Reprobate 

Scripture Reading: Romans 1:26-32.

Memory Verse: "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13).

Introduction: "The word reprobate has almost no usage in our language apart from the Bible and writing on Biblical subjects. It is the translation of a Greek word that is used for coins when they were lightweight, for metals when they had too much dross, for the earth when it was sterile. There are those folks who talk about the necessity of placing mind over matter, but there can be no doubt of the fact that God has disapproved the mind, and called it unfit for comprehending Him . . .
  The practical result of this abandonment was that mankind was delivered to himself, and the consequent practice of things that are not convenient, things that are not fitting, things that are forbidden, shameful. Twenty-one of these things are now named [in the Romans text], and it is the most formidable list of sins to be found in the Word of God. In the King James version there are twenty-three, but two are from later texts, and the revisions have but twenty-one. The one that is next to the beginnning and the one that is next to the end are not in the original. I would not mention the fact except that the listing of these sins under twenty-one headings is a trinity of sevens [3 times 7], and in the symbolism of the Bible, the two numbers stand for the perfection of God and for completeness. It is significant, therefore, that the sins are thus classified, as though to tell us that all things are known to God."--John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Romans 1-8, p. 94.
  If all sin is concluded as sin, and therefore worthy of the judgment of death, would it be possible that men go deeper and deeper into sin? The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life draw hard on men's souls to give more and more of their beings over to their sensual, devilish passions. We can see there is a progression in depravity, a whirling cesspool of sorts, that pulls man farther and farther down. Romans 1:26,27 discusses the vile affections, the fleshly or sensual depravity, that draws men and women down to even unnatural physical acts. Verses 28-31 then discusses the mental depravity, the giving over of one's mental state to the premeditation of sin against God. The final verse of the chapter reveals the ultimate depravity of not only being a sinner, but becoming an advocate of the sinner's lifestyle by approving of and encouraging others to take part.

Lesson Questions:

1. After God gives men up to uncleanness (v. 24), what is the next thing they are given up to? Romans 1:26a.
    "Vile affections" might also be defined as "degrading passions."

2. To what perverse degrading passions did man's corrupt idolatry and immoral desires finally lead? Romans 1:26,27a; Leviticus 18:22-25; 20:13; Ephesians 5:11,12.

3. What payment has mankind received for this unnatural lust? Romans 1:27b; 1 Corinthians 6:9,10; Ephesians 5:3-5; Jude 7-10.
     "The meaning of this doubtless is, that the effect of such base and unnatural passions was to enfeeble the body, to produce premature old age, disease, decay, and an early death. That this is the effect of the indulgence of licentious passions, is . . . proved by the history of man."--Donald Grey Barnhouse, Man's Ruin, (Romans 1:1-32), pp. 283,284.

4. Will our actions always bear a harvest? Galatians 6:7-9; Hosea 8:5-11; 10:12; Psalms 125:5,6; Proverbs 11:18,19; 2 Corinthians 5:10.

5. What is the third and final thing God gives man over to? Romans 1:28; 8:7; Ephesians 4:17; Colossians 1:21; Titus 1:15; 1 Timothy 4:2.
     "The basic meaning of adokimos (depraved) is that of not standing the test, and the term was commonly used of metals that were rejected by refiners because of impurities. The impure metals were discarded, and adokimos therefore came to include the ideas of worthlessness and uselessness. In relation to God, the rejecting mind becomes a rejected mind and thereby becomes spiritually depraved, worthless and useless."--Albert Barnes, Barnes' Notes on the New Testament, p. 555.

6. Examine the list of sins given in Romans 1:29-31.

7. What does Paul say these reprobates know concerning God's judgment? Romans 1:32a; John 3:19,20; Romans 2:15.

8. What ultimate sinful act is listed to crown man's shame? Romans 1:32b; Proverbs 17:15; 24:24; Isaiah 5:20; Acts 23:20.
     "This text is one of the most damning in the Bible. It teaches us, first, that men have an inner knowledge from God of the reality of sin; secondly, that men have a consciousness that God must hate and judge sin; thirdly, that men persist in the ways of sin in spite of the warning of their own native conscience; fourthly, that they come to the point where they condone, then approve, then aid and abet, then rejoice in sin in others; and finally that they come to the place where they are the patrons of vices rather than of the righteousness of God."--John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Romans 1-8, p. 108.