"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient" Romans 1:28
We need to retain God in our knowledge. What does this mean? It means we need to make Him our focus and our life, or else we are at risk for deception. We need to do everything to the glory of God. And we have to want to do this, which means we need to die to ourselves. Our own desires and distractions can make us forget God.
"The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity." Luke 8:14
When things of God have been pushed aside in our lives, we are in danger of losing our spiritual inheritance. We are in danger of never seeing God's goodness become real to us. We have lost our passion for the only thing that really counts--the reality of God's Love for total salvation. The enemy can then come in and make us believe a lie. And God allows this.
"So I let them go after the stubbornness of their heart, that they might walk in their own counsels." Psalm 81:12
If we have shown God that we want to run after the world, then He will probably let us, at least for a time. He honors free will, and He gives us over to whatever we want most. Often our own desires have been influenced by other things. And more often then not, those influences come from the devil. Sinful desires comes from the world, where darkness has set up it's rule--the world is in nature contrary to God (John 15:19). Our own desires often lead towards idolatry, and God allows us to run after darkness.
Micaiah said, "Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. "The LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said this while another said that. "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' The LORD said to him, 'How?' And he said, 'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.' 1 Kings 22:19-22
How does this work? If people want to follow a lie, then God gives them one. God allows deception to sneak in. God is sovereign, and He actually allows for other spirits to come in and make us fall for our own desires. He gives us over to a reprobate spirit--something that deceives us so we can continue on in following ourselves. These spirits try to entice us into falsehoods and darkness.
If we accept anything that is not grounded in the Word and the Spirit, then we may allow these spirits to give us a reprobate mind. If we fall for their deception, they will begin to affect our minds. They will cause us to do things which are not convenient. They will take away any fruitfulness that we have, because true fruit comes only from the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). We will begin doing things that do not serve God or His purposes. These things may not even serve ourselves. They will, however, serve the enemy and cause some amount of inconvenience--some amount of confusion.
For a long time, I did not understand why God would ever allow this sort of thing to happen. But it's His intent to make us stumble enough to know that we need to return. When we hit rock bottom, that's when we can realize our mistake. That's when we realize that we've become an enemy of God. That's when the Lord gives us eyes to see--eyes to comprehend that we've reaped what we've sown. Eyes to see that we deserve the deception handed to us. That's when we can humble ourselves and repent. That's when we can enjoy total forgiveness and be renewed to God! Once we realize our backsliding, we can experience godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10) and turn away from any deception we've fallen into. We can have God heal us!
"I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them." Hosea 14:4
It's so important to stay grounded in Him. It's so important to accept only the truth. We need to cling to that which is good (Romans 12:9) and resist any deception the devil tries to subject us to (James 4:7). That's how we avoid a reprobate mind. That's how we continue on in the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).
If we seek His Kingdom--living in it and bringing other into it--before anything else, we will stay safe. We can enjoy a sound mind and a fruitful life. We can stay in perfect peace(Isaiah 26:3). We can live within the Kingdom, and then have grace given to us to receive more and more freedom. We can experience the joy of a mind stayed on our Lord and a lifestyle that pleases Him.
We need to retain God in our knowledge. What does this mean? It means we need to make Him our focus and our life, or else we are at risk for deception. We need to do everything to the glory of God. And we have to want to do this, which means we need to die to ourselves. Our own desires and distractions can make us forget God.
"The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity." Luke 8:14
When things of God have been pushed aside in our lives, we are in danger of losing our spiritual inheritance. We are in danger of never seeing God's goodness become real to us. We have lost our passion for the only thing that really counts--the reality of God's Love for total salvation. The enemy can then come in and make us believe a lie. And God allows this.
"So I let them go after the stubbornness of their heart, that they might walk in their own counsels." Psalm 81:12
If we have shown God that we want to run after the world, then He will probably let us, at least for a time. He honors free will, and He gives us over to whatever we want most. Often our own desires have been influenced by other things. And more often then not, those influences come from the devil. Sinful desires comes from the world, where darkness has set up it's rule--the world is in nature contrary to God (John 15:19). Our own desires often lead towards idolatry, and God allows us to run after darkness.
Micaiah said, "Therefore, hear the word of the LORD. I saw the LORD sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left. "The LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab to go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?' And one said this while another said that. "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' The LORD said to him, 'How?' And he said, 'I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.' Then He said, 'You are to entice him and also prevail. Go and do so.' 1 Kings 22:19-22
How does this work? If people want to follow a lie, then God gives them one. God allows deception to sneak in. God is sovereign, and He actually allows for other spirits to come in and make us fall for our own desires. He gives us over to a reprobate spirit--something that deceives us so we can continue on in following ourselves. These spirits try to entice us into falsehoods and darkness.
If we accept anything that is not grounded in the Word and the Spirit, then we may allow these spirits to give us a reprobate mind. If we fall for their deception, they will begin to affect our minds. They will cause us to do things which are not convenient. They will take away any fruitfulness that we have, because true fruit comes only from the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22). We will begin doing things that do not serve God or His purposes. These things may not even serve ourselves. They will, however, serve the enemy and cause some amount of inconvenience--some amount of confusion.
For a long time, I did not understand why God would ever allow this sort of thing to happen. But it's His intent to make us stumble enough to know that we need to return. When we hit rock bottom, that's when we can realize our mistake. That's when we realize that we've become an enemy of God. That's when the Lord gives us eyes to see--eyes to comprehend that we've reaped what we've sown. Eyes to see that we deserve the deception handed to us. That's when we can humble ourselves and repent. That's when we can enjoy total forgiveness and be renewed to God! Once we realize our backsliding, we can experience godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7:10) and turn away from any deception we've fallen into. We can have God heal us!
"I will heal their waywardness and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them." Hosea 14:4
It's so important to stay grounded in Him. It's so important to accept only the truth. We need to cling to that which is good (Romans 12:9) and resist any deception the devil tries to subject us to (James 4:7). That's how we avoid a reprobate mind. That's how we continue on in the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).
If we seek His Kingdom--living in it and bringing other into it--before anything else, we will stay safe. We can enjoy a sound mind and a fruitful life. We can stay in perfect peace(Isaiah 26:3). We can live within the Kingdom, and then have grace given to us to receive more and more freedom. We can experience the joy of a mind stayed on our Lord and a lifestyle that pleases Him.
