More on the Sinfulness of Man

In making the point that the Gentiles were not exempt from deserving God’s wrath, Paul lists some of the specific sins of which man is guilty (Romans 1:24-32). He lists a host of them; about 25 different sins total. While these are certainly sins we want to avoid, they are not listed so much to serve as a “check list” of arbitrary rules to mark off and say “we are okay because we don’t do these” as much as it is Paul’s way of mentioning that these individuals showed no respect for how God designed the human body. They showed a blatant disrespect for what it means to be a human being, created in the very image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). It is apparent from what Paul is saying that their hearts were not right. I also think these are well-representative of sins that take place today in our society—some heinous, while others are so pedestrian that unfortunately we have become callous to them, as if they were “no big deal.”

Let’s take a look at this list. Many of these are self-explanatory enough to where they don’t necessarily warrant a detailed explanation.

• Dishonorable passions (vv.24, 26-27)-Obviously there are a lot of things that can fall into this category (fornication, lusting, pornography, etc). Contextually however, Paul seems to be specifically discussing homosexual behavior. I certainly believe as Christians, we need to be willing to compassionately reach out toward and be willing to love those who are caught up in this sin. I believe in more ways than we care to admit, we have been wrong in treating homosexuals as if they were lepers and acting as if this particular sin is so much worse than others. However, I also feel compelled to say that I am not real sure how one can read what Paul has to say here and come away not realizing that the practice of homosexuality is indeed sinful. I realize that some may have “tendencies.” However, “tendencies” do not make a sin okay. As a heterosexual male, I can honestly say that God made me in such a way that recognizes the beauty of women who are not my wife. That does not give me the right to act on it. As a child of God whose heart is set upon Him, I am responsible for controlling my thoughts so as to not lust or act upon any inappropriate “tendencies.”

• Not acknowledging God (v.28)-Because sin was so imbedded in their hearts, God gave them up. While it is true that we are saved by grace through faith, we should not be able to walk away from this verse (or the book of Romans) and ignore our responsibility to live holy lives (Romans 12:1-2; Romans 6:1ff).

• Unrighteousness (v.29)-A very general term for wickedness

• Evil-Another general term that means the opposite of “good.”

• Covetousness-Greed

• Malice-Depravity. A heart issue; a degeneracy from which all sins grow and flourish. Also indicates leaving oneself open to sin.

• Envy-

• Murder-

• Strife-Contentious; quarrelsome; looking for an argument.

• Deceit-

• Maliciousness-Malice. Acting out of spite.

• Gossips-whispering in the ear of one, behind another’s back.

• Slanderers (v.30)-Speaking against others with the intent of hurting or maligning them.

• Haters of God-

• Insolent-High and arrogant opinion of oneself; treats others as beneath them; attitude of a bully.

• Haughty-another term for arrogant

• Boastful-literally means using others as a stepping stone to elevate oneself. Speaking ill of others in order to make one self look better.

• Inventors of evil-instigators of bad; one who is not satisfied with the ways of sin but actually seeks new ways to engage in it.

• Disobedient to parents-I think it is interesting that those whom Paul is addressing are likely predominantly adults. Even the Law seems to indicate that this responsibility, at least to a degree, falls also upon adults and not only children.

• Foolish (v.31)-Senseless. Not talking about stupid or unintelligent, but rather failing to utilize our wisdom as God intended.

• Faithless-unreliable, untrustworthy, dishonest, not keeping one’s word.

• Heartless-Probably not the best translation here. It is a word that signifies lacking natural family affection or lacking love for family members, especially a love that ties children and parents together. When this lacks, the results are things such as abortion, infanticide, child abuse, parental abuse, etc.

• Ruthless-merciless, callous, and unfeeling toward others. It is impossible to fulfill our command to be compassionate and tender-hearted (Colossians 3:12; Ephesians 4:32) when we are guilty of this.

• Not only do they know it is wrong, they know the penalty of such (v.32)-

• They give approval of all others who do these things-

Have you been guilty of any of these? I certainly have. In fact, with some of these, it seems that the harder I try, the more difficult it becomes. We all sin and fall short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). After studying each of these in detail, hopefully it helps us to not do these things. Obviously, we must strive to the best of our abilities to avoid these sins if we want to be a part of God's glorious and eternal kingdom (Romans 1:24, 26, 28, 32; Galatians 5:21). But I think there is an even more important principle being taught here. Hopefully we are starting to see why law-keeping as a way of salvation is impotent. It falls short because we are not capable as human beings of perfect law-keeping. Hence, there is the need for something far superior to law as a method to our salvation.