Romans 1.29b-Manifestations of Sin that are the Result of a Disapproved Intellect
Prairie View Christian Church
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday July 10, 2007
Romans: Romans 1:29b-Manifestations of Sin that are the Result of a Disapproved Intellect
Lesson # 37
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 1:18.
This evening we will continue with our study of Romans 1:18-32, which is divided into two sections: (1) The basis for Gentile guilt (1:18-23). (2) The results of Gentile guilt (1:24-32).
We have completed a study of the first section that appears in Romans 1:18-23 and at the present time, we are studying Romans 1:24-32.
In Romans 1:24, we read where God gave the human race over to immoral degeneracy as a result of rejecting His revelation of Himself in creation.
Then, in Romans 1:25a, we saw that God gave the human race over to immoral degeneracy who were of such evil character that they exchanged the truth of God for the lie.
In Romans 1:25b, Paul writes that the human race was of such evil character that not only did they exchange the truth of God for the lie but they also worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator.
Next, in Romans 1:26a, Paul writes that because the human race exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than Him as their Creator, God gave the human race over to disgraceful perversities, which he identifies in Romans 1:26b and 27 as lesbianism and homosexuality.
In Romans 1:26b, Paul explains or identifies that one of the “disgraceful perversities” he mentions in Romans 1:26a is lesbianism.
Then, in Romans 1:27, we read that God not only gave heathen Gentile women over to lesbianism for their rejection of Him but also He gave the men over to homosexuality for the same reason.
Last Thursday evening we noted Romans 1:28, in which Paul writes that God gave the human race over to a disapproved intellect for rejecting Him.
On Sunday morning, we studied Romans 1:29a, in which Paul writes that the human race is consumed with committing unrighteousness as a direct result of God giving the human race over to a disapproved intellect.
This evening we will study Romans 1:29b, in which Paul presents to us a catalogue of sins that the members of the human race commit as the direct result of God giving them over to a disapproved intellect.
Romans 1:18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
Romans 1:19, “because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.”
Romans 1:20, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”
Romans 1:21, “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Romans 1:22-23, “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”
Romans 1:24, “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.”
Romans 1:25, “For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
Romans 1:26-27, “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.”
Romans 1:28-31, “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful.”
“Wickedness” is the dative (of content) feminine singular form of the noun poneria (ponhriva) (pon-ay-ree-ah), which means, “evil” and describes actions that are antagonistic to God and in direct opposition to His will or done independently of Him.
In classical and Hellenistic Greek, the adjective poneria means, “defectiveness, imperfection, lack of something, offensiveness, depravity, spite, baseness” and was the “intentional practice of evil.”
In the LXX (Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), the word denoted “the poor and useless state, badness” of fruits, the “ugliness” of animals, a “bad mood, misfortune, evil, evil disposition, evil plan.”
The adjective appears only seven times in the Greek New Testament and is used to describe men or angels as being “evil” in the sense of being antagonistic to God, or opposed to the will of God or acting independently of Him (Matthew 22:18; Mark 7:22; Luke 11:39; Acts 3:26; Romans 1:29; 1 Corinthians 5:8; Ephesians 6:12).
Evil is an attitude that originates with Satan and is independence from God (See Isaiah 14:12-14).
All sin is evil but not all evil is sin (See Isaiah 64:6) and includes human good, which is the attempt by man to solve his problems apart from God.
Where, the noun adikia emphasizes conduct in relation to one’s fellow human being, the noun poneria emphasizes one’s conduct in relation to God.
Therefore, the noun adikia, “unrighteousness” and the adjective poneria, “wickedness” are comprehensive and general terms encompassing the entire range of sins that are to follow in Romans 1:29-31.
“Greed” is the dative (of content) feminine singular form of the noun pleonexia (pleoneciva) (pleh-on-ex-ee-ah), which refers to an “arrogant, aggressive, inordinate and insatiable desire to accumulate wealth or more material possessions that we have no right to possess and without regards to the rights of others and irrespective of need,” thus it means, “greed, covetousness.”
The noun pleonexia literally means, “the desire of having more” since it is composed the pleon, “more” and the verb echo, “to have.”
Trench writes, “Pleonexia often implies bold and aggressive methods of acquisition; it frequently refers to behavior that is as free in scattering and squandering as it was eager and unscrupulous in acquiring…Pleonexia refers to the ever-increasing desire of the person who has forsaken God to fill himself with the lower objects of sense” (Synonyms of the New Testament, page 97; Baker Book House; Grand Rapids, Michigan).
