Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Romans 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;
28. And even as, &c.] In this and the following verses the developements of sin are followed into less monstrous but more pervading and not less guilty forms.
as they did not like ] did not approve. The Gr. is akin to the Gr. of “reprobate” just below. Knowledge of God met with no approbation, and He gave them over to reprobation.
to retain God in their knowledge ] Lit. to have God in real (or full) knowledge. There was an antecedent knowledge of God; partly by the universe, partly by the constitution of their nature, partly by primeval revelation.
a reprobate mind ] Lit. a mind, or state of thought, rejected after test. The Gr. word, from this literal meaning, comes habitually to mean “refuse, outcast, abandoned.”
convenient ] i.e. becoming. So Phm 1:8, where the Greek word is nearly the same. The euphemism here is most forcible.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And even as they did not like … – This was the true source of their crimes. They did not choose to acknowledge God. It was not because they could not, but because they were displeased with God, and chose to forsake him, and follow their own passions and lusts.
To retain God … – To think of him, or to serve and adore him. This was the first step in their sin. It was not that God compelled them; or that he did not give them knowledge; nor even is it said that he arbitrarily abandoned them as the first step; but they forsook him, and as a consequence he gave them up to a reprobate mind.
To a reprobate mind – A mind destitute of judgment. In the Greek the same word is used here, which, in another form, occurs in the previous part of the verse, and which is translated like. The apostle meant doubtless to retain a reference to that in this place. As they did not approve, edokimasan, or choose to retain God, etc. he gave them up to a mind disapproved, rejected, reprobate, adokimon, and he means that the state of their minds was such that God could not approve it. It does not mean that they were reprobate by any arbitrary decree; but that as a consequence of their headstrong passions, their determination to forget him, he left them to a state of mind which was evil, and which he could not approve.
Which are not convenient – Which are not fit or proper; which are disgraceful and shameful; to wit, those things which he proceeds to state in the remainder of the chapter.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rom 1:28
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind.
The state of heathendom
Idolatry is essentially the same in every age and place.
1. In its origin. It flows from a corrupt heart, desirous not to retain the knowledge of God.
2. In its nature. However great the variety, or modes of worship, there is a grand generic likeness in them all. The Greeks may worship Jupiter, and the Hindoos Vishnu; one class a god, and another a goddess; but still all agree in this one point, they like not to retain God in their knowledge.
3. In its effects: God gave them over to a reprobate mind; and, as the necessary consequence of that, they did those things which are not convenient (Rom 1:29-32). Such were the effects produced by idolatry in ancient times. And we ask those who object to this language to show us by idolatry, by being continued in for nearly two thousand years, has grown better than it was in the days of the apostle?
I. The state of the heathen as here described.
1. God has given them over to a reprobate mind. The term signifies disapproved. The mind which God approves must be one which has correct views of the Divine character–a just idea of the plan of salvation; and these views must have a holy influence on the heart and life. The views of the heathen on these points prove that they are given over to a reprobate mind.
(1) What are their views of the Supreme Being? The heathens of India believe that all things exist in God, and that God exists in them all. Hence, when you charge a Hindoo with sin, he answers with the greatest gravity, Sir, it is not I that sin, but God that does all these things in me. If you ask them, Why, then, are you punished for what is not done by your agency? they answer, Because there must be a certain consequence from all actions, like fruit from a seed; and it is not in the power of all the gods to prevent it. Surely they are given over to a reprobate mind! The same may be said with regard to their views of the gods and goddesses they worship. Seeing in these nothing that is excellent, they become objects of terror only to their minds. And to those whom they consider as having the greatest power, and as doing the greatest mischief, they pay the greatest respect, and make the most frequent offerings. All their gods and goddesses have been guilty of the greatest excesses. How must this strengthen their minds in sin, when they find themselves encouraged by such examples! So that their very religion is a curse to them. As for their visible embodiments, they know that they have eyes, but see not, etc.; and yet such is their infatuation, that when the priest has pronounced certain formularies over these images, they imagine that the beings whom they represent become completely identified with the stocks of wood or of stone which stand before them. Is not this a proof that they are given over to a reprobate mind?
(2) Being ignorant of God, they are ignorant of the way in which His favour may be secured. They suppose that they can obtain absorption into the supreme Being, by meditating upon Him. Hence some of them plunge into the forest, and stand in one posture meditating upon Him, till their hair becomes grown like eagles feathers, and their nails like birds claws. Thus they remain till they believe that their souls have passed into the structure of their skulls, and are completely absorbed into it. Those who are not able to enter into this sublime course of study, found the same hope on the performance of a number of rites, such as bathing in the river Ganges; repeating thousands of times the names of their chosen gods, counting over a vast number of beads, building some temple, making some god, offering fruits and flowers to some deity. By some, or all, of these duties they hope to heap up a stock of merit for a future world; and they have no other idea whatever of anything in the way of atonement. As merit is attached to suffering as well as to actions, many of the heathen have entered on certain penalties, and inflicted severe pains upon themselves. Some hold their hands towards heaven till their arms become fixed in their sockets. Some travel hundreds of miles to visit some sacred place; others measure the whole length of their journey with their bodies on the ground. Thousands die every year by these penances. Do not these things prove that they are given over, etc.
(3) Ignorance of the means to be adopted argues ignorance of the end that is to be obtained. The heathen have no idea of a pure and eternal heaven. Those who live in meditation maintain that when the soul goes out of the body it mingles as completely with the Deity as water mingles with the ocean, and suppose that they shall be as incapable of pleasure as of pare. Those who depend on rights and ceremonies believe that in proportion to their attention to these duties will be their future degree of pleasure in a heaven that is as sensual in its nature as it is short in its duration; and that then they shall return back again to earth to suffer again. Those who are left unburied, they believe will be cast into one of the nine hells, and will then come back to earth in the form of a reptile, a bird, or a beast, before they can again assume a human form. Thus, when there is no true knowledge of God or Christ, there is no true notion of eternal life. This is life eternal, etc.
2. God has given them over to do those things which are not convenient, Without entering into all here stated, we may instance–
(1) Their lying. The character of a people must always be in accordance with the things they believe. The Hindoos believe tales the most monstrous and absurd, and what wonder that they, who receive such lies, should be themselves given to lying? They consider the sin to consist, not in lying, but in being detected. So much does it prevail in civil life, that in the courts of judicature it is almost impossible to administer justice. In mercantile concerns, after telling many lies as to the value of an article, and what it cost them, they will sell the article for one-third less than they at first demanded. And the inconveniences of this practice are almost endless.
