Metropolitan Ambrose of Kalavryta: Maybe the time of the Antichrist has already come? Great Christian Library Blazh. Theodoret of Cyrus

Oleg asks
Answered by Alexandra Lanz, 12/03/2010

Peace to you, Oleg!

Here is the passage to which the verse you are interested in refers to:

“They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature instead of the Creator, who is blessed forever, amen.

Because God gave them over to shameful passions:

their women replaced their natural use with an unnatural one;
Likewise, men, abandoning the natural use of the female sex, were inflamed with lust for one another, men committing shame on men and receiving in themselves due retribution for their error.

And how they didn't care to have God in their mind, That God gave them over to a corrupt mind - do obscene things, so they are fulfilled
any untruth
fornication,
deceit,
greed,
malice,
filled with envy
murders,
strife,
deception
malice,
slanderous
slanderers,
God haters,
offenders,
self-praise,
proud
inventive for evil
disobedient to parents
reckless
treacherous
unloving,
irreconcilable,
unmerciful.

They know the righteous [judgment] of God, that those who do such [deeds] are worthy of death; However, not only do [them] do, but they also approve of those who do them.” ()

As you can see, “given over to a perverted mind” means that God stopped holding them back and allowed them to live as their mind says, and not as HE, God, wants them to live. So they became as described in this passage. Wouldn't it be nice to check yourself against this list? Are there any signs in you and me that God has moved away from us, allowing us to live the way our depraved mind longs to live?

Sincerely,

Read more on the topic “Interpretation of Scripture”:

13 Feb

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, so that they defiled their own bodies. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature instead of the Creator, Who is blessed forever, amen.

And even though they did not care to have God in their minds, God gave them over to a depraved mind - to do lewd things, so that they are filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, malice, filled with envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil spirits, slanderers, slanderers, haters of God, offenders, self-praisers, proud, resourceful for evil, disobedient to parents, reckless, treacherous, unloving, irreconcilable, unmerciful. They know the righteous judgment of God, that those who do such things are worthy of death; however, not only do they do them, but they also approve of those who do them (1:24-32)

As Paul shows in these verses and explains theologically at the end of chapter 4, man is fundamentally not good, but evil. The tendency to sin is his innate property. “There is none righteous, not one... there is none who does good, not one... all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:10, 12, 23). Those who ignore God's providence and try to overcome sin and improve themselves in their own efforts invariably commit the most heinous sin - the sin of pride and counting themselves among the righteous. Only God can mercifully remove sin and give righteousness, and a person who tries to overcome his own guilt and achieve his own righteousness only leads himself deeper and deeper into the abyss of sin and removes himself from God.

The situation is reminiscent of an abandoned garden: when a person is left to his own devices, the bad always crowds out the good. This shows the tendency of his fallen nature. Man does not have the inner ability to curb the weeds of sin and grow a good harvest of righteousness. The natural development of man occurs not in an ascending line, but in a descending one; it does not develop, but slides down. He does not rise to God, but moves away from Him. Throughout history it has been moving downward in circles of depravity, getting worse and worse, and when the restraining principle of the Holy Spirit ceases at the end of the Great Tribulation, when evil reaches its final stage, all hell will break loose upon the earth (see 2 Thess. 2:3- 9; Rev. 9:1-11).

Man is unable to stop this downward slide because he is by nature a slave to sin (Rom. 6:16-20), and the more he persists in his illusory efforts to improve himself without God, the more he becomes a slave to sin, and ultimately eternal death awaits him (Rom. 6:16-23). Lewis, in his book The Problem of Suffering, rightly observed: “The lost are forever enjoying the hideous freedom they demanded. Consequently, they enslaved themselves” (, pp. 127-28).

Main idea Rom. 1:24-32 is that if people persist in rejecting God, God will abandon them (see verses 24, 26, 28). Even when God's own people ignore and do not listen to Him, He may temporarily abandon them. Relaying the words of the Lord, the psalmist wrote: “But My people did not listen to My voice, and Israel did not obey Me. Therefore I have left them to the stubbornness of their hearts, let them walk according to their own thoughts” (Ps. 80:12-13). Hosea reports similar tragic events caused by unbelief in the Northern Kingdom, which Ephraim personified. God said about him: “Ephraim became attached to idols; leave him!” (Hos. 4:17).

In his address to the high priest and other religious leaders of Jerusalem, Stephen recalls that when the ancient Israelites rejected the Lord, erected a golden calf and began to worship him while Moses was on Mount Sinai, “God turned away and left them to serve the army of heaven,” i.e. .e. the demonic deities they created (Acts 7:38-42). Paul declared to the crowd of Gentiles at Lystra: “Who in the past generations suffered all nations to walk in their own ways” (Acts 14:16).

