail, “But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
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