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Romans 1:28 NASB

NT

Romans 1:28

nasb

28 And just as they did not see fit 1 to acknowledge God any longer, a God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,

Block Diagram

Romans 1:28-32

mine

1:18-32

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God

Cf

any longer,

God gave them over

to a depraved mind,

Ac/Res

to do those things

Ac/Res

which are not proper,

Id/Exp

a) being filled with all

a) unrighteousness,

Id/Exp

b) wickedness,

c) greed,

d) evil;

b) full of

a) envy,

Id/Exp

b) murder,

c) strife,

d) deceit,

e) malice;

[S]

Gn/Sp

c) they are

a) gossips,

Id/Exp

b) slanderers,

c) haters of God,

d) insolent,

e) arrogant,

f) boastful,

g) inventors of evil,

h) disobedient to parents,

i) without understanding,

j) untrustworthy,

k) unloving,

l) unmerciful;

and although they know the ordinance of God,

Csv

that those ... are worthy of death,

Gn/Sp

who practice such things

Gn/Sp

a) they not only do the same,

[P]

Id/Exp

hearty

Ac/Man

b) but also give ... approval to those

who practice them.

Gn/Sp

phrasing

notes

Notes

Repetition is something to take note of when doing bible study. It indicates something that the writer wants to emphasize. Verses 1:28-32 describe a claim that Paul makes for the third time - "God gives them over" - with the main thought beginning in v. 1:28. In the previous two times that Paul made this statement, the action of "God giving over" was "to impurity" in v. 1:24 and "to degrading passions" in v. 1:26, in other words, God gave them over to immoral and degrading actions and desires. In v. 1:28, we see God giving them over to a "depraved mind." We see here that God's abandonment of them is IN THE SAME WAY as their abandonment of Him. They were not willing to make a conscious choice to forsake themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him, so He, in the same way as they forsake Him, forsakes them and leaves them to their fate. No one can sit on the fence. You are either choosing Christ, or you are forsaking Him. You are either denying yourself, or you are denying Him. You are either following Him, or you are walking in the opposite direction that He is walking (Matt 16:24-25). You are either walking toward heaven, or you are walking toward hell (Matt 7:13-14). You are either a slave of Christ, or you are a slave of sin (Rom 6:16-18). You are either a child of God, or you are a child of the devil (1 John 3:4-10). There is no in-between. Let us "test ourselves to see if we are in the faith" (2 Cor 13:5). And John makes the test simple and clear - "By THIS the children of God and the children of the devil are OBVIOUS: ANYONE who does NOT PRACTICE righteousness is NOT of God" (1 John 3:10). This "depravity of mind" is obvious in anyone who is beset with sin, and unwilling to repent. You can see it clearly in the way that they justify their own sinful choices (usually by means of their own "logical" reasoning and "wisdom" - they "profess to be wise" v. 1:22). With them, "there is a way that seems right with a man," and they will fight to prove that it is indeed right, "but its end is the way of death" (Prov 14:12). If they claim to be Christians, they will often pick and choose what parts of the bible they are willing to apply to their lives and which parts they aren't. They will often apply absurd interpretation principles, in order to make the bible - in order to make God - say what they want it to say. God's act of abandonment to a depraved mind in itself leads to further corruption. Just as a pig will wallow in the mud, a depraved mind will furthermore choose sinful and depraved actions and lifestyles, which brings further judgment and abandonment from God. This is a sad spiral that just worsens and deepens. But there is hope - God's power is not limited, and He can save anyone from any depth of sin and separation. His grace is sufficient, and His grace is glorified more as He saves you from deeper and filthier depths of sin. But you have to repent and believe in the Gospel (Mark 1:15). Paul's focus in these verses are still on the unbelieving and unregenerate gentiles. But it is important to remember that this describes ALL of us as we once were. This is what we have been saved from if we are repenting and believing in the Gospel. Our responsibility, if we are truly regenerate, is to make sure that we are not still doing any of these things - to identify the areas in our lives where we are still doing it, confessing this in itself as sin, and forsaking it in the power of the Spirit and in the freedom from the power of sin that Christ has brought us.