The Epistle of Romans is a treasure chest of Bible doctrines. Every great doctrine of Christianity can be found on the pages. Among a great number of theologians, it is the pinnacle of the letters of Paul. The times in which we live are strange, infuriating, agonizing, exciting, troublesome, and to some fearful. In the past few months, I have found myself reading the first three chapters of Romans often. Tuning in to the news is like spinning the wheel on the game show “Wheel of Fortune.” You don’t know what nuttiness is next. Isaiah says that a time would come when evil would be called good and good would be called evil; bitter would be called sweet and sweet bitter; light called darkness and darkness called light (Isaiah 5:20). The verse I want us to focus on for this short article is Romans 1:21. The verse says, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

  1. At some point in the past, the unsaved had a knowledge of God. God is seen not only in the pages of the Bible. Humans are hard-wired to know there is a God. It’s logical and innate to have this understanding. We also have God stamped on our consciences. We are to be rational when we observe the creation. There is a beautiful order to everything from the universe to the DNA in the human body. If man chooses, he can see God in his thinking and in the creation. The problem is choice. It isn’t that God isn’t there, it is that they have chosen to reject the Creator.
  2. Once the choice is made to reject God they become vain in their imaginations. Focus on the word “vain.” It means to be “futile in thought, foolish in reasoning, and stupid in speculation.” Isn’t it amazing the foolish and stupid ideas that are espoused today. Meanings of words are changed, reprobate people think with simply declaring they can change from male to female or vice versa, and all is called normal. It may be called normal by the world and the godless, but it is called sin by God and his Word.
  3. The trajectory is always downward. “…their foolish heart was darkened.” The Greek word for darkened has the meaning, “to deprive of light.” People choose to live in rebellion to God and by living that lifestyle they deprive themselves of light and choose to live in the darkness. Often, and I mean often, those who chose this life think they are the smartest in the room. They surmise themselves to be the wisest and most intellectual when the reality is they are simply a fool (Romans 1:22). Their desire is to create a god that they are willing to worship. How depraved can this get? I don’t know how deep and godless we will become as a society, but in my mind, we have to be pretty close to the bottom right now. One year ago, I read an article “Apocalyptic Aspects of the Digital Age.” The article referenced a new church in Silicon Valley. (If you don’t know what Silicon Valley is, think about computers, software, Facebook, Google, Twitter, along with a myriad of other digital companies and groups.) Perhaps in the news you have heard the term 5G, which deals with speed and artificial intelligence, AI. This new church is called “Way of the Future.” The founder of this church is quoted in the article as saying, “We will worship artificial intelligence as a deity and its central nervous system will be the Internet.” Academia has fast become blithering fools and most of the media is in lock step with them.

Do God’s people have hope? You bet we do. In the first three chapters of Romans the goodness of man is demolished, and the sin nature is demonstrated and exposed for all to see. Sinful behaviors are exhibited and what God thinks about that sin is written in black and white. But, when we get to Romans 5 we find that once we have come to Christ by faith we have peace with God. No longer is the judgment of Hell hanging over us like the sword of Damocles. Romans 8 gives us the promise that we aren’t under condemnation any longer.

Do the unsaved have hope? Yes, they do. They must come to Christ in repentance. Acknowledge their sin and need of a Savior. Put their trust, their belief in Jesus and His work on the cross, nothing else. The gospel of Jesus still has the power to save to the uttermost.