When God leaves people to fend for themselves, they are partly deprived of His protection. When this happens, people not only become more vulnerable to the destructive devices of Satan, but they themselves are destroyed as their own sin works in and through them. “But you have forsaken Me and began to serve other gods,” the Lord said to Israel, “for this I will no longer save you” (Judges 10:13). When the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, He said to Judah, “The Lord is with you as you are with Him; if you seek Him, He will be found by you; if you forsake Him, He will forsake you” (2 Chron. 15:2). Through Zechariah, “the son of Jehoiada the priest,” God again said, “Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord? you will not succeed; and just as you have forsaken the Lord, He also will forsake you” (2 Chron. 24:20).

To Rome. 1:24-32 clearly depicts the consequences of God's rejection of abandoned humanity, showing the nature (vv. 24-25), manifestation (vv. 26-27) and extent (vv. 28-32) of human sinfulness. Each of these parts begins with the words: “God betrayed them...”

The Essence of Human Sinfulness

The word “then” refers to the reasons Paul spoke of in v. 18-23. Although God revealed Himself to man (vv. 19-20), man neglected God (v. 21), and then explained this neglect (cf. v. 22 and v. 18) and created surrogate gods of his own making (v. 23). And because man abandoned God, God abandoned man - “and God gave them up.” Paul speaks of this divine refusal and its consequences in v. 24-32 is the most serious and emotional place in the entire message.

Paradidomi (to leave) is a strong verb. In the New Testament it is used to refer to the burning of the body (1 Cor. 13:3) and is repeated three times to refer to Christ giving himself to death (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 5:2, 25). It is used in a judicial sense when a person is sentenced to imprisonment (Mark 1:14; Acts 8:3) or to punishment (Matt. 5:25; 10:17, 19, 21; 18:34), and the angels have sinned were given over to the darkness of hell (2 Pet. 2:4). This word is also used when Christ commits Himself to the care of His Father (1 Pet. 2:23), and when the Father gives His Only Begotten Son to an atoning death (Rom. 4:25; 8:32).

God's rejection of sinful humanity has a double meaning. Firstly, in indirect in a sense, God “gave them over” by simply withdrawing His protective and protective hand, allowing the consequences of sin to inevitably and destructively materialize. Sin destroys a person, humiliates the image of God in which man was created, deprives him of dignity, peace of mind and purity of conscience. Sin destroys personal relationships, marriages, families, cities and countries. He also destroys churches. Thomas Watson said, “Sin... brings sand into our food and the bitterness of wormwood into our cup” (A Body of Divinity, p. 136).

Fallen people are not bothered by their sin, but only by suffering the unpleasant consequences that sin causes. Someone has well said that there would be fewer sinners if the consequences of sin came immediately. Many people, for example, are very afraid of venereal diseases, but reject the proposal to avoid them by curbing sexual promiscuity and perversity. Instead of adhering to God's standards of moral purity, they try to eliminate the consequences of their uncleanness. They turn to counselors, doctors, psychoanalysis, drugs, alcohol, travel, and a variety of other means to avoid what can only be avoided in one way - by renouncing sin.

They say that an ermine would rather die than get its beautiful fur coat dirty; the animal is ready to travel incredible distances to keep its fur coat clean. Man has no such inclination towards the contamination of sin. He cannot keep himself clean and has no innate desire to do so.

God's wrath will not only overtake man in the future. In the case of sexual promiscuity and promiscuity, perhaps more purposefully and strictly than in other areas of morality, God continually vents His Divine wrath through venereal disease. And given the countless other manifestations of godlessness, He manifests His anger in various forms: loneliness, confusion, loss of meaning in life, anxiety, hopelessness, which are so characteristic of modern society. Since perverted, self-occupied humanity moves further and further away from God, God left it to experience the consequences of spiritual and moral resistance to Him. Interpreter Alan F. Johnson said, “Without God there are no permanent truths, no eternal principles and norms, and man finds himself cast into a sea of speculation, skepticism, and trying to save himself” (“The Freedom Letter,” p. 41).

The divine abandonment of people to their own sins that Paul speaks of is not a final abandonment of those people. While a sinful person is alive, God gives him opportunities for salvation. Later in the letter, Paul talks about the amazing good news of God's mercy. Like her Old Testament namesake, Jezebel, who led the church at Thyatira astray, was the embodiment of idolatry and immoral ungodliness, but God graciously gave her the opportunity to repent (see Rev. 2:20-21). Despite his righteous anger against sin, God is patient with sinners, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9).

After listing sins similar to those he spoke about in Rom. 12:29-31, Paul reminded the believers in Corinth: “And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). It is sin that leads to the need for the good news of salvation, and that is why God's offer of salvation through Christ is so merciful.

Secondly, God is direct sense, betrays the rebellious humanity to a certain punishment. The Bible is replete with examples of Divine wrath directed at sinful people in direct and supernatural ways. The flood of Noah's day and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, for example, were not indirect natural consequences of sin, but were an overt supernatural expression of God's punishment for great and irredeemable sin.

God often allows people to sink deeper and deeper into sin and despair to show how much they need Him. Often He punishes people in order to heal and restore them (Isa. 19:22).

