Depravity

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:28-32)

If we took this passage of Scripture and didn’t identify it as being such, we would think that it was a quote regarding society today. The apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans gives a description that can easily be describing our own society. Our society has broken down and it continues to rapidly decline. As we watch the events unfolding before our eyes we see what Paul is talking about. We see the things he says to the Romans. We cannot deny what is written in these verses. Our society, our country looks a lot like this. For the most part God has been removed from society. People no longer seek God, no longer retain knowledge of Him. People find it more worthwhile to do as they please then to retain knowledge of their Creator. Because of this God has given them the desire of their heart. He has given them over to a depraved mind. Depravity is moral corruption. We cannot deny the moral corruption of our times.

Look at the list of behaviors Paul gives us. Society is filled with wickedness. There is no other way to describe many of the things we witness today. The way people treat each other is borderline evil, if not evil. Greed is everywhere. Let me expand greed to things other than money. Money is not the only place where greed is seen. Greed can be attached to anything we want more of. Power is a form of greed. Control is greed. Everywhere we look we see people hatefully good after more. Murder is everywhere. Just tune into the news. You can’t miss it. Strife? There is so much division in our country that we may never be united again. Deceitfulness has become part of everyday life. Are there slanderers in our society? We cannot deny this. Our society is divided with both sides with slander coming from both. Vicious name calling and hateful speech. The list Paul provided goes on. Read it and think deeply on how our society reflects what Paul is saying. It’s eerily similar.

Paul goes on to say that these people know God’s decrees and intentionally do the opposite. He tells us that they deserve death. We all do. Our sin deserves death. It is only through faith in Jesus that we can receive the gift of eternal life. Our society is in a very bad place. God has given people over to their depraved minds. Because of this people no longer see their actions as wrong. There is only one hope for our society. Jesus! Jesus is the only way to turn it around. A divine intervention is needed.