…and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

    Romans 1:32

The narrative regarding mankind, found in the pages of scripture (The Bible), can be observed everyday in our modern world. In Romans 1:18-32, we see the characteristics to look for when properly assessing our culture and our own lives. And in today’s passage, we find an excellent summary for the entire passage. It paints a picture of those who know about God, His attributes, and His standards, yet choose, in their own thinking and hardness of heart, to go their own way and navigate life on their own terms. God is evident within them because He has made Himself evident to them (v 19). Creation even speaks of God, yet this evidence is completely ignored by these individuals, causing these to have no excuse (v 20). They have no intentions of honoring God with their lives nor giving Him thanks. They have become futile in their thinking and darkened in their hearts (v 21). They have exchanged that which is true about God for a lie (v 22). What an indictment, yet this is the spiritual reality for many, arguably most, people in our world today and clearly demonstrates just how many people are outside of Christ.

In today’s passage, we are looking at the reality of spiritual apathy. Ignorance is one thing but apathy is an entirely different subject. There are those who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ and are, in the truest sense of the word, ignorant of the salvation offered through faith in Him. But apathy doesn’t point to a lack of understanding rather apathy is firmly rooted in an attitude of complete disregard and indifference. “And although they know the ordinance of God”…don’t miss that. These people know God exists, they know His characteristics and attributes, and they know His standard for human behavior, but a total disregard for God, along with futile thinking and darkened hearts, keeps them in a state of spiritual apathy. How do we know this? Consider the following: “And although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.” There several things at play here.

First, these people know the penalty for breaking the ordinances of God…”that those who practice such things are worthy of death.” This is the reason why Christ came and went to the cross. Only by receiving salvation through faith in Jesus Christ do any of us receive eternal life. Another way to put it: someone will pay the penalty for our sin. Either we accept what Christ has done for us on the cross, surrendering our lives to Him, and completely trusting Him for our deliverance or we end up paying for our transgressions. Consider the following:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    Romans 6:23

All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

    Isaiah 53:6

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.

Acts 4:12

In Christ, there is forgiveness, salvation, and new life. Apart from Christ, we stay in a state of spiritual death and are void of the Holy Spirit. But remember, the people described in our passage are those who know all about this. They know the ordinances of God and they know the consequences of living outside of Christ. 

When the Bible refers to “practicing such things,” it is referring to the way in which we live. To “practice” sin is not making a mistake once or even falling to temptation. “Practicing” means that the general lifestyle of the person is rooted in sinful, ungodly, and wicked behavior. Spiritual apathy is to mentally acknowledge everything that we hear in scripture and then turn and go our own way, living in ways that we know are not pleasing to God and…we simply do not care.

Secondly, in addition to knowing about God’s ordinances, salvation in Christ, and the consequences that come from our decision to receive or reject, these people “do the same.” In other words, their own lifestyles are consistent with all of the things listed in scripture: “being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful.” This list is not everything that is contrary to the things of God but it’s a good start. The list serves the purpose of demonstrating what a life outside of Christ looks like and allows us to properly assess the culture and our own lives as well. 

Lastly, these people “give hearty approval to those who practice them.” Let’s be honest. There are those, who live in our culture today, that do not care about the things of God, have not repented of anything that they engage in, choose to live this way, enjoy their ungodly lifestyles, and make sure that they support those who also do the same. That’s what this passage is all about. It describes those who live their lives outside of God’s will, do not care, continue in lifestyles consistent with ungodliness, and “heartily approve of others who do the same” 

This would be a good time to discuss the old adage: “Birds of a feather flock together.” This simply means that whatever our spiritual choices, preferences, and lifestyles, we prefer to be with others who are like-minded in such things. In other words, those who chase after money will want to be with others who do the same. Those who like to drink and party will run with those who like that too. Worldly people will hang out with worldly people and Christians will want to be with other believers (2 Corinthians 6:14-17). This is human nature. For the Christian, it’s an important practice to be with other believers because of how difficult the Christian life can be at times (John 15:18-19, 1 Peter 4:3-4). For unbelievers, hanging out with others who share the same preferences acts as a way of reinforcing and normalizing their behavior, even if it is opposed to God and His ways. So the company we keep will usually give away our true spiritual condition. 

As we spend time in Romans 1:18-32, may we find ourselves rising above the kind of attitudes and lifestyles described. None of us are worthy to receive eternal life but through faith in Christ, surrendering our lives to Him, we will find new, abundant, and eternal life…a life that is superior and uncommon to that of the ordinary existence of the masses. 

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  

      John 7:37-39