Reprobacy

Reprobacy (or reprobation) denotes the condition of being rejected by God — of having one's conscience and moral sensibility so thoroughly corrupted that divine judgment has been rendered irrevocable. The OT portrays the antediluvian world as wholly given to evil (Gen. 6:5–7) and Sodom as beyond reforming (Gen. 18:20; 19:13). Pharaoh's progressive hardening represents a reprobate state reached through prolonged resistance. Esau's sale of his birthright and subsequent inability to find repentance (Heb. 12:17) serves as a warning.

Paul's most explicit treatment is in Romans 1:18–32: three times God "gave them up" to the consequences of their idolatry and moral corruption — to "a debased (adokimon) mind" that no longer functions as a reliable guide to good and evil. The logic is judicial: those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness eventually lose the capacity to receive it. This is distinguished from election and reprobation as theological categories in the Calvinist tradition, which grounds the reprobate's condemnation in their own sin while attributing salvation entirely to God's mercy.