It was because of the “lusts” of their hearts for uncleanness that God gave the people over to their sin. The lost state of people is determined not by the external circumstances of their lives, but by the internal state of their hearts, their souls. Sin begins within a person. “For out of the heart,” said Jesus, “come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy: these defile a person” (Matthew 15:19-20). Jeremiah proclaimed a similar truth: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked” (Jer. 17:9; cf. Prov. 4:23).

Metaphorically used in Scripture, the word "heart" does not mean emotions or feelings - the sense in which it is used in modern language - but rather the entire mental process, including the will and human impulses. In this broadest sense, the word “heart” means the very nature of man, his inner essence and character.

In our day the original godlessness of man is most clearly manifested in the general tendency to mind one's own business. “What is characteristic” of man is sin, which characterizes his entire natural essence. Self-will is the essence of all sins. Although Satan is responsible for the temptation to sin, Adam and Eve committed original sin precisely because they willingly put their will above God's.

People have rejected God because their desires, their lusts, are meant to satisfy only their own needs. “Lust” is conveyed by the word “epithumia,” which can mean any desire, but is most often used in reference to the carnal desire for something sinful or forbidden.

Speaking about both believers and non-believers, Ap. James said that “everyone is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own lust” (James 1:14). Since even Christians are tempted to desire their sin over God's holiness, Paul warned the Thessalonians about the danger of falling into the lustful passions of the pagans (1 Thess. 4:5). He reminded the Ephesians that “we all once lived according to our fleshly lusts, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like others” (Eph. 2:3).

The word "akatarsia" (uncleanness) was a general term denoting dirtiness, disgusting, and was often used to refer to rotting remains, especially the contents of graves, which were considered unclean by the ancient Jews, both physically and ritually. As a moral term, the word often denoted or was closely associated with sexual immorality. Paul lamented the Corinthians, “who had sinned before and did not repent of the uncleanness, fornication, and lasciviousness which they had committed” (2 Cor. 12:21). He used the same three terms when beginning a list of “works of the flesh” that are in constant conflict with the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:19-23). He warned the Ephesians: “But fornication and all uncleanness and covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints” (Eph. 5:3; cf. 1 Thess. 4:7).

The consequence of human rebellion and willful uncleanness was that they themselves desecrated their bodies. When people seek their own glory and the gratification of their bodies through shameful indulgence in sexual and other sins, their bodies and their souls become defiled. When a person tries to elevate himself for his own purposes and according to his own standards, he inevitably does the opposite. The path of fallen man always leads down and never up. The more he exalts himself, the more he declines. The more he praises himself, the more he humiliates himself. The more he honors himself, the more he becomes defiled.

Throughout history, no society has paid more attention to caring for the body than the modern one. Western world. At the same time, no society has led to greater degradation of the body. The more human life is exalted for its own sake, the more its value declines. By a tragic misunderstanding, the society that glorifies the body does not care about it; the society that praises man continuously destroys him. The world is full of demands for human rights; however, books, movies and television very often portray cruelty and murder as normal, and sexual promiscuity and perversity are constantly glorified.

Because worldly humanism rejects God, it has no basis for human dignity. And consequently, humanity is dehumanized in the name of humanism. In lamenting the dehumanization of man, fallen humanity refuses to acknowledge that by neglecting God, it is abandoning the only source and only measure of human dignity. While loudly proclaiming the greatness of man, modern society insults him at every step. We abuse each other sexually, economically, criminally and finally verbally. Because people reject the God who created them and who is ready to save them, “the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their hearts and lives” (Eccl. 9:3).

The notorious founder of the modern pornography empire is said to have made this comment: “Sex is a biological function, just like eating or drinking. So let’s forget all false modesty and do what we want.” That this way of thinking is not a modern invention of our sophisticated “coming-of-age world” is clearly shown by the fact that almost two thousand years ago in Corinth Paul wrestled with precisely this way of thinking. A common saying in those days was, “Food is for the belly, and the belly is for the food,” and the apostle points out that even Christians used it to justify sexual immorality by comparing the act of eating to sexual indulgence. Both food and sexual promiscuity were declared simply biological functions that everyone could satisfy at will. This is how Paul sternly responded to this perverted reasoning: “The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” (1 Cor. 6:13).

The apostle continues to speak, explaining that sexual immorality is not only a sin against the Lord, but also a sin against one’s own body (v. 18). Paul means that the body involved in sexual impurity is itself defiled; it is humiliated, disgraced and destroyed.

The newspapers are replete with reports of senseless violence that serves no purpose other than perverted pleasure. Wife abuse and child abuse is a modern epidemic. The Indianapolis Star reported that people who sexually abuse children are represented by NAMBLA's own organization, which organizes pedophiles and publishes a newsletter for them (Toth Keating, “Molesters Have Own Organization,” p. 17). Here is one of the shocking facts mentioned in the publication: during a large seminar on the prevention of child pornography and other similar crimes, a man interrupted his work and began to loudly defend his right and the right of other men to such perversions. NAMBLA later made headlines again as it became bolder and more open in its activities.

