Romans 1:28

Romans 1:28

Romans 1:28 says, "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." Paul is talking about the sinfulness of man, and he explains why humans can become as bad as they can become. Think of some of the horrible crimes and ethical failures of humans. Why do they happen? They happen because humans turn away from God; and when they turn away from God, they become worse and worse and become capable of anything.

Something happens to each person sometime in their adulthood, or even before. They become faced with spiritual decisions. Each person must decide to seek God or to forsake Him. Those who forsake God start on a downward path, morally and ethically; and become capable of anything. One of the greatest moderating influences on the behavior of a human is the idea that we are responsible to God for our actions. Someone who has rejected and resisted the idea of God, has chosen a path in life that may very well have no moral or ethical limits; and only the playing out of their life will prove how low they can go.

Those who think that the hope for the world is in the human race, listen to this description that Paul gives in Romans 1:29-32. "Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."

Paul began this part of Romans by describing those who go away from God, describing how bad that they can become, and making it clear that the problem started when they went away from God. But he ends this first chapter of Romans with this very unflattering and condemning description of humans. Undoubtedly, you can find yourself in at least one, if not many of the sins listed here. Paul mentions some of the obvious and gross sins, such as fornication and murder, but much of what Paul mentions about what is wrong with humans goes right to the heart of the matter: the problem has to do with what goes on inside of someone. What anyone does is simply a reflection of what they think about and what they are internally.

The problem with humans is so massive and so profound that nothing short of a miracle can cure it, the miracle of new life in Christ. Paul is describing humans as being evil to the core. He said that humans were filled with all unrighteousness. No wonder that Jesus said, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

The problem is that humans are wicked according to Romans 1:29, and humans are haters of God according to Romans 1:30, and humans are without natural affection according to Romans 1:31. Surely your own experience in life has taught you that these things are true, and surely your own knowledge of yourself has taught you that these things are true. And the marvel and wonder of it all is that in spite of the truth of this sinful condition of the human race, the Bible says in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

In this list of sins four of the sins come directly from what we say. "Debate, whisperers, backbiters, and boasters." No wonder that the Bible tells Christians to study to be quiet, and to be quick to hear but slow to speak. We can sin less by talking less. One of the sins listed is translated "debate". The same word is used one other time in the book of Romans. In Romans 13:13 the same Greek word is translated "strife", and Romans 13:13 is talking to Christians telling them certain actions to avoid. It says, "Let us walk honestly as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying."

Debate is a sin when it becomes a kind of striving and an opposing of others in a situation where you ought to be cooperating and working with them. Competing when you should be working as a team is destructive. Notice that the sin mentioned just before debate is the sin of murder. Murder is the taking of someone’s life, and debate is the opposing of someone’s life, becoming a roadblock to keep them from accomplishing what they otherwise would accomplish with their life, if it had not been for your debating and your striving and your opposing of them.

Another sin that involves the misuse of words is what Paul calls being a whisperer. It refers to slander or talking about someone else in a negative way, especially with something that is not true, and is only a rumor. Words can do much damage. AN unsubstantiated accusation whispered from one ear to another is a great sin. Politicians who have no ethics use this tool against their opponents. Our goal should always be to say good things about others, and to give them the benefit of the doubt. Even the Old Testament law said that a matter should only be pursued on the testimony of 2 or 3 witnesses but never on the word of one, because the one person making an accusation just might be a whisperer.

The word whisperer is used just one other time in the New Testament. It is also used by Paul when he wrote his second epistle to the Christians in the city of Corinth. II Cor. 12:20 says, "For I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find you as I would...lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults." The same thing can be said about the word “whisperer” as could be said about the word “debate”. It is a sin that is listed in Romans as being one of the characteristics of those who turn away from God; but then it is also listed as a sin that Christians can easily fall into unless they are careful.

Another sin that involves the use of words is what Paul called "boasters". Someone who boasts or talks about himself and his own accomplishments in a way that is elevated beyond the facts is a boaster. To state the facts of something that you have accomplished would not be boasting, but to state them in such a way to elevate yourself in the eyes of others in order to gain an advantage or in order to make yourself appear better than others would be wrong. The purest motive that any human could have would be to honor God or to bring glory to God. When a person tries to bring glory to themselves by what they say, then they are usurping the natural order of things.

Pride is the sin mentioned just before the sin of boasting, and sinful pride is the reason that a person would boast about themselves. There is a kind of pride that is sinful. Pride can be sinful because of the self-centered and selfish quality involved in it. A human life ought to be centered upon God first; others second, and self last. Human pride changes the order of things and puts everything out of sync in the life that is dominated by pride. Human pride becomes sin because it becomes rebellion against God; it becomes “I”, “me", “my”, and “mine”; instead of "Lord, not my will, but your will be done." Proverbs gives a list of things that the Lord hates, and "pride" is the first thing on the list.

