A Depraved Lifestyle - Part I

MARCH 19, 2023 STUDY NOTES ROMANS 1:28-32 BIBLE TEACHER: CLIFTON JONES A DEPRAVED LIFESTYLE—PART 1 INTRODUCTION Paul has shown us the rebellion of sinful man against God in the previous verses Man rejected the revelation of God through creation Man suppressed the knowledge of God through the conscience Sinful man who turns God away turns to idolatry and does not want the presence of the true God Sinful man wants to make his own god and wants God to be whatever he wants him to be So, God has allowed sinful man to worship his idols, live in his sins, and face the consequences of sin Sinful man turned from that which is natural unto life and lived an unnatural lifestyle God turned sinful man over to his desire for sexual impurity which degrades the body and deceives man God turned sinful man over to sexual perversions which pays a price from within the body God allowed sinful mind to fulfill the desires of “A DEPRAVED LIFESTYLE” GIVEN TO A REPROBATE MIND--Rom 1:28 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; Sinful man “did not like to retain God in their knowledge” Paul means that sinful man refused to think about God, refused to have God in their mind Literally they attempt to put God and God’s Word out of their mind The knowledge of sinful man rejects the true knowledge of God, they reject the Bible Sinful man puts God to the test to see if they approve of His commands Finding out that God did not approve of their sinful lifestyle they rejected God They refused Him as the God to be worshiped and removed Him from their thinking They had an opportunity to know God but deliberately refused to consider Him They preferred the things that Paul has already listed, their idols and their false gods Another way to look at this is to consider the limited knowledge of God today in America Do you retain God in your knowledge? How many regular churchgoers can discuss with you the sports world of today? But their knowledge of God and the Bible is very limited The reason for that is their mind-set and the desires of their heart is set upon self They do not have a sincere desire for the knowledge of God They are happy and get excited if the ball game goes into overtime But they are upset and disturbed if the Sunday sermon goes past noon Are the activities of a Sunday service foreign to your daily lifestyle? In church we sing gospel hymns, what kind of music do you listen to all week? In church we read and study the Bible, what have you been reading or watching all week? In church we pray for one another, what have you been saying about others daily? We should come to church with God in mind because He has been in our mind all week We must retain God in our knowledge daily, wake up with God on your mind and pray Go through your day with God’s will on your mind and, 1Th 5:17 Pray without ceasing. Don’t go to bed at night and count sheep, count your blessings and thank God for them, 1Th 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Christians must continually praise God in this world that continually shows disapproval of God Because of man’s disapproval of God, “God gave them over to a reprobate mind” Because man did not approve of God, God gave them over to a disapproved mind God turned them over to the consequences of their decision to live in sin They turned their mind from God and God turned their mind over to sin Page 1 of 5 Man would now think of what shouldn’t be done and do what shouldn’t be done A “reprobate mind” is a depraved mind, an unacceptable mind before God Sinful man would not accept the mind of God so God gave them an unacceptable mind In their mind they did not approve of God and that resulted in an “unapproved” mind A “reprobate mind” that cannot be trusted to do what is right A depraved mind cannot judge between right and wrong, or make right decisions A mind so confused that it begins to think that what is bad is actually good And begins to think that what is good is actually bad God allowed them to do what they wanted to do all along With a “reprobate mind” that continually thinks of that which is not fit for living And Paul explains that the results were disastrous because of sinful man’s thinking “To do those things which are not convenient” “Convenient” refers to that which is becoming, it is fitting, doing that which is right To do things in a proper way or the way that they should be done A depraved mind is not capable of that, the actions of a depraved mind are not proper A depraved mind thinks and desires the things that should not be done They should not be done because they are not natural to a true human mind The depraved mind thinks like the list that Paul begins in the next verse And their conscience comes to the point of approving such a lifestyle Paul names 23 of “those things,” those things that are not proper for man and not of God His list is lengthy and to some may be boring, but Paul had a reason for naming each sin It is not that every sinner will become involved in every sin listed But that every sinner is capable of any of the sins listed As a sinner you can place your name somewhere within this list and maybe more than once This list is important to us today because they are “those things” which we can easily see today They are now daily conversation and headline the news daily They are the plot, or the story found in the modern movies and highly rated T.V. shows Within the following list you will find a description of the character of the stars of those shows The theme of modern novels, movies, and T.V. shows is “filled with all unrighteousness” (vs 29) Today’s “unrighteous” advertising tells you what to buy, where to go, and what to do The advertising world of today saturates the mind “with all unrighteousness” A SATURATED MIND--Rom 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, God has given man over to a mind filled full and saturated with “all unrighteousness” Paul gives us a catalogue of evil that a reprobate mind thinks upon and desires to fulfill The following list of sinful ways is a result of suppressing the truth of God and His righteousness The results of a society that turns from God and God’s Word One characteristic of the sins listed is that they will cause division among people Such as envy, strife, deceit, malice, gossips, and arrogance All of the following can be identified in the daily news of our society Yet it is not a complete list, only representative of the potential life of sin The more of these sins that you find in any one society the closer they are to destruction A nation filled with such a list of sins will eventually destroy itself Very few sermons are preached from this list of sins in our modern society Because sin is no longer identified as sin or that which is unrighteous Paul states the truth of sin, identifying it as “with all unrighteousness” “With all” identifies that every sin listed is an act of “unrighteousness” Paul is not telling us that all sinners commit all of the sins listed But that all-of the sins listed are of the character of “unrighteousness” Every act of “unrighteousness” is a violation of the law of God Page 2 of 5 It is not that which is right in the sight of God and is known as “iniquity” The following list is a summary of what is opposed to the righteous character of God “Unrighteousness” includes all-of the following--“Fornication” identifies any and every form of sexual practice that is outside of God's will All perverted