This is the legacy of those who replaced God's truth with lies. By suppressing God's truth through unrighteousness (Rom. 1:18), the rebellious person subjects himself not to the truth, but to a lie. The fundamental divine truth that fallen man suppresses is the very existence of God, and therefore His right and claim to honor and glory as Lord (see verses 19-21). Holy Scripture often speaks of God as truth; Jesus Christ also calls Himself the truth (John 14:6). Isaiah describes a pagan who held an idol in his hand, but was too spiritually blind to ask the obvious question: “Is there deceit in my right hand?” (Isa. 44:20). Through Jeremiah, the Lord addressed the apostate Judah: “You have forgotten Me and trusted in lies” (Jer. 13:25). Leaving God means leaving the truth and becoming a slave to lies. To neglect God, the Father of truth, is to become defenseless against Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44).

It is unfortunate that, as in the Corinthian church in Paul's day, many of the people who proclaim the name of Christ today have been influenced by self-centered morality. A newspaper's singles advice editor received a letter asking how a single Christian could deal with his sexual desires while still maintaining his Christian beliefs. The editor turned to one of the employees who deals with the affairs of single Christians for an answer. The employee replied that partners must make such decisions themselves in each individual case. If sex before marriage will harm the relationship or question the system of moral values, then one should abstain from it. On the other hand, “sex in a loving relationship is completely acceptable without a marriage license” (Joan Keeler, “The Single Experience,” Glendale News-Press, p. 10).

When people turned away from God and His truth, Paul continues, they began to worship and serve the creation instead of the Creator. As the apostle points out, they foolishly and sinfully worship lifeless images of their own making, which are like “corruptible man, and birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things” (v. 23).

Perhaps unable to continue discussing such disgusting things without a "breath of fresh air," Paul inserts a common Hebrew phrase about the true God: Creator, "who is blessed forever, Amen." Paul could not resist adding a refreshing thought to the sea of filth he was talking about. This word of praise to the Lord serves as a strong contrast, emphasizing the sinfulness of idolatry and any other godlessness.

Manifestation of human sinfulness

“Therefore,” says Paul, referring to man’s neglect of the true God for the sake of false gods of his own making, the reverence of the creature rather than the Creator, “God gave them over to shameful passions.” This is the second time (see verse 24) that the apostle mentions God’s rejection of sinful humanity. He gave them over not only to idolatry, the ultimate sexual expression of man's spiritual degradation, but also to the "shameful passions" that Paul defines in these two verses as homosexuality, the ultimate expression of man's moral corruption.

To show what “shameful passions” come from the heart of fallen man, Paul uses homosexuality, the most destructive and disgusting of all passions. In his freedom from God's truth, man turned to perverting and even completely changing the natural order. Ultimately, their humanism led to the dehumanization of each of them. Perversion is the illicit and distorted expression of what is God-given and natural. On the other hand, homosexuality is a perversion, an expression of what is not given by God and is unnatural. When a person abandons the Creator of nature, he inevitably abandons the natural order.

In ancient times and throughout history, some women "substituted unnatural uses for natural ones." Paul does not use the word gune, the common term for “woman,” but teleia, which simply means “female.” In most cultures, women are much less likely to engage in sexual promiscuity or homosexuality than men. It is possible that Paul mentions women first because their involvement in homosexual acts is especially shocking and horrifying. Commenting on this verse, theologian Charles Hodge wrote: “Paul first speaks of the degradation of women among the Gentiles, for they are always the last to be smitten by corruption of morals, and their corruption proves that all virtues are lost” (“Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans”, page 42).

"Chresis" (function) usually meant sexual intercourse, and in this context the term cannot mean anything other than intimate sexual intercourse. Even in most pagan societies the clear and obvious fact was recognized that homosexuality was abnormal and unnatural. And this anomaly is characteristic only of humans.

“Likewise also men,” Paul says, again using a Greek term that simply denotes gender, in this case masculine. The ordinary Greek terms for women and men, like the corresponding terms in most languages, imply a certain level of dignity, and Paul refuses to attribute even an implied dignity to those who have degraded to homosexuality.

“These males,” says Paul, “having abandoned the natural use of the female sex, were inflamed with lust for one another, men committing shame on men.” This burning lust among homosexuals is beyond description and is rarely known to heterosexuals. The homosexuals of Sodom were so absorbed in their lusts that they did not even notice that they were blinded, “so that they were tormented in seeking an entrance” into Lot’s house to indulge in their disgusting passion (Gen. 19:11). These ancient people were so morally perverted that in the Holy Scriptures Sodom became the personification of immoral godlessness, and the term “sodomy”, derived from this name, became synonymous with homosexuality and other forms of sexual deviation.

