“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 1:28–32, NASB)

We’ve all heard the saying: “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” In Romans 1:28–32, Paul paints a picture of what happens when the human mind pushes God out of its thoughts. When people refuse to acknowledge God, they open the door to moral and spiritual decay.

Joseph Fitzmyer summarizes Paul’s thought like this:

“They did not consider it proper to keep God in mind,”—that is, to praise Him and thank Him.

Paul’s indictment here isn’t random. It’s the culmination of everything he has been saying since Romans 1:18:

• Humanity saw the evidence of God in creation (vv. 19–20)
• Humanity suppressed the truth (v. 18)
• Humanity exchanged God’s glory for idols (v. 23)
• Humanity exchanged the truth for a lie (v. 25)

When the human heart refuses to glorify and thank God, the mind eventually corrodes. And when the mind decays, behavior follows.

1. The Spiral of Depravity

Romans 1 gives a downward progression of sin:

1. Suppressing truth – “They suppress the truth by their wickedness” (v. 18)
2. Denying reality – “Their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (v. 21)
3. Believing a lie – “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie” (v. 25)
4. Falling into impurity – “God gave them over to shameful lusts” (v. 26)
5. Receiving a depraved mind – “God gave them over to a depraved mind” (v. 28)
6. Celebrating evil – “They not only do these things, but approve of those who do them” (v. 32)

This is the wrath of God in real-time—not always fire from heaven, but God lifting His restraining hand and allowing sin to run its natural course. As I wrote in a previous post, God’s wrath often looks like God giving us over to our own choices.

2. The Fruit of a Godless Mind

When God is no longer in our thoughts, evil thoughts and actions rush to fill the vacuum. Paul lists over 20 traits of a depraved mind:

• Sins of the heart: greed, envy, hatred
• Sins against others: murder, strife, deceit, gossip, slander
• Sins of pride: arrogance, boastfulness, inventing new forms of evil
• Sins against family and society: disobedience to parents, untrustworthiness, lack of love and mercy

And the final stage? Celebrating evil. It’s one thing to commit sin. It’s another to approve of and applaud it—to normalize and defend what God calls sin. That is the mark of a mind that has fully forgotten God.

3. A Word for Today

Modern culture often flips this biblical narrative:

• It says humanity is evolving upward, discovering more truth, more freedom, more enlightenment.
• Paul says humanity is devolving when it abandons God—suppressing truth, believing lies, and losing touch with moral reality.

The spiral of Romans 1 is not a relic of the past; it’s a mirror for today’s society. We see:

• Sin paraded as freedom
• Lies celebrated as truth
• Good called evil, and evil called good

The result is the same: hearts hardened, minds darkened, and culture collapsing inward on itself.

4. Hope in Christ

The message of Romans 1 is heavy, but it’s also gracious. Why does Paul paint this bleak picture? To prepare us for the gospel in Romans 3.

Even in our depravity, God has not abandoned His offer of mercy. While sin leads us down a spiral, grace lifts us up. Jesus Christ can renew the mind that has forgotten God.

As Paul later writes:

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

(Romans 12:2)

The remedy for a depraved mind is a renewed mind in Christ, filled with gratitude, truth, and the Spirit.