(2) So are those which arise from the free and unrestrained indulgence of vicious appetites and propensities. The sins which are specified in this chapter are the very sins which they commit. I have gone through it with the Pundits, and have found, from their own confession, that this is really the case.
(3) Their covetousness must be noticed also. They believe that money is everything, both for this world and the next. When urged to become Christians, it is not uncommon for them to say, Give us fine houses, and gold, and we will become Christians. They will submit to anything, however base and mean, for money. It is contrary to their Shasters for any Brahmin to become the servant of a foreigner; and yet, for the sake of gain, there is not a priest among them but will acknowledge a barbarian for his master. They will offer up prayers to the goddess Kalee, to be assisted in their depredations on the property of others; and I know of one instance in which, when these prayers were supposed to be unanswered, the goddess was herself robbed.
(4) Their cruelty. Some of them they practise on themselves. In many eases they will see misery and distress, without moving to afford the least relief. I have seen men fastened to a long pole by hooks, and then swung round by a rope with a swiftness which deprived them of their reason. Some have iron spits run through their tongues, or sticks passed through their sides. But the greatest of all their cruelties is the burning of widows, infanticide and murder of parents.
II. What effect ought this view to produce in our minds? We ought to learn–
1. How evil and dreadful a thing it is to separate God from our thoughts. If we exclude God from our thoughts, we must expect that He will east us out from His presence. It became the righteous God to give over to a reprobate mind those who did not like to retain Him in their knowledge.
(1) That others may see the folly of such conduct, and avoid the rocks on which they have split.
(2) That He might show His just abhorrence of idolatry. God had tried all means with the heathen, and all in vain; and at last He said, They are joined to their idols, let them alone!
2. To be truly thankful for our superior state and privileges. Contrast your state with theirs: they have no Bible, you have the Word of God. Their sacred books countenance the most unhallowed feelings, while the Bible teaches you to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to follow holiness. Your Bible reveals an immortality of purity and bliss, their Bible reveals nothing except a sensual heaven. You have teachers to guide you in the way to heaven, but ignorance is perfect bliss compared to the knowledge which they obtain from their Brahmins. The priest will visit them at their houses, and covet some article which he sees in the room; and if it be not given to him, he will leave a curse instead of a blessing. You have Sabbaths, but the Sabbath never shines on Hindoostan!
3. To pity and to pray for the heathen. We ought to look on them as Christ looked on us when in our sins and our blood. If your feeling of pity be genuine, it will lead to prayer.
4. To make the most strenuous exertions for the amelioration of their condition. It is well to pity them and to pray for them; but if you do no more, it will be difficult to prove to God or man the sincerity of your pity and your prayers.
(1) We should do so from a regard to the glory of God. The Word of God declares that He has given His Son the heathen for His inheritance. He has placed the heathen of India in our hands, that we may bring them to the knowledge of the truth.
(2) To this we are bound by the greatest obligations. Freely have ye received, freely give. What a disgrace to the Christian army if volunteers be not found to engage in this service! Some may perhaps say, there are so many discouragements. But we should remember that God does not despise the day of small things; and that from some of our saddest exercises, the most glorious prospects may arise.
(3) We call upon you, by the memory of those noble servants of the Lord who have laid down their lives in His service.
(4) We exhort you, by the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes became poor. (W. Yates.)
God lost to the sight of an evil heart
The heart that is addicted to evil, that is in love with sin, that is clogged and burdened with guilt, has lost the capacity of discerning God as it has lost the wish to be near Him. His name is not welcome, the idea of Him is not pleasant; we are neither willing nor able, when we are plunged in our selfish sinfulness, to cherish the bright and purifying thought of our loving Father. As a cloud darkens the heavens, the mist of our own evil hearts rises up and fills our sky, and blots out all the starry intentions of our spirit, and drapes the face of God Himself in a blackness that can be felt. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Diminishing light but not diminishing responsibility
We would infer from this account that men, in the first instance, had a far more clear and convinced sense of God; but, not liking to retain it, committed the sin of a perverse disposition against the light which they had, and in part extinguished it–that they of course left their own immediate posterity in a light more shaded than that which shone around the outset of their own progress through the world–that these still disliked the remainder of truth which they enjoyed; and, by their wilful resistance inflicted upon it a further mutilation, and transmitted it to their descendants with a still deeper hue of obscurity thrown over it; but still with such glimpses as were enough at least to try the affection of man towards it, to stir up a distinct resistance on the part of those who disliked it, to keep up the responsibility of the world, and to retain it in rightful dependence on the judgment of Him who made the world–so as to make it clear on the day of reckoning, that men, even in their state of most sunken alienation from the true God, were never so destitute of all capacity for discerning between the good and the evil, as to render them the unfit subjects of a moral sentence and a moral examination. With every human creature who shall be pronounced worthy of death on that day, will it be seen that there was either a light which he actually had and liked not to retain, or a light which he might have had and liked not to recover. To whom much is given of him much shall be required; and there will be gradations of punishment in hell. (T. Chalmers, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 28. They did not like to retain God] It would, perhaps, be more literal to translate , THEY DID NOT SEARCH to retain God in their knowledge. They did not examine the evidences before them (Ro 1:19; Ro 1:20) of his being and attributes; therefore God gave them over to a REPROBATE mind, , to an UNSEARCHING or undiscerning mind; for it is the same word in both places. They did not reflect on the proofs they had of the Divine nature, and God abandoned them to the operations of a mind incapable of reflection. How men of such powers and learning, as many of the Greek and Roman philosophers and poets really were, could reason so inconsecutively concerning things moral and Divine is truly astonishing. But here we see the hand of a just and avenging God; they abused their powers, and God deprived them of the right use of these powers.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
To retain God in their knowledge; or, to have God in acknowledgment. The apostle proceeds to show the analogy betwixt their sin and their punishment. The evil he here taxed them with is much the same with that in Rom 1:21; though they had some knowledge of God, yet they did not acknowledge him as God, by glorifying him, and giving thanks to him; it did not seem good to them so to do.
God gave them over to a reprobate mind; or, an injudicious mind, a mind void of judgment. It is just and equal, that he, who in his judgment disapproves of God, should be left either to be of a corrupt judgment, or of none at all. The word may be taken passively, for a mind disapproved of God; or actively, for a mind which disapproves of all good. They were not given up to this reprobate mind all at once, but by degrees. First, they were given up to their own hearts lusts, Rom 1:24; then, to vile affections, Rom 1:26; and then, lastly, to a mind void of judgment; to such an evil habit, that they could do nothing but evil.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
28-31. gave them overor “up”(see on Ro 1:24).
to do those things which arenot convenientin the old sense of that word, that is, “notbecoming,” “indecorous,” “shameful.”
