Romans 1:28 states, “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.”
Sin breeds more sin. When people sin and refuse to repent, their consciences are seared, which leads to more and more sin and increasing depths of depravity until God turns them over to their blackened hearts.
Romans goes on to give this warning: “Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Romans 1:32).
People know such depravity (sexual sin being the immediate context) is evil, but they not only do it, they approve of others doing it. And the nation of Canada has just put this on display for the world with a 5-4 decision made by their Supreme Court. The decision ruled that it’s unconstitutional to impose “one-year mandatory minimum jail sentences for accessing or possessing child sexual abuse and exploitation materials.”
The justices argue this mandatory minimum sentence, “remove[s] judges’ discretion to impose sentences other than imprisonment when appropriate.” The example they gave was an 18-year-old—an adult—receiving and keeping an explicit photo of a friend’s 17-year-old girlfriend. Because the girlfriend is underage, he’s possessing child pornography materials and, if found guilty, faces a one-year jail sentence. The court argued this hypothetical, but plausible, situation deserves a more lenient punishment, and therefore it struck down the one-year minimum jail sentence.
It’s worth noting that such a hypothetical is not what was in question with the case that made it all the way to the Supreme Court. Rather, it was a case involving two men possessing “hundreds of images of children as young as three being severely abused.” Such a disgusting, depraved case has now resulted in the minimum one-year jail sentence being overturned!
This is just another example of the government warming up to sexual sin and downplaying the seriousness of sexual depravity and child sexual abuse (along with “sexting” and keeping explicit images of others—and without their consent!). It’s the first soft steps toward Romans 1:32, approving of those who practice such evils. It happens when man rejects God and then succumbs to his own sinful, wicked heart! (Jeremiah 17:9).
I’ve been saying for years that pedophilia is the next sexual sin to be normalized, because if people are “born this way” and sexual desires are neither good nor bad and just an innate part of who you are, then who can tell a pedophile that his “natural attraction” is wrong? It’s the logical application of the LGBTQ worldview. And it’s a monstrous evil that destroys people created in the image of God (sexual sin destroys—that’s why God’s Word has so much to say about it!).
The God-instituted purpose of the government is to promote good and punish evil (Romans 13:1–7), but the people groan when wicked people lead and exchange good for evil and evil for good. We will only see more such groaning as nations reach further levels of depravity, having long left the authority of God’s Word.
When people reject God’s Word as the absolute authority and then determine truth for themselves, ultimately anything goes (Judges 21:25).