In the United States and other Western countries, it is not surprising if a homosexual male has more than 300 partners per year. Even when the relationship is based on friendship, the most bizarre actions possible are committed and injuries are not uncommon. In his biography, Where Death Delights, by Marshall Houts, New York forensic scientist Dr. Milton Helpern never states that he is a Christian and avoids morally condemning homosexuality. , however, notes that having performed thousands of autopsies, he would warn anyone who chose a homosexual lifestyle to be prepared for the consequences: “When we see ... a terrible picture of a victim with many wounds ... we naturally assume that we are dealing with an injured homosexual who is attacked by another homosexual... I don't know why, but the violent outbursts of jealousy among homosexuals seem to be much stronger than the jealousy of a man against a woman and a woman against a man. The hidden energy of homosexual relationships simply cannot be contained. And when the point of explosion is reached, the result is horrifyingly cruel... The “usual” scenario of these homosexual attacks is “multiple wounds, numerous senseless blows, which apparently continue long after the victim is dead” (pp. 269-270).

One San Francisco investigator estimated that ten percent of the city's murders were probably related to gay sadomasochistic sex. Despite these impartial and damning facts, many people, including large number Psychologists and other social scientists persist in arguing that there is no scientific evidence that homosexuality is abnormal or harmful to society. Some even argue that trying to convert a homosexual into a heterosexual is ethically questionable. The city of San Francisco even opened a special service to teach homosexuals how to avoid serious bodily harm when engaging in sadomasochistic sex, although it is clear that both sadism and masochism are harmful! The sole purpose of both deviations is to cause suffering and harm. Sadism is harm to others, masochism is harm to oneself. Many homicidal maniacs were apparently homosexuals.

Incredibly, many church denominations in the United States and other countries ordain homosexuals into ministry and even organize special congregations for homosexuals. One denomination claims that homosexuality is no more abnormal than left-handedness. The official church organization for homosexuals is called Dignity.

Instead of trying to help their children free themselves from sexual deviance, many parents of homosexuals band together to protect their children and force society, government and churches to recognize and accept homosexuality as normal. In many cases, the idea that homosexuality is a sin is criticized for allegedly leading to tragic results for homosexuals themselves, their family and friends. Evangelical Christians in particular are often accused of persecuting innocent people who cannot be anything other than what they are.

But in both Testaments, the Word of God condemns homosexuality in the strongest terms. According to the Old Testament, homosexuality is punishable by death. Paul is clear that while homosexuality can be forgiven and atoned for just like any other sin, no unrepentant homosexual will go to heaven, just as no unrepentant sinner, idolater, adulterer, homosexual, thief, covetous, drunkard, reviler (1 Cor. 6:9-11; cf. Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-5; 1 Tim. 1:9-10; Jude 7).

All people are born in sin, and individuals have different inclinations and attractions to certain sins. But no one is born homosexual, no one is born a thief or a murderer. And a person who becomes a habitual, unrepentant thief, murderer, adulterer or homosexual does so by choice.

Any attempt to justify homosexuality is useless and sinful, but attempting to justify homosexuality on the basis of the Bible, as some deceptive people do church ministers, even more useless and disgusting. To do so is to make God a liar, to love what He hates, and to justify what He condemns.

God has such a strong aversion to homosexuality that He has ordained that the shameful acts that women do to women and men do to men will receive in themselves the due retribution for their error. They will be condemned by the self-destructiveness of their sin. The terrible physical consequences of homosexuality are clear evidence of God's righteous judgment. Unnatural vice brings its own twisted retribution. AIDS is a terrible proof of this inevitable prospect.

The Degree of Human Sinfulness

Since fallen humanity did not care about having God in their minds, God gave them over to a corrupt mind. A godless mind is a perverted mind, its predestined and inevitable tendency is to do lewd things.

The main meaning of the word adokimos (perverted) is that which has failed the test, and was widely used in reference to metals that were rejected by the foundry master because of their impurities. Metals containing impurities were thrown away, and the word adokimos came to be used to mean of little value and uselessness. In relation to God, the rejecting mind becomes rejected, and therefore spiritually corrupt, worthless and useless. About the unbelievers, Jeremiah wrote: “They will be called rejected silver; for the Lord has rejected them” (Jer. 6:30). The mind that finds God worthless becomes worthless itself. He is corrupted, deceived, and deserves only God's righteous wrath.

The sinful, depraved mind says to God: “Get away from us; We do not want to know Your ways! What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? and what is the use of resorting to Him?” (Job 21:14-15). Although the ungodly consider themselves wise, they are hopelessly foolish (Rom. 1:22). Regardless of their innate intelligence and knowledge of the physical world, in relation to God they do not even have the “beginning of wisdom”, since they lack reverent, reverent fear of Him. They are only “fools... who despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:7; cf. verse 29).

Even the Jews, God's chosen people, fell into foolishness when they rejected or neglected the revelation and blessings that He so richly and abundantly gave them (Jer. 4:22, cf. 9:6). Those who have rejected the true God are absolutely defenseless; “the god of this age has blinded their minds, so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, should not shine on them” (2 Cor. 4:4).

