The Reprobate Mind

by Mike Ratliff

28 And 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, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and 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. Romans 1:28-32 (NASB) 

We have been looking at unbelief and the utter foolishness it begets. Also, I have been in discussion with several of you about the trials you are currently going through that are, for the most part, oppression resulting in despair as you are dealing with others who either claim to be Christian, but prove they aren’t by their reprobate lifestyles or they claim to be superior in knowledge about nearly everything and so attack those who profess to be Christian in an attempt to disavow the gospel, the atonement, our desperate need for redemption, and that Jesus Christ came to fulfill that role. I have been dealing with this as well, but instead of despair or fear while I have been going through this, I have felt nothing but pity for the one whom our enemy as assigned to attack me and this ministry. The superior attitude is offset by an arrogance that is so off the scale that it is laughable to one whose faith is strong. As they attempt to cast doubts on God’s sound doctrine and say stupid things like, “everyone knows that the bible is nothing more than a book of symbolism so you can’t use those exegetical techniques you use to prove anything!” Let’s look at this.

28 And 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, Romans 1:28 (NASB) 

28 Καὶ καθὼς οὐκ ἐδοκίμασαν τὸν θεὸν ἔχειν ἐν ἐπιγνώσει, παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς ὁ θεὸς εἰς ἀδόκιμον νοῦν, ποιεῖν τὰ μὴ καθήκοντα, Romans 1:28 (NA28)

The word translated as “depraved” in the NASB rendering of Romans 1:28 is the Greek word ἀδόκιμον. This anarthrous adjective means, “unapproved, unworthy, spurious, or worthless. In the context of Romans 1:28 it is speaking of those who do not have a sense of pending judgment. They have a reprobate, abominable mind that is abhorred by God and men who do know God’s truth. The word “mind” here is νοῦν. This anarthrous noun is the intellectual faculty of the natural man, applicable to God or Christ (Romans 11:34; 1 Corinthians 2:16), employed in practical judgment, capable of being good or evil, and of being regenerated, the mind, the reason, the reasoning faculty.

Do you remember what the grammatical form called anarthrous means? It is a word or group of words which appear without definite article. Anarthrous constructions are most often intended to point out the quality of something. Therefore, when we see this we should dig even deeper for this could be a marker of a definitive point in the God-inspired text to which those who do not have an ἀδόκιμον νοῦν should pay close attention because God is teaching us something vital.

Notice the cause of a person having an ἀδόκιμον νοῦν. Those who have this horrible condition got it because they did not (οὐκ) see fit (ἐδοκίμασαν) to acknowledge (ἔχειν) God (θεὸν). Here is an alternate rendering of this phrase, “And as they tried not to hold God in full knowledge.” The word rendered here as “in full knowledge” and “to acknowledge” in the NASB and “to hold in full knowledge” in the KJV, is ἔχειν, which is a verb in aorist tense, indicative mood, and active voice. This means that the action described here is not continuous nor does it indicate the relative time of the action to the time of speaking or writing. It describes the action of having, holding, holding on, counting, considering, regarding, or wearing. However, remember those being described here, “tried NOT to hold God in full knowledge.” That is their crime. In other words, they are guilty of pushing all true knowledge of God out of their minds which God then allowed that truth to be replaced with something else. God gave them over (παρέδωκεν αὐτοὺς) unto a debased mind (ἀδόκιμον νοῦν). The word παρέδωκεν describes God handing over or giving up or yielding up these people to the very thing they were seeking. He allowed them to no longer consider His truth. Instead, His truth was seen as false and what was really false was seen as true in these people’s minds. This caused them to be seen in God’s eyes as completely worthless. Those who sought full rebellion against God and the incarnation of Christ for their sins, were given over to that rebellion so that what they sought seemed perfectly right to them while the truth of the Gospel is seen as foolishness, et cetera. This is what the reprobate mind is. It does not hold any of God’s truth in it and sees no need to be concerned about the coming judgment.

18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; Ephesians 4:18 (NASB) 

18 ἐσκοτωμένοι τῇ διανοίᾳ ὄντες, ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τὴν οὖσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς, διὰ τὴν πώρωσιν τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν, Ephesians 4:18 (NA28)

Those with reprobate or debased minds are darkened ( ἐσκοτωμένοι) in their understanding (διανοίᾳ). Those who reject the knowledge of God think of themselves as “enlightened” (cf. Hebrews 10:32). Their ignorance here is not due to a lack of general education, some are brilliant in their own way, but such brilliance is all wasted and futile in the end when combined with hardness of heart toward the truth of the gospel in Christ (cf. Matthew 13:14-15; John 12:40; Acts 28:26-27; Romans 11:8). These unbelievers are intellectually unproductive. As far as spiritual and moral issues are concerned, their rational processess are distorted and inadequate, inevitably failing to produce godly understanding or moral living. Their life is empty, vain, and without meaning (cf Romans 1:21-28; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Colossians 2:18). They are also spiritually separated from God, thus ignorant of God’s truth (1 Corinthians 2:14), and their willing spiritual darkness and moral blindness are the results (Romans 1:21-24; 2 Timothy 3:7). They are blind, “hard” like a rock.

Now my brethren, consider what we have just seen in these passages. Those separated from God and His truth are so because of their own rebellion. They attempted to push God and His truth from their minds so He gave them over to their rebellion and they got what they were after which is what God is going to use to condemn them to the Lake of Fire at the Final Judgment. That is, unless He has mercy on them and draws them into the light via the washing of regeneration. However, when God gives people over to this full rebellion it is accompanied by a heart hardening that is purposeful and will keep these people from ever being affected by the preaching of the Gospel. Only God could break through it.

Soli Deo Gloria!