“… And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;”

Romans 1:28

It is possible to be given over to evil in our thoughts, emotions and behaviour as we have chosen to practice them. If we indulge our flesh God will eventually give us what we chose and the end is we have a mind that is wholly sinful. God speaks in this text, to people who so refuse Him, that they become fallen and reprobate beyond salvation. This is a state of persistent evil in what we chose to fill our mind with. It is not an accident but a deliberate choice. We can fall into this so easily and become completely worldly minded and imbibe the spirit of Anti-Christ. This is a dreadful state and there is no way back to God. We can find ourselves stepping over a line and be given over to evil thoughts, ideas and plans. We hate God and all that He stands for and we embrace the ways of this fallen world.

This is a wholly foolish decision as this world and all its conceits are passing away and the kingdom of God is come in Christ and it will never fail. We can find ourselves seduced by this world and its pleasures that pander to our flesh.

A reprobate mind is simply a mind that is taken up with the things of this life with no thought of God, His ways and Word. It belongs to the person who is always thinking about the necessities of this life and no thought of God, no faith in His promises and no love for the Scriptures. It is a mind that thinks of itself and what it can get out of this passing world, but with no eternal life of interest in such things. It is easy to be this way since it is our natural bent, and we need a supernatural event to change our minds to think about the Lord and regard Him. It we refuse His love and the voice of the Holy Spirit, then God will eventually hand us over to our desires and we will be consumed with them.

We forget the Lord and leave Him out of our thinking and so our mind becomes reprobate – devoid of joy, love, hope or any kind of faith in the Lord. We become completely worldly and God is far from us. We love and practice sin and encourage others to do the same.

Beloved, do not find yourself taken in by the tawdry thinking of this world systems, but let us draw near to God that He will draw near to us and fill our minds with light. Why embrace darkness when we consider the delight of His way.