The enumeration of sins that Paul continues in Rom. 1:29-31, not exhaustive, but it gives an idea of the fact infinite number vices that plague an ordinary person.

The New American Standard Bible (NASB) lists sins beginning with all unrighteousness and wickedness, which is exhaustive and general concepts, synonyms, including more and more specific sins, the list of which follows the first two. Some translations of the Bible place the word “fornication” between these two words, but it should be noted that it is not found in the best Greek manuscripts. However, this word is quite appropriate, since fornication is everywhere condemned in Holy Scripture, and Paul often mentions it among the vices (see 1 Cor. 6:9; Gal. 5:19; Col. 3:5). The sin of fornication is included in the sin of uncleanness, which has already been mentioned in this chapter (see verse 24).

The sins in this list generally do not need explanation: covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deception, malice, slander, slander, hatred of God, offending, self-praise, pride, resourcefulness for evil, disobedience to parents, recklessness, treachery, dislike , intransigence, unmercifulness. The Greek word translated “treachery” literally means “to break a covenant.” This is reflected in some translations. “Unlove” most often refers to unnatural relationships in the family, when a parent leaves a small child or adult children neglect their elderly parents.

Repeating that disobedient ungodly people have no forgiveness, Paul says that “they know the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death.” The Apostle has already proven that from the creation of the world God has revealed Himself to every person (vv. 19-21). People don't recognize God because they don't want recognize Him and deliberately suppress the truth with untruth (v. 18). “This is the judgment,” said Jesus, “that light has come into the world; but people loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed, because they are evil” (John 3:19-20).

Whether they admit it or not, even those to whom revelation has never been revealed God's Word, instinctively know of His existence and His basic requirements of righteousness. “They show that the work of the law is written in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their thoughts, sometimes accusing, sometimes justifying one another” (Rom. 2:15).

In most societies in the world, even those considered uncivilized, most of the sins that Paul listed are considered reprehensible, and many of them are considered crimes. People genetically know that greed, envy, murder, deception, arrogance, disobedience, ruthlessness are evil.

The absolute bottom of sinfulness is reached, according to Paul, when those who are themselves involved in evil approve of those who do evil. It is certainly sinful to justify your own sin, but it is immeasurably worse to approve and encourage others to sin. Even in the best societies there are people who are blatantly sinful and wicked. But a society that openly forgives and defends such evils as sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, etc., has reached the deepest level of corruption. Many of the most socially advanced societies of our day belong to this category. Sexually promiscuous celebrities are celebrated and gay rights are fiercely defended. These manifestations of sin are in direct opposition to the will of God revealed to humanity.

Some species of ants in Africa build their nests deep in underground tunnels where the young and the queen live. And although worker ants may be at great distances from the nest while collecting food, they are able to sense when something threatens their queen. In this case, they become very nervous and lose coordination. If the queen dies, the worker ants go mad and rush around mindlessly until they die.

What better example can one choose for a fallen person? In his sinful neglect and resistance, he cannot act correctly and without God is doomed to death.

Perverted - spoiled, inferior, worthless, pitiful (according to dictionaries).

How many people do you know with such intelligence? A person thinks of himself that he is intelligent, smart, educated and knows a lot and can do anything. This person may have his own business or a prestigious job, go to the best restaurants, live in an expensive house, have a lot of money and influential friends... He seems to be a pleasant conversationalist. But his mind is corrupted. He's just rotten, he stinks. And everyone who comes into contact with it becomes infected with this stench. Those around them feel this deadly influence on their lives. But they are confused by the beautiful, shiny packaging. The Lord Jesus Christ called such people “painted tombs” (that is, beautifully decorated). From above everything seems to be orderly and beautiful, but inside there are stinking rotten bones.
Why did people become like this? And the answer is very, very simple. Read further carefully.

"And how they did not care to have God in their minds..."

“And because they did not care to have God in their minds, God gave them over to a corrupt mind...”

“And since they did not care to have God in their minds, God gave them over to a depraved mind - to do indecent things...”

“And since they did not care to have God in their minds, God gave them over to a depraved mind - to do lewd things, so that they are filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, malice, filled with envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil spirits, slanderers, slanderers , haters of God, offenders, self-praisers, proud, resourceful for evil, disobedient to parents, reckless, treacherous, unloving, irreconcilable, unmerciful. They know the righteous [judgment] of God, that those who do such [things] are worthy of death; , but they also approve of those who do it." Bible, Romans 1-28...32

Only we ourselves decide what we will fill our thoughts, our hearts, our lives with. If we start small... with gratitude to God for all the good things in our lives (and all good things come from God), for every little thing and do it sincerely, then our thoughts will begin to change. And what’s most interesting... our heart and our life too.

Reviews

Humanity has two paths: the path of creation and the path of destruction, hatred of one’s neighbor, misunderstanding by a perverted mind of things that are not on the surface. The path of creation is the path of creating your own territory of happiness, love, mutual understanding with your neighbors. I sincerely wish you to follow this path. Happy belated Women's Day! Happy day of beauty, kindness and careful attitude to everything living.

