As we learned in our last issue, since the time of Babylon, all Gentile world powers have been portrayed and symbolized in Scripture as beasts. Not only have they sought God’s glory for themselves, but they have also opposed and oppressed God’s people.

In addition, all of the enemies of God, Christ and the church are also portrayed and symbolized throughout Scripture as beasts. These enemies include the devil, demons, the Pharisees, false prophets, false teachers, the depraved, and the reprobate—those so hardhearted that God has given them up to depravity.

When it comes to the reprobate, it is of no little significance that they are not only portrayed in Scripture as beasts—“swine” and “dogs”—but also as having exchanged the worship of “the uncorruptible God” for the worship of “images” of “corruptible beasts” (Romans 1:23). This point will soon prove to be most salient, when we look at the Book of Revelation’s characterizing of the reprobate world of the end time as being caught up in the “worship of the image of the beast” (Revelation 13:14-15; 14:9-11; 16:2; 19:20). Today, however, we’ll begin the first of three articles on the road of the reprobate.

Romans 1:18-32 is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing and disturbing passages of Scripture in the whole Bible. Here, the Apostle Paul explains to us the road of the reprobate; that is, the steps one takes in order to cross God’s deadline and seal their eternal fate.

Paul begins this passage with these words, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” Notice, Paul attributes the suppression of the truth to “unrighteousness.” What is truth? Jesus said it is simply God’s Word (John 17:17). Thus, according to Paul, the reason men reject the truth of God’s Word is because they are unrighteous; they are simply not right with God.

Today, many hide behind intellectualism in their denial of God’s Word. They claim that their rejection of the Bible is precipitated by modern-day science and scholarship. However, the Bible teaches that it has nothing to do with intellectualism, but everything to do with iniquity. They don’t reject the Scriptures because they are scholars and smart, but because they are sinners and sinful.

This is the first step on the road of the reprobate, the step of sinfully suppressing the truth of God’s Word. It is taken when one pats himself on the back for being smart enough to spurn the “antiquated” Scriptures. Once this step is taken, one finds himself in league with “the serpent,” who “was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.” Remember, it was the serpent that tempted our original parents to live by their own wits (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) rather than by God’s Word (the tree of life). Ever since that darkest of days, men have been repeating Adam and Eve’s dastardly deed and making the same fatal mistake—believing themselves smarter than God.

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