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And even as they did not like,…. This accounts for the justness of the divine procedure in leaving them to commit such scandalous iniquities; that since they had some knowledge of God by the light of nature, and yet did not care
to retain God in [their] knowledge; or to own and acknowledge him as God, to worship and glorify him as such; but took every method to erase this knowledge out of their minds, and keep it from others:
God gave them over to a reprobate mind; a vain empty mind, worthless, good for nothing devoid of all true knowledge and judgment; incapable of approving what is truly good, or of disapproving that which is evil; a mind that has lost all conscience of things, and is disapproved of by God, and all good men:
to do those things which are not convenient; which are neither agreeably to the light of nature, nor convenient to, or becoming the honour of human nature; things which the brutes themselves, who are destitute of reason, do not do.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And even as they refused ( ). “And even as they rejected” after trial just as is used of testing coins. They tested God at first and turned aside from him.
Knowledge (). Full knowledge ( additional, ). They had a dim memory that was a caricature.
Unto a reprobate mind ( ). Play on . They rejected God and God rejected their mental attitude and gave them over (verses Rom 1:24; Rom 1:26; Rom 1:28). See this adjective already in 1Cor 9:27; 2Cor 13:5-7. Like an old abandoned building, the home of bats and snakes, left “to do those things which are not fitting” ( ), like the night clubs of modern cities, the dives and dens of the underworld, without God and in the darkness of unrestrained animal impulses. This was a technical term with Stoics (II Macc. 6:4).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And even as they did not like,” (kai kathos ouk edokimasan) “And as they did not think it fit or proper,” leaving God out of their thoughts, desires, and plans, refused to acknowledge him, as set forth in nature’s language and the Word of God.
2) “To retain God in their knowledge,” (ton theon echein en epignosei) “To have, hold, or retain God in their knowledge;” They knew him thru nature’s voice, their conscience, the Word of God, and testimony of men, but rejected all these witnesses.
3) “God gave them over,” (paredoken autous ho theos) “God gave them up or over,” granted them their own liberty of volition (free choice), but not without their accountability of consequences for their decisions and deeds, as Pharaoh, Belshazzar and Nebuchadnezzar, Dan 5:18-23; Judas Iscariot.
4) “To a reprobate mind,” (eis adokimon noun) “Unto a reprobate mind, (unknowing mind),” a mind seared, insensitive to Divine Truth and Wisdom, a mind of ignorance, Pro 1:24-32; Pro 13:15; Pro 29:1; the rich Barn builder and Rich man in hell went this way, Luk 12:20; Luk 16:25-26.
5) “To do those things which are not convenient,” (poein ta me kathekonta) “To do the things (homosexual practices) that are not proper or morally good,” and ‘go on in refusal to worship and serve the Creator, Act 17:22-32. So long as there is life and one will give heed to God and His Word there is an escape from this wickedness and God’s wrath, Isa 55:6-7; Isa 1:18; Rom 10:9-10; Rom 10:13.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
28. And as they chose not, etc. There is an evident comparison to be observed in these words, by which is strikingly set forth the just relation between sin and punishment. As they chose not to continue in the knowledge of God, which alone guides our minds to true wisdom, the Lord gave them a perverted mind, which can choose nothing that is right. (53) And by saying, that they chose not, ( non probasse – approved not,) it is the same as though he had said, that they pursued not after the knowledge of God with the attention they ought to have done, but, on the contrary, turned away their thoughts resignedly from God. He then intimates, that they, making a depraved choice, preferred their own vanities to the true God; and thus the error, by which they were deceived, was voluntary.
To do those things which were not meet As he had hitherto referred only to one instance of abomination, which prevailed indeed among many, but was not common to all, he begins here to enumerate vices from which none could be found free: for though every vice, as it has been said, did not appear in each individual, yet all were guilty of some vices, so that every one might separately be accused of manifest depravity. As he calls them in the first instance not meet, understand him as saying, that they were inconsistent with every decision of reason, and alien to the duties of men: for he mentions it as an evidence of a perverted mind, that men addicted themselves, without any reflection, to those vices, which common sense ought to have led them to renounce.
But it is labor in vain so to connect these vices, as to make them dependent one on another, since this was not Paul’s design; but he set them down as they occurred to his mind. What each of them signifies, we shall very briefly explain.
(53) There is a correspondence between the words οὐκ ἐδοκίμασαν — they did not approve, or think worthy, and ἀδόκιμον — unapproved, or worthless, which is connected with νοῦν, mind. The verb means to try or prove a thing, as metal by fire, then to distinguish between what is genuine or otherwise, and also to approve of what is good and valuable. To approve or think fit or worthy seems to be the meaning here. Derived from this verb is ἀδόκιμος, which is applied to unapproved or adulterated money, — to men unsound, not able to bear the test, not genuine as Christians, 2Co 13:5, — to the earth that is unfit to produce fruits, Heb 6:8. The nearest alliteration that can perhaps be presented is the following, “And as they did not deem it worth while to acknowledge God, God delivered them up to a worthless mind,” that is, a mind unfit to discern between right and wrong. [ Beza ] gives this meaning, “ Mentem omnis judicii expertem — a mind void of all judgment.” [ Locke ] ’s “unsearching mind,” and [ Macknight ] ’s “unapproving mind,” and [ Doddridge ] ’s “undiscerning mind,” do not exactly convey the right idea, though the last comes nearest to it. It is an unattesting mind, not capable of bringing things to the test — δοκίμιον not able to distinguish between things of the most obvious nature.
“
To acknowledge God” is literally “to have God in recognition τὸν θεὸν ἔχειν ἐν ἐπιγνώσει. ” [ Venema ] says, that this is a purely Greek idiom, and adduces passages from [ Herodotus ] and [ Xenophon ] ; from the first, the following phrase, ἐν αλογίῃ ἔχειν — to have in contempt, i.e., to contemn or despise. — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(28) Even as.Rightly translated in the Authorised version: as is not here equivalent to because, but means rather, just in like proportion as. The degree of Gods punishment corresponded exactly to the degree of mans deflection from God.