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Art. 28-32 And even though they had not been tempted to have God in their minds, (for this reason) God gave them over to an unskilled mind, to do incomparable things, full of all unrighteousness, fornication, deceit, covetousness, malice: full of envy, murder, zeal, flattery, malice: whisperers , slanderers, abominations, harassers, majestic, proud, finders of evil, disobedient to parents, unreasonable, unforgiving, unloving, unswearing, unmerciful. And having understood the justification of God, that those who create such things are worthy of death, not only do they themselves create, but they also deign to do so

So that it would not seem that the apostle, in his long speech about sodomy, was hinting at the Romans, he finally moved on to sins of a different kind and throughout his speech referred to other persons. And as always, talking with believers about sins and wanting to prove that they should be avoided, the apostle cites the pagans as an example, saying: not in lustful passions, like the pagans who do not know God, and further: Do not grieve like others who have no hope(1 Sol. IV, 5, so here he points to the sins of the pagans and deprives the latter of any justification, saying that their boldness does not depend on ignorance, but on inclination. Therefore he did not say: because they did not understand, but says: as if I had not tempted the name of God in my mind, showing that their sins occurred primarily from a corrupted mind and love of word debate, and not from random perception - they were not sins of the flesh, as some heretics claim, but of the mind and vicious desire, and that the source of all evil lies precisely here. Since their minds had become corrupted, everything finally fell into disorder and confusion when the leader turned out to be damaged. Filled with all kinds of untruth, deceit, covetousness, malice(v. 29) Notice how the speech gradually becomes stronger; the apostle calls them full of all unrighteousness. Having named vice in general, he then moves on to its types and to those subject to these sins, which he expressively calls filled with envy, murder, because murder occurs from envy, as is shown in the examples of Abel and Joseph. Then, having said zeal, flattery, malice, whisperers, slanderers, godless, pesters(vv. 29, 30) and having included among the crimes those that seem indifferent to many, the apostle again strengthens the accusation, ascending to the stronghold of evil and adding: proud. To sin and think a lot about yourself is worse than sin itself; therefore the apostle accuses the Corinthians of the same thing, saying: and you will become proud(1 Cor. V, 2). If the one who is proud of a good deed usually ruins everything, then what punishment is worthy of the one who does this because of sins? Such a person will finally be unable to repent. The apostle goes on to say: finders of evil, showing that they were not content with the evil they had already done, but invented something else, which was again characteristic of people who acted intentionally and out of their own disposition, and not out of passion and imitation. Having spoken about vice in particular and proving that the pagans again rebelled against nature itself ( parent, says the apostle, rebellious), he finally goes back to the root of such great corruption, calling them unloving, irreconcilable(v. 31) And Christ indicates the same reason for depravity when he says: for the increase of lawlessness, love will dry up(Matt. XXIV, 12). Paul also speaks about this here: unapologetic, unloving, unswearing, unmerciful, - showing that they destroyed the very gift of nature. We have a certain natural disposition of friend to friend, which is characteristic even of animals, as it is said: Every animal loves what is like itself, and every person sincerely loves his own(Josh. Sirach. XIII, 19). But the pagans became fiercer than beasts. Thus, Paul here depicted to us the disease that has spread throughout the universe from vicious teachings, and clearly proved that both of these diseases come from the sick’s own negligence. Finally, the apostle, as he did regarding the teaching, shows that the pagans here (in life) are deprived of excuse, and therefore he says: not even the justification of God, understanding that those who create such things are worthy of death, not only do they themselves create, but also deign to those who create ( Art. 32) Having anticipated two objections, he has tentatively resolved both of them here. Perhaps you will say, he says, that you did not know what you should do. Fine; if you didn’t know, then you are guilty for abandoning God, who gives you knowledge. But now we have proven, based on many things, that you knew and sinned voluntarily. But would you say that you were carried away by passion? Why do you help others and praise them? I mean, they create it themselves, says the apostle, but they also deign to create.

Homilies on the Epistle to the Romans.

St. Gregory of Nyssa

And the apostle says that there is no difference between the vices hidden inside [the soul] and the vices that are obvious and openly glorified, combining and juxtaposing them: And since they did not care to have God in their minds, God gave them over to a corrupt mind - to do lewd things, so that they are filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, malice, filled with envy, murder, strife... offenders, self-praise, proud, resourceful for evil, disobedient to parents, reckless, treacherous, unloving, irreconcilable, unmerciful. They know the righteous judgment of God that those who do such things are worthy of death. Do you see how [the apostle] combines evil, pride and the rest of the hidden [sins] into one whole with murder, greed and all the like [overt sins]? And the Lord Himself says: whatever is high among men is an abomination to God(Luke 16:15) and: everyone who exalts himself will be humiliated; but he who humbles himself will be exalted(Luke 14:11) And Wisdom says: Everyone who is high-hearted is unclean before God(Proverbs 16:5) And many [similar sayings] exposing the passions hidden in the soul can be found in other [Holy] Scriptures.

