Romans 1:21-23 (ESV)
21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
The Mind of the Natural Man
When we live in the Christian world we can, often, forget that those who do not know Christ and do not accept the Gospel of Christ (His death, burial and resurrection), have a different way of thinking. They have that natural man’s mind. In the above passage we see the first portion of a long address about the natural man’s mindset. Because he refuses to believe in Christ, the natural man:
1. Becomes “futile” in their thinking.
2. Becomes “drained” in their hearts.
3. Becomes “foolish” in their hearts.
4. Becomes “claiming to be wise” but are fools.
5. Becomes idolatrous - “exchanging the glory of God for .... (idols).
Paul actually goes on and list more and more outcomes of the natural man’s thought process. Those thoughts lead to corrupt actions. When we are born again by putting our faith in Christ, we recognize the world differently. God changes our mindsets. But, we fail to realize that the natural man has no reference for God or for Godly things. Their minds, once they reject Christ, become corrupt and only think of ways to worship the creation and not the creator. A man without the power of the gospel has a mind that is limited in nature. He can’t think about the things of God. He can only thing think of ways to fulfill the hole in his heart with what God created. He refuses to honor and worship the Creator. That is the natural man’s thinking.
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