It is not surprising that one of the sins listed is "unmerciful". We are talking about people who have turned away from God, and who have never tasted of the mercy of God. Therefore, what would they know about mercy? And how could they show mercy to others, in that they have never experienced receiving mercy from God? Although, they could know God’s mercy, because God is always waiting and willing to receive them and give them His abundant mercy, if they should only turn from their sins and turn to Jesus.

This description in Romans is a very despicable and horrifying view of humans at their worst. But we should never despise our fellow man because of it. We should care about them, realizing that their only hope is in the salvation that comes from Jesus. These sins of man are some of the main things that make life on earth so unpleasant at times. But it is also one of the reasons that heaven will be so much better than life on earth. There will be no sin in heaven, and how wonderful that will be. If you want to make the earth a better place, then become a better person.

Romans 2:1 says, "Therefore, you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are that judges; for wherein you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge do the same things." There is a judgment of others that some humans fall into where they begin to think themselves better than others, and this is a great failure on their part. Do not ever look at the sins and failures and mistakes of others and think that you are better than them, for you have also committed sins. If you got what you deserved, you also would be condemned. God does not go around giving people what they deserve; He goes around giving people mercy. "Mercy" is when you do not get what you deserve. If God gave us all what we deserved, we would all be dead and in hell; but we are not, and that alone proves that He operates on the principle of mercy every moment of every day. If anyone goes to hell, it will not be because of the greatness of their sins; it will be because they refused God’s mercy.

People will only be held accountable for their sins, who have not tasted of God’s mercy. But to hold them accountable is a just and righteous thing to do. It is good and right for the holy God to hold people accountable for the sinful things that they have done; and so Romans 2:2 says, "But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them who commit such things."

In Romans 2:3-4 Paul continues to speak to those who would judge others and he says, "And do you think this, O man, who judges those that do such things, and you do the same, that you shall escape the judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" If you are a believer, you need to be careful about the attitude that you have and the things that you say about those who are not yet in the faith, no matter how gross are their sins. You are no better than they are. It was the goodness of God that led you to repentance, and not your own goodness.

If you rely upon Jesus, when you stand before God, you will have mercy; but if you rely upon yourself when you stand before God, you will receive judgment because you have sinned and God is a just judge who will pronounce the appropriate judgment. That is one of the reasons that the Lord told us not to take revenge upon those who do us wrong. "vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, I will repay."

Three of the many characteristics about God are mentioned in verse 4. The apostle John said that God is love, and here Paul says three other things about Him: goodness, forbearance and longsuffering. God is good, and everything that He does is good. One of the things about the greatness of God is His goodness. That is one reason that a Christian can be thankful for whatever happens. He knows that God is good and whatever God allows to happen is for a good reason, and no matter how bad things are from the way that humans look at things; God will eventually make it turn out for good because He is good. Romans 8:28 says, "All things work together for good to those that love God, and to those that are the called according to his purpose."

The goodness of God is especially shown in the sinfulness of man. The more that a person sins, the more that they are forgiven when they enter into Christ. Therefore the greater that their sins were, the greater that they are proof of the goodness of God. The goodness of God is greater than the evil of man and God’s arrangement of life is such that He can hold back His judgment in order to give humans time and opportunities to find the mercy of God through Christ and to prove how good God is.

One of the first prayers that many people memorize as a child is about the goodness of God. Maybe you memorized it. It goes, "God is great and God is good. Let us thank Him for our food."

Not only is there the goodness of God, there is also the forbearance and longsuffering of God. Forbearance means tolerance. God tolerates the sinfulness of sinners because He wants to give them every chance to repent. Longsuffering means patience. God is much more patient than we are. He will sometimes wait years when we hope to see an answer today. That is because He knows better than we do. He knows the end from the beginning, and that is also why He tells us to leave vengeance up to Him. He wants to give that person every chance to find forgiveness. That is also why Jesus may not return anytime soon. He might return today, but if He does, He will have to judge the world, and all chance to be forgiven will be gone. Remember that Jesus told the disciples that He came in His first appearance not to judge the world, but to save the world. One day He will judge the world, but not until He has given people every possible chance to turn from their sins and to ask for forgiveness.

But what happens to those who not repent? What happens to those who throughout the course of their life God gives every chance to change their mind about their sinful ways? What happens to them after a lifetime of turning away from the goodness and tolerance and patience of God? Romans 2:5-6 says, "But because of your hard and impenitent heart you treasure up for yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds."

Paul has already shown us, and he will show us some more that we are all sinners, and that the sins are horrible indeed. But when it comes to the basic spiritual condition of humans, there really are only two situations, and you are in one or the other. There are those in the one group who are saved, and those in the other group who are lost. There are those in the one group who know God and walk with Him, and there those in the other who are alienated from God. There are those in the one group who are forgiven of their sins through Jesus, and those in the other who are still under the condemnation of their own sins and should they die in that condition they will come under the judgment of God. The question today is which group are you in? You can be in the right group by turning to Jesus because He is right near you, and asking Him for the forgiveness of sins.

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