sexual acts such as: adultery; premarital sex; extramarital sex; prostitution And homosexual acts which Paul identified in the previous verses All perverted sexual acts which are now being advertised as a normal way to live Our society has not only accepted them, but is encouraging people to practice them openly The practice of sexual immorality is now considered the normal way of life in America Satan is telling us that if we are not involved in a life of fornication, we are not normal Satan says, if you are not committing fornication, you are missing life But listen to Paul, 1Th 4:3 For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication: The commandment of God is clear, “abstain,” Christian, listen to God, “abstain from fornication” “Abstain” means to keep away from it, keep your hands off, keep your mind off of “fornication” Don't watch it; Don’t read it; Don’t talk it; Don’t touch it; Don't even think it That requires self-discipline today because it is everywhere around us You cannot help but see it, but turn your eyes, you cannot help but hear it, but close your ears Don’t allow your mind to think upon fornication or your tongue to talk about it “Wickedness” is a general designation of evil acts identifying that which is bad and malicious Sinful man is strongly influenced to commit evil acts by the demonic forces Christian’s battle “spiritual wickedness in high places,” Eph 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. We must stand against the demonic forces who influence the wickedness of the world “Covetousness” is greed, which is a passion for more regardless of what you already have A strong desire for wanting just a little bit more and a desire that is never satisfied We live in a materialistic age where man is seeking after more of the things of this world Jesus warned against the desire for more material possessions, Luk 12:15 And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. (Many today believe that “life” is living with an abundance of personal possessions) Greed will cause you to make decisions that you should not make and will cost you Scripture does not limit covetousness to a desire for more material possessions “Covetousness” is often associated with sexual immorality, such as “lasciviousness,” Eph 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (Greediness is the same original word as covetousness) And sexual immorality, Eph 5:3 But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Peter describes the greed of sinful America today, 2Pe 2:14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: (Peter speaks of those who are specialists in greed and experts in covetousness) Their covetousness allows them to practice their greedy desires which are never satisfied God covered “covetousness” in the same way in the 10 th commandment, Exo 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. Scripture presents the desire for an illicit sexual affair as “covetousness” Such as the greedy eyes of a man for a woman and the greedy eyes of a woman for a man “Covetousness” also reveals the greedy eyes of a man for a man and a woman for a woman “Maliciousness” is an evil habit of the mind, a wickedness of the heart It has the thought of deliberate wickedness toward others, the desire to injure others It often comes through words and begins like this, “Now I don’t want to hurt your feelings” Page 3 of 5 Knowing that their words are going to be destructive and damaging to the person Malice can be words or actions toward others which aim at causing hurt, injury, and pain Malice should be a part of the old life that is gone because you are saved, Tit 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. In the life of a Christian, malice should already be put away, Col 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Satan strongly uses malice to break and destroy the fellowship of Christians and divide churches Paul speaks of sinful man being “full of envy” “Full” refers to that which sinful man is “stuffed” with, that which our society is “stuffed” with today Peter spoke of eyes “full” of adultery, 2Pe 2:14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: James spoke of the tongue as “full” of deadly poison, Jas 3:8 But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. The Greek word translated “envy” is never regarded in a favorable way in the NT It is always used with an evil meaning in the NT, it is a jealousy over what others have Which results in hate toward others because you think they have more than you do And holding a grudge against another because of who they are or what they have Being resentful toward others because of their abilities, possessions, advantages, prosperity Being displeased with the pleasure of another, being dissatisfied with the satisfaction of another You feel bad because someone else feels good, you are unhappy because someone else is happy It is often listed with the sins that must be avoided by a Christian, 1Pe 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, Satan makes sure that “envy” works its way into all groups of people, he especially aims at the church “Murder,” do not murder is stated in the sixth commandment, Exo 20:13 Thou shalt not kill. “Murder” is the willful destruction of a human life and comes from within the heart, Mar 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Murder is now everyday news because of the evil and envy within the heart of sinful man We hear the news reports of so many things that now lead to “murder” As simple as someone losing their job and murdering other employees Our day is now the day of daily multiple murders, even parents murdering their children The word translated “debate” is found only in the writings of Paul in the NT It has the meaning of strife, contention, quarreling, wrangling Strife was one of the carnal attitudes that the Corinthians had to get rid of, 1Co 3:3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? Something that they must do in order for Paul to teach them spiritually, 1Co 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. “Deceit” is a word that was used for bait, which means that it is a word used to trick or mislead Deceitful speech contains words used to deceive others for personal gain Peter said that you cannot be blessed with a good life by deceiving others, 1Pe 3:10 For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: (deceit) This is the only time the word translated “malignity” is found in the NT It describes the nature of a person who sets themselves against others Having such an evil nature that they become suspicious of evil in all others Which will result in action against others and that which will bring harm to others “Whisperers” is another word that is only found here and another act that greatly harms others Referring to those who “are whispering” about others which is “slanderous gossip” But this word refers to those who are doing their gossiping in a secret way, “Secret Slanderers” “I am going to tell you, but I wouldn’t tell anyone else, so don’t you tell anyone I said it” CONCLUSION Page 4 of 5 Paul will continue his list of sin and evil as-a result of “A DEPRAVED LIFESTYLE” And we will continue our study of Romans 1:28-32 next week Read and study those verses If you have listened to Paul’s description of the lifestyle of sinful man, you may feel discouraged Paul will give us words of encouragement in future verses Listen to the song and you will be encouraged Page 5 of 5