Did not like.There is a play upon words here with reprobate in the clause following which cannot be retained in English. As they reprobated the knowledge of God, so He gave them up to a reprobate mind. As they would have nothing to do with Him, so He would have nothing to do with them. Reprobate means, properly, tried and found wanting, and therefore cast away as worthless.
To retain God in their knowledge.The word for knowledge here means exact, advanced, thorough knowledge. They refused to hold the true idea of God so as to grow and increase in the knowledge of it.
Those things which are not convenient.That which is unbecoming, disgraceful.
Fornication.This word is wanting in the best MSS. and should be omitted, as also the word implacable in Rom. 1:31.
Wickedness, . . . maliciousness.These two words appear to be related together, so that the latter expresses rather the vicious dispositionvicious in the special sense, the disposition to do hurt to othersthe former rather the active exercise of it. Similar catalogues of sins are given in other of St. Pauls Epistles, as, for example, 2 Cor. 12:30; Gal. 5:19 et seq.; Eph. 5:3-4; 1Ti. 1:9-10; 2Ti. 3:2 et seq.
Murder, debate.By full of murder the Apostle means full of murderous thoughts. Debate is the spirit of strife and contention generally; not as the English would seem to imply, specially verbal contention.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And even as they did not think it worthwhile to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not fitting,’
Not only did mankind ‘know God’ but refuse to own His worth (Rom 1:21), turning instead to idols (Rom 1:23), they also considered that to keep the true God in their knowledge (epignosis – spiritual knowledge) at all was not worthwhile. Thus they not only blasphemed against Him with their false worship (Rom 1:21-23), but also despised Him at the same time, by forgetting Him in their daily lives. As a result God once again ‘gave them up’ to the consequences of their sins, allowing them to develop unfit minds, minds which would be rejected after testing (adokimos). Note the play on the words dokimazo (did not approve, think it worthwhile) and adokimos (disapproved, rejected after testing). They did not approve and so, having tested them, He did not approve them.
The verb dokimazo means ‘to approve, to regard as worthy, to think of as worthwhile’. Thus they did not ‘approve’ of having God in their knowledge, which was why God did not ‘approve’ of them. The choice is open to us all. Either we retain God in our knowledge and commit ourselves to His ways, or we put Him out of our minds and are given up by Him to unfitness and disapproval. We cannot be neutral.
And the end result of God’s disapproval was that their minds became unfit, and they began to do what was not fitting. Not all followed the way of sexual perversion. But all became involved in at least one of the sins in the long catalogue of sins that follows. Many a person has come to the crossroads where they had to choose whether they wanted to retain God in their knowledge or not, and having rejected the opportunity have sunk into deep sin. Judas is the prime example.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Consequences Of Refusing To Have God In Their Knowledge (1:28-32).
Paul now moves on from the results of ungodliness to the results of unrighteousness (compare Rom 1:18). Men refused to have God in their knowledge. They ‘did not want to know’ because they did not want to submit to His demands. As a consequence God gave them up to an unfit mind so that they would do those things which were not fitting. In Rom 1:24 He had given them up to the lust of their hearts. Now He gives them up to a reprobate (rejected after testing, unfit, spurious) mind. There is a clear intention of bringing out that God is active in punishing ungodliness and unrighteousness by disposing men and women to greater ungodliness and unrighteousness, so that in the end some at least will get sick of it.
This will be confirmed by what follows, a long list of the sins that reveal the bestiality of men’s minds. Regularly in Scripture the natural man is likened to a wild beast, while in contrast those who keep God’s covenant are described in terms of ‘a son of man’ (see for this especially Daniel 7). Here man’s beastliness is seen as coming out. It is only the man who obeys God, who retains the true image of God. It will be noted that no sexual sins are listed in Rom 1:28-31, those having already been dealt with in Rom 1:24-27 as especially heinous, because they replace the true worship of God. What follows are the kind of sins common to mankind, and they cover all aspects of human behaviour leaving none of us untouched. The point that Paul is bringing out is that without exception all have sinned in one way or another.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rom 1:28. And, even as they did not like to retain God, &c. The word , which we render like, signifies to search or explore; as goldsmiths try metal, to distinguish the good from the counterfeit. 1Th 5:21. 1Pe 1:7. In opposition to this, the phrase , which we render a reprobate mind, Mr. Locke very ingeniously observes, must signify an unsearching injudicious mind; for St. Paul often uses compounds and derivatives, in the sense wherein a little before he used the primitive words, though a little varying from the precise Greek idiom; an example whereof we have in this very word , 2 Corinthians 13 where, having, Rom 1:3 used the Greek word for a proof of his mission by supernatural gifts, he uses the contrary word , for one who was destitute of such a proof. So here he tells the Romans, that the Gentiles not exercising their minds tosearch out the truth, and form their judgments right, God left them to an unsearching injudicious mind. The words rendered, In their knowledge, , would be rendered more properly, with acknowledgment: for that the Gentiles were not wholly without the knowledge of God in the world, St. Paul tells us in this very chapter. But they did not acknowledge him as they ought: they did not so improve their knowledge, as to acknowledge or honour him as they ought. This verse seems in other words to express the same as Rom 1:21. The last words are an instance of the figure called meiosis; for they imply those things which are most inexpedient and enormous; such as are mentioned in the next verses. The reader will find in Wis 14:11, &c. a discourse like this of St. Paul, wherein idolatry is set forth as the source of men’s greatest crimes and profligacies. Mr. Locke thinks that the copulative and, at the beginning of this verse, joins it to the 25th, and that the intermediate verses should be read in a parenthesis: but it is easy to see how the thread of the Apostle’s discourse is carried on, without supposing any parenthesis.Ver. 23 the heathen dishonoured God, by representing him under the images of the meanest things: and Rom 1:24 he suffered them to dishonour and debase themselves by the vilest lusts. Rom 1:25 they changed the true nature of God into a lie: And Rom 1:26-27 he left them to change their nature into something worse than brutal. Lastly, Rom 1:28 they did not exercise their minds in searching and inquiring, that they might retain the knowledge of God, and reject thefalse notions of men; and therefore God gave them up to an unthinking, unsearching, stupid mind. They would not use their reason, through the divine light and grace offered to them, in the knowledge and worship of God; and they acted as if they had no reason in the manner of their living among men. And in the same way, all corruption of true religion is, and ever will be in proportion attended with corrupt and vicious practices. See Hammond, Locke, and Bos.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rom 1:28 . From the previous exclusive description of the sensual vice of the Gentiles, Paul now proceeds to a summary enumeration of yet other vices to which they had been given up by God in punishment of their apostasy.
