Sliding Down Sin's Slippery Slope of Ruin

Bill Brinkworth

Sin’s unrelenting temptations often push one into a position that often cannot be escaped. Romans 1 details a terrible, downward spiral in which many find themselves. Many find out too late that one sin leads to another and that no one gets away with iniquity’s dreadful wages. Climbing out of sin's grasp

The seven-fold decline described in Romans 1 started when people did not recognize and honor God for His creation. All around them were the glorious things that only God could have made:  innumerable stars, an Earth that has all the necessities of life, life itself, living creatures that do remarkable things, man and all he can do, and flowering and food-supplying plants

Many, as also happens today, explain away God’s marvelous handiwork with their imaginative ideas and theories of how they think those things came to be. God is not given credit for what He has done, and they certainly are not thankful for what He did.
“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.” Romans 1:21

Because God’s wondrous works are explained away with concocted myths, fables, and the theory of evolution, a person can become unthankful for what God has done. Eventually, foolish hearts are darkened and hardened to hear and understand God’s truths. Many ruined lives find themselves without answers, a hopeful future, and the guidance and protection of an all-knowing, wise, and loving God. People often do not even recognize their depraved, weak conditions.

In many situations, since humanity often measures themselves by their standards or compares themselves to others, one often thinks he is intelligent and successful. However, what is considered wisdom in one’s eyes may be foolishness in God’s.
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,” Rom. 1:22

However, man’s decline rarely stops there. Since one does not have God to worship, obey, and follow, one often creates his gods to worship. Sometimes it may involve worshipping a man-made idol, as in idolatrous religions. Others worship the creation rather than the Creator. The Earth is reverenced, as are animals, trees, etc.
“And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.” Rom. 1:23

When one finds oneself at this stage of depravity, one usually justifies there is no God or that He does not need to be heeded. The sins of those rebellious often increase. One sin usually leads to others, and the rest of the Romans 1 verifies this. Verses 24 to 31 list at least 27 sins that resulted from the original sin of not glorifying God and all He has done.

The description of man’s sinful decline mentions three times that God “gave them up” and “gave them over” to their sins. Those words in those phrases mean “surrendered.”  

God saw that their mind was set on “doing their own thing,” not on acknowledging Him and not obeying His commandments. God then took His guiding, protecting hands off them and let them face the consequences of their sin. They wanted their sinful lifestyle, so God “surrendered” them to the wages of their unrighteousness. How hopeless, vulnerable, and lonely it would be to have the great God give up on helping and protecting a person, yet this is a reality for many.

The progression of unrighteousness described in Romans 1 explains why sin is rampant worldwide. In their early youth, most look around and feel what they see, hear, and feel can only be there by some creative Hand.  

As they get older, soon that feeling is explained away. God is forgotten, and the regression to a life devastated by sin results.

God may have every reason to take his guiding, protecting hand off lives because of their sin, but He is still a loving and forgiving God. There is always an opportunity to recognize the true, living God again, ask His forgiveness, and turn back to what was once believed. One can get back to having Him direct and help one through life, no matter how far down sin’s spiral one has plummeted. There can be hope!
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9

“Everybody, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences."
— Robert Louis Stevenson

This article was featured in The Bible View #602.