William Barclay writes that the Greeks defined pleonexia “as ‘arrogant greediness, as ‘the accursed love of possessing,’ as ‘the unlawful desire for the things which belong to others.’ It has been defined as the spirit in which a man is always ready to sacrifice his neighbor to his own desires. Pleonexia is the irresistible desire to have what we have no right to possess. It might issue in the theft of material things; it might issue in the spirit which tramples on other people to get its own way; it might issue in sexual sin....(pleonexia) is, therefore, a sin with a very wide range. If it is the desire for money, it leads to theft. If it is the desire for prestige, it leads to evil ambition. If it is the desire for power, it leads to sadistic tyranny. If it is the desire for a person, it leads to sexual sin (Barclay, W: The Daily Study Bible Series. The Westminster Press or Logos).
Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”
“Evil” is the dative (of content) feminine singular form of the noun kakia (kakiva) (kak-ee-ah), which describes a person who is “malicious” and takes pleasure in deliberately and premeditatedly is intent on doing harm to others as a result of possessing an intense long-lasting bitterness against a person.
“Malice” is the desire to inflict injury or suffering on another especially when based on deep-seated meanness; evil intent on the part of one who commits a wrongful act injurious to others” (Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary).
The believer is commanded to put away all malice.
Ephesians 4:31, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.”
“Full of envy” is composed of the accusative (of simple apposition) masculine plural form of the adjective mestos (mestov$) (mes-tos), “full” and the genitive (of content) masculine singular form of the noun phthonos (fqovno$) (fthon-os), “envy.”
The adjective mestos means “full” in the sense of being extensively engaged in some activity or attitude.
The noun phthonos means, “envy”, which is to feel resentful, spiteful, and unhappy because someone else possesses or has achieved, what one wishes oneself to possess, or to have achieved and desires to deprive another of what he has, whereas “jealousy” desires to have the same or the same sort of thing for itself.
Envy arises from jealousy and is the mental attitude from which envy originates and so therefore, to be envious means to act on one’s jealousy.
The noun phthonos is used here in Romans 1:29 to express the envy which makes one man grudge another something which he himself desires, but does not possess.
1 Peter 2:1-2, “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”
“Murder” is the genitive (of content) masculine singular form of the noun phonos (fovno$) (fon-os), which is correctly translated and is the unlawful killing of another human being with motivation, expressing or implying malice of forethought.
The Word of God prohibits murder according to Exodus 20:13 and is one of the sins that God hates according to Proverbs 6:16-19 and according to Genesis 9:6 is to be punished through capital punishment.
Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.”
“Strife” is the genitive (of content) feminine singular form of the noun eris (e*ri$) (er-is), which means, “contention” in the sense of inordinate ambition and competition.
Contention manifests itself in quarreling, disputing, or controversy and is a point advanced or maintained in a debate or argument.
It refers to a perverse and stubborn tendency to quarrel and dispute with people, sometimes deteriorating into bitter violent conflict or dissension.
The noun eris emphasizes a struggle for superiority rather than the incongruity or incompatibility of the persons or things involved.
The word describes arguing about words because of pride and not truth and originates from envy, ambition, competition and the desire for prestige, and status in life.
Romans 13:13, “Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.”
“Deceit” is the genitive (of content) masculine singular form of the noun dolos (dovlo$) (dol-os), which literally is a “bait” for fish and from that it means, “to deceive by using trickery and falsehood” referring to any form of “treachery” or “deception.”
Dolos is a deliberate attempt to mislead, trick or “bait” or “entrap” people with lies and is a desire to gain advantage or preserve position by deceiving others.
1 Peter 2:1-2, “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation.”
“Malice” is the genitive (of content) feminine singular form of the noun kakoetheia (kakohvqeia) (kak-o-ay-thi-ah), which is composed of the adjective kakos, “evil” and the noun ethos, “disposition,” thus the word refers to an “evil natured person.”
The word refers to character that is disposed to deliberately cause another person harm or suffering and finds pleasure in doing so.
They are the type of person who has an ill-nature, taking everything with an evil connotation and giving a malicious interpretation to the actions of others, a nature which is evil and makes one suspect evil in others.
“They are gossips” is the accusative (of simple apposition) masculine plural form of the noun psithuristes (yiquristhv$) (psith-oo-ris-tace), which is a hapax legomenon and describes an evil tongue that secretly conveys information, whether true or false and which is detrimental to the character or reputation or welfare of others.
The English word that reflects the meaning of psithuristes is “scandal” rather than “gossip” since the former is malicious rumor that is damaging to a person’s reputation whereas the latter idle talk about the affairs of others.
Psalm 41:7, “All who hate me whisper together against me; Against me they devise my hurt.”