Scripture Daily

Context No. 4293 of 4322 · Romans

Context · Reflection

Romans 1:26-32: in context

26For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature. 27Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error. 28Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers, 30backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.

Paul describes what happens when people refuse to acknowledge God: their minds are darkened, and they are given over to a long list of sins. And while the list begins with sexual disorder, it quickly widens into things that indict every reader: envy, strife, deceit, gossip, slander, arrogance, boastfulness, disobedience to parents, being unloving, unmerciful, and unforgiving. It ends with a final turn: not only doing such things, but approving others who do them.

What stands out is how sweeping and searching this catalog is. It is tempting to read such a list as a description of other, worse people, and to feel secure by comparison. But the list names sins that live in every heart, gossip, envy, pride, ingratitude, coldness of love, and Paul's very next words are, therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge another. The passage is a mirror, not a weapon; it exposes us all. And its root diagnosis is this: it all begins with refusing to acknowledge God, which darkens the whole person.

The way to read this passage rightly is not to point at others but to see ourselves in it, to recognize the envy, pride, gossip, and ingratitude that mark our own hearts, and to trace them to their root: a failure to keep God rightly at the center. This drives us not to self-righteous judgment of others but to humble self-examination and return to the God we so easily push aside. The list that seems to be about more sinful people turns out to be a mirror for us all.

When I read a catalog of sins like this one, do I use it as a mirror for humble self-examination, recognizing the envy, pride, gossip, and ingratitude in my own heart and their root in pushing God aside, rather than as a weapon to judge others while excusing myself?

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