] is not causal, but quemadmodum . The giving them up was something corresponding to their disdainful rejection of the knowledge of God, proportionate as punishment.
] they deemed God not worth (1Th 2:4 ); , , Chrysostom.
] Their , derived from the revelation of nature (Rom 1:21 ), ought to have been brought by cultivation to an , that is, to a penetrating and living knowledge of God (see on Eph 1:17 ; 1Co 13:12 ); thus they would have attained to the having God ; but they would not, and so became , 1Th 4:5 ; Gal 4:8 ; Eph 2:12 ; Act 17:30 . On with an abstract noun, which represents the object as appropriated in the action, so that it is possessed in the latter (here in ), comp Locella, a [531] Xen. Eph. p. 255. Similar is , and the like, Krger on Thucyd. ii. 8, 3.
. ] An ingenious paronomasia with . , to set forth the more prominently the recompense , to which the emphatically repeated also contributes: as they did not esteem God worthy, etc., God gave them up to an unworthy , reprobate (the collective power of the mind’s action in theoretic and moral cognition [532] ). The rendering judicii expers (Beza, Glckler and others) is opposed to the genius of the language, even as Bengel turns it, and Weiss, bibl. Theol. p. 280, defines it. The of the is its blameworthiness according to an objective moral standard, but does not express the mode of thinking which they themselves must condemn among one another (Th. Schott; comp Hofmann), which is neither to be taken by anticipation from Rom 1:32 , nor extracted from .
] to do what is not becoming , what is not moral. Comp 3Ma 4:16 . The Stoical distinction between and Paul has not thought of (as Vitringa conceives). The infinitive is epexegetical: so that they do . The participle with indicates the genus of that which is not seemly (Baeumlein, Partik . p. 296); (comp Eph 5:4 ), would be the unseemly . The negative expression is correlate to the .
[531] d refers to the note of the commentator or editor named on the particular passage.
[532] Comp. on Rom 7:23 , and Kluge in the Jahrb. f. D. Th. 1871, p. 329. The is when, not receptive for divine truth, it does not determine the ethical conduct in accordance with it.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
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;
Ver. 28. To a reprobate mind ] Or, an injudicious mind; or, a mind rejected, disallowed, abhorred of God; or a mind that none hath cause to glory in, but rather to be much ashamed of.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
28. ] The play on and can hardly be expressed in any other language. ‘Non probaverunt’ and ‘reprobum’ of the Vulgate does not give it. Because they reprobated the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a reprobate mind , is indeed a very inadequate, but as far as the form of the two words is concerned, an accurate representation of it. (Mr. Conybeare gives it, “As they thought fit to cast out the acknowledgment of God, God gave them over, to an outcast mind.”) For is not ‘judicii expers’ (as Beza, Tholuck, &c.), but reprobate , rejected by God . God withdrew from them His preventing grace and left them to the evil which they had chosen. The active sense of , besides being altogether unexampled, would, in the depth of its meaning, be inconsistent with the assertion of the passage. God did not give them up to a mind which had lost the faculty of discerning , but to a mind judicially abandoned to that depravity which, being well able to exercise the required, not only does not do so, but in the headlong current of its abandonment to evil, sympathizes with and encourages ( Rom 1:32 ) its practice in others. It is the ‘ video meliora proboque ,’ which makes the ‘deteriora sequor’ so peculiarly criminal.
is not = . (as Dr. Burton): the latter would express more a deliberate act of the judgment ending in rejection of God, whereas the text charges them with not having exercised that judgment which would, if exercised, have led to the retention of God in their knowledge.
. ] So Job 21:14 , “they say to God, Depart from us: for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways,” and Job 22:15-17 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rom 1:28 ff. In Rom 1:28-30 we have the third and last expanded. As they did not think fit, after trial made ( ), to keep God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a mind which cannot stand trial ( ). The one thing answers to the other. Virtually, they pronounced the true God , and would have none of Him; and He in turn gave them up to a , a mind which is no mind and cannot discharge the functions of one, a mind in which the Divine distinctions of right and wrong are contused and lost, so that God’s condemnation cannot but fall on it at last. is not only reason, but conscience; when this is perverted, as in the people of whom Paul speaks, or in the Caananites, who did their abominations unto their Gods , the last deep of evil has been reached. Most of the words which follow describe sins of malignity or inhumanity rather than sensuality, but they cannot be classified. covers all. is the Stoic word which Cicero renders officia . , the tendency to put the worst construction on everything (Arist. Rh. ii. 13), and are examined in Trench’s Synonyms , xi., and , , in xxix. appears to be always passive in the classics, not God hating, but God hated: Deo odibiles , Vulg. The characters are summed up, so to speak, in Rom 1:32 : . . .: such persons as, though they know the sentence of God, that those who practise such things are worthy of death, not only do them, but give a whole-hearted complacent assent to those who follow the same practice. is that which God has pronounced to be the right, and has thereby established as the proper moral order of the world. is death, not as a natural period to life, but as a Divine sentence executed on sin: it is not to be defined as physical, or spiritual, or eternal; by an such abstract analysis it is robbed of part of its meaning, which is as wide as that of life or the soul. : to be guilty of such things oneself, under the impulse of passion, is bad; but it is a more malignant badness to give a cordial and disinterested approval to them in others.
It is a mistake to read these verses as if they were a scientific contribution to comparative religion, but equally a mistake to ignore their weight. Paul is face to face with a world in which the vices he enumerates are rampant, and it is his deliberate judgment that these vices have a real connection with the pagan religions. Who will deny that he was both a competent observer and a competent judge? Religion and morality in the great scale hang together, and morality in the long run is determined by religion. Minds which accepted the religious ideas of Phenicia, of Egypt or of Greece (as represented in the popular mythologies) could not be pure. Their morality, or rather their immorality, is conceived as a Divine judgment upon their religion; and as for their religion, nature itself, the Apostle argues, should have saved them from such ignorance of God, and such misconceptions of Him, as deformed every type of heathenism. A converted pagan (as much as Paul) would be filled with horror as he reflected on the way in which he had once thought of God; he would feel in himself that he ought to have known better, and that everything in the world cried shame upon him. Now to recognise this fact is to accept the premises of the Apostle’s argument, and the use to which he puts it. “Once we went after dumb idols; our very worship led us into sin, and sometimes even consecrated it; now we can only see in this our own blindness and guilt, and God’s judgment upon them” so we can fancy the converted pagan speaking. Such a world, then, as the Apostle describes in this chapter, with this terrible principle of degeneration at work in it, and no power of self-regeneration, is a world which waits for a righteousness of God.
