“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)
It could be considered an instinct, but only in the strictest sense of the word, not instinct as animals are created with. In the wild no animal needs to be trained in what it is supposed to live as, birds are not taught to migrate, nor a bear to hibernate, it is in their making by the Lord, they live by instincts.
An instinct in the case of our opening verse in this short letter to you would infer a knowledge that cannot be questioned or denied, it is an ingrained fixture within each of us, the knowledge that there is a God in heaven. Man modifies this knowledge though to fit his own desires, he superimposes, as it were, his makeup of what and who God is, and most generally it is a god that serves him, or at least allows him to live as he desires. The topic though is not so much of this truth that lives within each of us, but in this verse, “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)
It is that reprobate mind that I bring to your attention for contemplation today, the mind that the Lord has allowed to go the way it chooses, without any interceding from Him. As much as I am currently able to Spiritually discern, the truth is dogmatic, each of us knows it, God indeed does exist, and so by default, those who have been released, if you will, to do as they please, to live under that reprobate mind, knowing the truth deny it willfully and with intent. In much simpler terms, they know, but they do not care.
I do not believe that any of these we speak of are ever fully able to completely disavow the Most High, for there is none with an excuse, so He is always by that instinct we mentioned within their thoughts, it cannot be, He cannot be removed, but they just don’t care. You will hear them call themselves atheists, agnostic to a degree, unbelievers in what they would consider a “higher power,” any manner of excuse, or in their phraseology, reasoning to annul that knowledge will be given. God has given them over to that reprobate mind, He has quit trying to reach them, they will not be called, and they will never seek Him.
They are the epitome, if you will, of Romans 3:11, “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” When God stops trying, there is no hope, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:44)
Yet there must be personal accountability in this area, for they are the ones that sought to be released from that instinct, God did not give them over to something they were not seeking, and what they were seeking they are allowed to attain, a life void of God and His grace.
Some of these may indeed still acknowledge that the Most High exists but will stand against His will not only in their own lives but attempt to dissuade all who will not believe as they do. You may, for contemplations sake only, consider that the first one that the Lord gave over to that reprobate mind was Lucifer, for he cannot be considered the father of lies unless we first come to the conclusion that he knew and realized truth.
Denying the truth that is God is the first step toward that reprobate mind, perhaps not that there is no God, though many have gone down that path, nor in the fact that He alone is Sovereign, but in the denial of His Sovereignty over us, or over any of His creation. Those who have been given over to that reprobate mind may indeed be those spoken of in Romans 9:22, “What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:” but this is wholly conjecture.
The statement that comes to mind here is apropos to the conversation, and I offer it also only for your contemplation, “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.”
