Romans 1:28 (NET) says: “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.”

This is dangerous. A depraved mind means the reasoning is warped, the understanding is warped, even the feeling is warped. Everything is topsy‑turvy. Everything is twisted.

And look at the result here. Verse 29: “They are filled with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips” (Romans 1:29, NET). These are the expressions of the depraved mind. He says “every kind of unrighteousness.” He does not just want to leave it at that and let you think, “Oh, he is talking to that person.” So he begins to list it: wickedness, covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility, gossips.

This one—gossip—is so insidious because we do not associate “depraved mind” with gossips. A lot of the time, we are thinking it is innocent: “I am just giving an update, I am just gisting.” As far as Paul is concerned, gossip is coming from a depraved mind.

“Slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, covenant‑breakers, heartless, ruthless” (Romans 1:30–31, NET). That is the nature of man defined apart from God. That is our state. In another place, Paul calls it “dead in…trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1, NET). That is the state.

And verse 32 tells us: “Although they fully know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:32, NET). So we are talking about deep‑rooted depravity here. That is who we are. That is how we are.

Wickedness. Nobody can escape. If you escape murder, are you going to escape strife? Are you going to escape disobedience to parents? Are you going to escape “ruthless?” Are you going to escape being a covenant‑breaker? These are heart issues. Depraved mind. Mind twisted, bent away from God. That is who we are. That is how we are—that is, apart from Christ.

We need a Savior. That is why Paul will say, “For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9, NET). “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, NET) and are deserving of wrath.

It was necessary for Paul to lay it out the way he did because we are warped in our minds, and our rejection of the truth means that we want to create alternative gods for ourselves, alternative truth for ourselves—which can find expression in people creating for themselves idols. They will make the idol in their own image, and they will design it so that whatever that idol requires is what they can provide. The idol requires me to bring certain offerings; I can provide them. The idol requires me to climb the mountain; I can climb the mountain.

But God requires holiness. There is no idol that requires holiness. God is requiring holiness, and the only way to meet that requirement is for you to be in Christ, whereby you receive His righteousness.

God bless you.