For an interesting attempt to show Paul’s indebtedness for some of the ideas and arguments of Rom 1:18-32 to the book of Wisdom, see S. and H., p. 51 f.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rom 1:28-32
28And 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, 29being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
Rom 1:28-31 This is one sentence in Greek. It characterized rebellious, fallen, independent mankind (cf. Rom 13:13; 1Co 5:11; 1Co 6:9; Gal 5:19-21; Eph 5:5; 1Ti 1:10; Rev 21:8).
Humanity’s sin was that they chose existence apart from God. Hell is that existence made permanent. Independence is a tragedy! Mankind needs God; he is lost, inadequate, and unfulfilled apart from Him. The worst part of an eternal hell is God’s relational absence!
Rom 1:29 “a depraved mind” What fallen mankind sees as freedom is self-worship: “Anything and everything for me!” The agent of the passive voice is stated as God in Rom 1:24; Rom 1:26; Rom 1:28, but in this context’s relationship to Genesis 1-3 it is mankind’s choice of knowledge and self which caused the problem. God allowed His creation to suffer the consequences of their own choices, their own independence.
“being filled with” This is a perfect passive participle. Humans are filled and characterized by what they dwell upon. The rabbis would say that in every human heart is a black (evil yetzer) dog and a white (good yetzer) dog. The one who is fed the most becomes the largest.
Rom 1:29-31 These are the results and symptoms of life without God. They characterize individuals and societies who choose to reject the God of the Bible. This was one of several lists of sins that Paul gave (cf. 1Co 5:11; 1Co 6:9; 2Co 12:20; Gal 5:19-21; Eph 4:31; Eph 5:3-4; Col 3:5-9).
SPECIAL TOPIC: VICES AND VIRTUES IN THE NT
Rom 1:30 “arrogant” This is huperphanous (see C., 3 below).
SPECIAL TOPIC: PAUL’S USE OF “HUPER” COMPOUNDS
Rom 1:32 “those who practice such things are worthy of death” This statement reflects the Law of Moses. It is summarized in Rom 6:16; Rom 6:21; Rom 6:23; Rom 8:6; Rom 8:13. Death is the opposite of God’s will and God’s life (cf. Eze 18:32; 1Ti 2:4; 2Pe 3:9).
“but also give hearty approval to those who practice them” Misery loves company. Fallen mankind uses the sins of others as an excuse, “everyone is doing it.” Cultures are characterized by their particular sins!
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
And even . . . mind. There is a play upon two words here, not easily expressed in Eng. “As they rejected God, God rejected them. “
did . . . like. Greek. dokimazo, to accept after testing, to approve. Compare Rom 2:18; Rom 12:2; Rom 14:22. 1Co 9:27.
knowledge. App-132.
reprobate. Greek. adokimos. The negative of dokimos. Compare dokimazo, above. Here, 1Co 9:27. 2Co 13:5, 2Co 13:6, 2Co 13:7; 2Ti 3:8. Tit 1:16. Heb 6:8.
convenient. Greek. kathekon. See Act 22:22.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
28.] The play on and can hardly be expressed in any other language. Non probaverunt and reprobum of the Vulgate does not give it. Because they reprobated the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, is indeed a very inadequate, but as far as the form of the two words is concerned, an accurate representation of it. (Mr. Conybeare gives it,-As they thought fit to cast out the acknowledgment of God, God gave them over, to an outcast mind.) For is not judicii expers (as Beza, Tholuck, &c.), but reprobate, rejected by God. God withdrew from them His preventing grace and left them to the evil which they had chosen. The active sense of , besides being altogether unexampled, would, in the depth of its meaning, be inconsistent with the assertion of the passage. God did not give them up to a mind which had lost the faculty of discerning, but to a mind judicially abandoned to that depravity which, being well able to exercise the required, not only does not do so, but in the headlong current of its abandonment to evil, sympathizes with and encourages (Rom 1:32) its practice in others. It is the video meliora proboque, which makes the deteriora sequor so peculiarly criminal.
is not = . (as Dr. Burton): the latter would express more a deliberate act of the judgment ending in rejection of God, whereas the text charges them with not having exercised that judgment which would, if exercised, have led to the retention of God in their knowledge.
.] So Job 21:14,-they say to God, Depart from us: for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways, and Job 22:15-17.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rom 1:28. to have) [or retain] the antithesis is , [God] gave them over: , to have [or retain] in knowledge, denotes more than , to know) [to be acquainted with]. Knowledge was not altogether wanting to them; but they did not so far profit in the possession of it, as to have [or retain] God, Rom 1:32.-) As , , and such like, have both an active and passive signification, so also . In this passage, there is denoted [or stigmatized], in an active sense, the mind, which approves of things, which ought by no means to be approved of; to this state of mind they are consigned, who have disapproved of, what was most worthy of approbation. In this sense, the word is treated of at Rom 1:32; : and the words , at Rom 1:29-31.- ), an example of the figure Meiosis [by which less is said, than the writer wishes to be understood].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Rom 1:28
Rom 1:28
And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge,-Men given over to fleshly lusts not only find their faculties all taken up in their gratification but they do not like to retain a knowledge of God. They do not like to think of him, since he condemns and reproves their course. The language indicates that their rejection was not an unconscious act, but a deliberate and disdainful one. We do not like to think of one superior to us who condemns us.
God gave them up unto a reprobate mind,-This is the third time retributive abandonment by God is mentioned. In verse 24 it was to uncleanness; in verse 26, unto vile passions; and here, unto a reprobate mind. A reprobate mind is one lost to virtue, wholly given up to sin, abandoned to error, lost to all sense of duty. When God saw that they did not like to retain the knowledge of him in their mind, he gave them over to sin without further effort to restrain them.