About the purpose of life according to God and about true asceticism.

St. Feofan the Recluse

And even though they were not tempted to have God in their minds, (for this reason) God gave them over to an unskilled mind to do incomparable things.

They fell into extreme sensuality and became coarser; all the highest aspirations of the spirit and demands for truth and love have died down; selfishness took precedence over everything and did not want to know any law except self-indulgence in lusts, its own interests and its pride. Hence the distribution of vices, not as random acts, but as permanent orders of life. But since the source of this moral corruption is the same - forgetting God and perverting the true concepts about Him, the Apostle puts this in front.

As if I were not tempted to have God in my mind. To have God in the mind means: to remember Him, to contain Him in the mind and consciousness, with corresponding religious feelings and dispositions, and to have sound concepts about Him, to think truly about Him, to contain a true confession of faith. Έν έπιγνώσει - can mean both. At first, the pagans, due to misunderstanding, began to forget God, and in forgetting, their concepts about Him became darkened. Darkened concepts gave rise to even greater forgetfulness of God, and greater forgetfulness of God led to even more wrong concepts about Him.

Don't tempt, ούκ έδοκίμασαν, - they were not tempted, they were not able, even more, - they did not make experiments, did not try, did not set this as the goal of their life - that is, to remember God and take care of pleasing Him and to preserve the truth about Him conducting.

For this reason God gave them up. - Again: betrayed. First he gave them over to the lusts of their hearts (see: 1, 24), then in the passion of dishonor (see: 1, 26), and here: in an unskilled mind, to create incomparable. What a gradual decline! It followed a natural order, but just as this order of degeneration is rooted in the laws of nature, which are from God; then the Apostle directly refers it to God, as to the directly effective cause, or His punishing justice. Blessed Theophylact writes: “here for the third time he repeats the same thought and uses the same word, saying: betrayed, - and the reason that they were abandoned by God is represented everywhere by the wickedness of people, as they are doing now. The insult, he says, caused to God was not a sin of ignorance, but intentional. For he did not say: because they did not know, but he says: as if I'm not tempted, - that is, they decided not to have God in their minds and voluntarily chose wickedness. This means that their sins are not sins of the flesh, as some heretics claim (not of the body, not of a material organism, as the Manichaeans thought), but of incorrect judgments. First they rejected the knowledge of God, and then God allowed them to fall into a corrupt mind; for the turning away of God and His abandonment is called tradition in Scripture. God betrayed them. Why? Because they did not know Him. Why didn’t they recognize Him? Because they did not reason and did not decide to know Him.” “For if they wanted to know Him (we continue with the words of Theodoret), they would follow the Divine laws. But since they denied the Creator, they completely lost His providence; and therefore they fearlessly ventured into vices of various kinds.”

Predade in an inexperienced mind to create incomparable. An unskillful mind that does not know how to act properly and, as a result of this, since it cannot not act, acts unduly or creates unlike. By nature, the mind knows what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong, and knows how to act accordingly. But sensual life corrupted him, and he began to call good evil and evil good. Among the pagans and in their legislation, many blatant untruths were included. So untempted was the mind! Don't tempt- And: inexperienced- not a play on words, but the modern correspondence of the effect to the cause, or sin - punishment, νους, - a sovereign force, the same as the spirit - a reflector of godlikeness, blown into the face of a person. The feelings of the Divine and His truth, or the fear of God and conscience, are rooted in it. The fear of God is supported by true knowledge of God and the memory of God and revives the conscience - the knowledge of the will of God - and imparts energy to it. When the memory of God leaves the mind - and knowledge of God is darkened by lies, the fear of God weakens, and from the weakening of the fear of God, conscience also weakens. As a result, sensuality raises its voice and carries itself along. Conscience rises at first, but they do not listen to it, and it does not have the strength to force itself to listen, due to the lack of fear of God in which its life is. She then falls silent. Instead, sensuality, guided by selfhood, begins to write laws. And went all kinds dissimilarity. The ruling mind finally bows to this and only invents false principles to justify the wrongs of life. In ancient times, captive kings were used as a footrest when mounting a horse. This portrays the state of mind shown very well. Saint Chrysostom says: “since their minds became perverted, then for the faulty rider everything fell into disorder and confusion.”

Having expressed this general idea about how the unlike life developed, the Apostle then shows in what actions it was expressed, and lists the very vices that governed the order of life. Saint Paul makes a similar enumeration in his Epistle to the Galatians (see: Gal. 5: 19 - 21) and in the Second Epistle to Saint Timothy (see: 2 Tim. 3: 2 - 5), making them in both from the predominance of sensuality. - There is no order in the enumeration: one might think that the Apostle presents mainly what the Romans saw with their own eyes among their fellow citizens and in which some of them, before their conversion, may have themselves been guilty.

Interpretation of the Apostle Paul's letter to the Romans.