to do those things which are not fitting;-Such behavior as is abhorrent to every dictate of sound reason and inconsistent with all human duties. The sins charged are specified in the following verses.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
did not like
refused to have. Lit. did not approve God.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
as they did: Rom 1:18, Rom 1:21, Job 21:14, Job 21:15, Pro 1:7, Pro 1:22, Pro 1:29, Pro 5:12, Pro 5:13, Pro 17:16, Jer 4:22, Jer 9:6, Hos 4:6, Act 17:23, Act 17:32, Rom 8:7, Rom 8:8, 1Co 15:34, 2Co 4:4-6, 2Co 10:5, 2Th 1:8, 2Th 2:10-12, 2Pe 3:5
retain: or, acknowledge
a reprobate mind: or, a mind void of judgment, Jer 6:30, 2Co 13:5-7, 2Ti 3:8, Tit 1:16
not convenient: Eph 5:4, Phm 1:8
Reciprocal: Gen 6:5 – God Exo 4:21 – I will harden Exo 5:2 – I know not Exo 7:13 – General Lev 11:13 – the eagle Deu 23:17 – sodomite 1Sa 2:12 – knew 2Sa 18:22 – ready 1Ch 28:9 – know thou Job 15:16 – abominable Job 18:21 – knoweth Job 22:17 – Depart Job 31:27 – my heart Psa 10:4 – thoughts Psa 14:1 – no Psa 14:4 – Have Psa 28:5 – Because Psa 50:17 – hatest Psa 53:1 – said Psa 69:27 – Add Psa 79:6 – not known Psa 82:5 – know not Psa 95:10 – and they Psa 107:11 – contemned Psa 111:2 – that have Pro 10:21 – fools Ecc 3:11 – also Isa 1:3 – but Israel Isa 5:13 – because Isa 27:11 – for it is Isa 29:14 – for the wisdom Isa 30:11 – cause Isa 40:21 – General Isa 44:18 – for he hath Isa 44:20 – a deceived Jer 4:10 – surely Jer 9:3 – they know Eze 14:5 – estranged Eze 18:24 – and doeth Eze 20:25 – I gave Eze 23:35 – Because Hos 2:8 – she Hos 4:1 – nor knowledge Amo 4:5 – for Mat 13:19 – and understandeth Mat 21:27 – We cannot tell Mat 24:39 – General Mar 11:33 – We Joh 1:5 – General Joh 7:28 – whom Joh 15:21 – because Joh 17:25 – the world Act 14:16 – suffered Act 17:30 – the times Rom 3:9 – proved Rom 3:11 – none that understandeth Rom 3:23 – all have 1Co 1:21 – the world Gal 4:8 – when Eph 1:17 – in the knowledge Eph 2:12 – without Eph 4:18 – the understanding 1Th 4:5 – know 2Th 2:11 – for 1Ti 4:2 – their Heb 3:10 – err 1Jo 5:19 – and the
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
:28
Rom 1:28. This is the same as verse 24.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rom 1:28. And even as. This is not equivalent to because, but marks the correspondence between the sin and its punishment. Having chosen out the most glaring form of vice, the Apostle enumerates others which formed part of the punishment. Here, as throughout, he reverts to the reason they were given over, thus emphasizing anew the connection between religion and morality.
They refused, etc., did not deem it worth while; the original makes God the object; did not deem God worthy to have in knowledge.
Unto a reprobate mind. Refused and reprobate represent words that sound alike, but the play on the words cannot be readily reproduced. Reprobate means rejected of God as unworthy. The heathen were not deprived of the faculty of distinguishing between right and wrong, but they practised evil and encouraged it in others (Rom 1:32). Because they knew the better and approved, their guilt was the greater when they yet the worse pursued.
Which are not becoming, indecent, immoral; what these things were is detailed in Rom 1:29-31.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Rom 1:28-31. And as they did not like , they did not approve, to retain God in their knowledge Or rather, as more properly signifies, to retain him with acknowledgment. For it is proved above that they were not wholly without the knowledge of God in the world: but they did not acknowledge him as they ought; did not use or improve the knowledge they had of him to the purposes for which it had been vouch-safed. Or, as Dr. Macknight interprets it, They did not approve of holding God as the object of the peoples acknowledgment and worship, but approved of the worship of false gods and of images, as more proper for the vulgar; and on that account substituted idolatry in place of the pure, spiritual worship of the one true God, and established it by law. Therefore God gave them over to a reprobate mind , an undiscerning, or injudicious mind; a mind not perceiving or approving what is good, either in principle or practice; a mind void of all proper knowledge and relish of what is excellent, treated of Rom 1:32. Men of this stamp are said, Eph 4:19, to be , without feeling. To do things not convenient Even the vilest abominations, treated of Rom 1:29-31. Being filled with all unrighteousness Or injustice. This stands in the first place, unmercifulness in the last. Fornication includes here every species of uncleanness; wickedness , a word which implies a disposition to injure others by craft. Hence the devil is called , the wicked one, by way of eminence; covetousness , an inordinate desire to have more than God sees proper for us, which, the apostle says, is idolatry, Col 3:5; maliciousness , a disposition to injure others from ill-will to them, or which delights in hurting another, even without any advantage to ones self; full of envy Grieving at anothers welfare, or rejoicing at his hurt; debate
, strife, contention, quarrelling; deceit Or guile, fraud; malignity , a bad disposition, or evil habit; a disposition, according to Aristotle, to take every thing in the worst sense; but, according to Estius, the word denotes asperity of manners, rudeness; whisperers
Such as secretly defame others; backbiters , revilers, such as openly speak against others in their absence; haters of God Especially considered as holy and just, as a lawgiver and judge; persons under the power of that carnal mind which is enmity against him; enemies in their minds, says the apostle, by wicked works; deniers of his providence, or accusers of his justice in their adversities; despiteful , violent, or overbearing in their behaviour to each other; or persons who commit injuries with violence, or who oppress others by force; proud Persons who value themselves above their just worth; or who are elated on account of their fortune, or station, or office, or endowments, natural or acquired; boasters , persons who assume to themselves the reputation of qualities which they do not possess; inventors of evil things Of new pleasures, new ways of gain, new arts of hurting, particularly in war; disobedient to parents Either natural or political, not willingly subject to lawful authority; a sin here ranked with the greatest crimes. Without understanding Who act like men void of reason; covenant-breakers False to their promises, oaths, and engagements. It is well known, the Romans, as a nation, from the very beginning of their commonwealth, never made any scruple of vacating altogether the most solemn engagement, if they did not like it, though made by their supreme magistrate, in the name of the whole people. They only gave up the general who had made it, and then supposed themselves to be at full liberty! Without natural affection The custom of exposing their own new-born children to perish by cold, hunger, or wild beasts, which so generally prevailed in the heathen world, particularly among the Greeks and Romans, was an amazing instance of this; as is also that of killing their aged and helpless parents, now common among the American heathen. Implacable Persons who, being once offended, will never be reconciled. The original word , from , a libation, is used to signify irreconcilable, because, when the heathen made their solemn covenants, by which they bound themselves to lay aside their enmities, they ratified them by a sacrifice, on which they poured a libation, after drinking a part of it themselves. Unmerciful Unfeeling, unforgiving, or pursuing their schemes of cruelty and revenge, whenever they got any new opportunity of doing it.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Vv. 28. And even as they did not think good to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a mind void of discernment, to do those things which are not fitting.
The ungodliness of the Gentiles was accompanied by a depth of iniquity: the refusal to let the thought of the perfect God rule human life. To retain God as an object of distinct knowledge (the literal sense of Paul’s words), is to keep alive within the mind the view of that holy Being, so that His will shall give law to our whole conduct. This is what the Gentiles refused to do. Ceasing to contemplate God and His will, they were given over to all unrighteousness., even as (literally, agreeably to which), indicates anew the exact correlation between this unrighteousness and the punishment about to be described. , which we translate: a mind void of discernment, corresponds to the , they did not think good; having refused to appreciate God, they lost the true sense of moral appreciation, and this loss with all its consequences is a judgment, as well as the unnatural passions described above. Such is the force of the , gave over, corresponding to the same verb in Rom 1:24; Rom 1:26.
The phrase: those things which are not fitting, to express evil, is well suited to the notion of appreciation which is included in the verb , to judge good, and the adjective . Evil is here characterized as moral incongruity, calculated to revolt the , reason, if it were not deprived of its natural discernment. The infinitive , to do, is almost equivalent to a Latin gerund in doing. The subjective negation with the participle signifies: all that is ranked in the class designated by the participle.
Remark, finally, the intentional repetition of the substantive , God: As thou treatest God, God treateth thee. It is by mistake that this second God is omitted in the Sinat. and Alex.
Volkmar makes Rom 1:28 the beginning of a new section. He would have it that the subject begun here is Jewish, in opposition to Gentile guiltiness (Rom 1:18-27). But nothing, either in the text or in the thought, indicates such a transition; the , also, is opposed to it, and the charge raised by the apostle in the following verses, and especially Rom 1:32, is exactly the opposite of the description which he gives of the Jews, chap. 2. The latter appear as the judges of Gentile corruption, while the men characterized in Rom 1:32 give it their applause.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
And even as they refused [did not deem it worthy of their mind] to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind [i. e., minds rejected in turn by God as unworthy], to do those things which are not fitting [indecent, immoral];
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
28. And so as they did not approve to hold God in perfect knowledge, he gave them up to a reprobate mind to do the things which are abominable. Here we see how people become reprobated. They first reprobate God and then He reprobates them, as He saves none against their will. So if you want to be elected to glory, heaven and immortality, you go ahead at once and elect God, and be true to God and it will turn out that He has elected you. Here we have a picture, like the brutality in Rom 1:26-27, too black for description.
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Verse 28
Not convenient; not right.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
1:28 {11} And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a {m} reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
(11) He proves the unrighteousness of man by referring to many types of wickedness, from which (if not from all, yet at the least from many of them) no man is altogether free.
(m) To a corrupt and perverse mind, by which it comes to pass that the conscience, having been removed by them, and they having almost no more remorse for sin, run headlong into all types of evil.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
3. The wickedness of mankind 1:28-32
The second key word in Rom 1:18, "unrighteousness" (Rom 1:29), reappears at the head of this list of man’s sinful practices. It is a general word describing the evil effects in human relations that man’s suppressing the knowledge of God produces. In the Greek text there is a wordplay that highlights God’s just retribution. As people disapproved of the idea of retaining God in their thinking, so God gave them over to a disapproved mind (Rom 1:28). This letting loose has led to all kinds of illogical and irrational behavior.
"People who have refused to acknowledge God end up with minds that are ’disqualified’ from being able to understand and acknowledge the will of God. The result, of course, is that they do things that are ’not proper.’ As in Rom 1:21, Paul stresses that people who have turned from God are fundamentally unable to think and decide correctly about God and his will. This tragic incapacity is the explanation for the apparently inexplicable failure of people to comprehend, let alone practice, biblical ethical principles. Only the work of the Spirit in ’renewing the mind [nous]’ (Rom 12:2) can overcome this deep-seated blindness and perversity." [Note: Moo, p. 118.]
Unrighteousness (Rom 1:29; wickedness, NIV) is what is contrary to what is right or just. Wickedness (Rom 1:29; evil, NIV) is what is vile and sinister. Greed (Rom 1:29) is the drive to obtain more. Malice (depravity, NIV) describes resident moral evil. "Insolent" focuses on activities, "arrogant" on thoughts, and "boastful" on words. [Note: Richard C. Trench, Synonyms of the New Testament, pp. 93-97.] Most of the rest of these characteristics are self-evident. [Note: See René A. López, "A Study of Pauline Passages with Vice Lists," Bibliotheca Sacra 168:671 (July-September 2011):301-16.]
"Insolent [Rom 1:30]. Greek hybristes, one who behaves with humiliating and unconscionable arrogance to those who are not powerful enough to retaliate." [Note: Bruce, p. 81.]
The final step down in man’s degradation is his promotion of wickedness (Rom 1:32). It is bad to practice these things, but it is even worse to encourage others to practice them.
"Granted that commending evil is not, in the ultimate sense, worse than doing it, it is also true that in a certain respect the person who commits a sin under the influence of strong temptation is less reprehensible than the one who dispassionately agrees with and encourages a sin for which he or she feels no strong attraction him- or herself." [Note: Moo, p. 122.]
This is the longest list of this type in the New Testament. Its purpose is to show the scope of social evils that results when God hands people over to a depraved mind after they refuse to acknowledge Him. See Mat 15:19; Gal 5:19-21; 1Ti 1:9-10; and 1Pe 4:3 for other "vice lists."
Paul’s use of the past tense in Rom 1:18-32 suggests that he was viewing humanity historically. Nevertheless his occasional use of the present tense shows that he observed many of these conditions in his own day. He was viewing humankind as a whole, not that every individual has followed this general pattern of departure from God. One expositor labeled the four stages in man’s tragic devolution that Paul explained as follows: intelligence (Rom 1:18-20), ignorance (Rom 1:21-23), indulgence (Rom 1:24-27), and impenitence (Rom 1:28-32). [Note: Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, 1:518-19. For another exposition of 1:18-32 see J. Dwight Pentecost, Pattern for Maturity, pp. 52-59. He also offered expositions of 6:11-23 (2); 7:1-14; 8:1-8; 8:1-13; 12:1-21; 14:1-13; 14:13-23; 14:22-15:3; and 15:1-7 in this volume.]