Deception is Birthed
There is no more serious matter than when deception becomes
so ingrained in one’s thinking that it assumes the posture and place of genuine
reality. This is the outcome when one relies
so totally upon his or her own mental content and process that there is little
room for outside interference and thus intervention. 
Most certainly mental-intellectual function is comprised of
at least two separate but related elements. First
there is the content—those things one learns and/or experiences.
Such is than gathered into a set or sets of data or facts.
Second, there is the process or how one acts upon the content.A breakdown in either area, if left unchecked will result in the most dire of outcomes. Pushed out to its eventual ends, that breakdown will result in one who is so deceived that the “false” has become the “genuine” and the "genuine" then becomes the "false."
Falsehood Leads Away From the Genuine
Said another way, this is the condition of the person who has come to believe a “falsehood” so thoroughly and deeply that it has gained a measure of control over that person’s life. Thus there is no volitional capability to question the content or processes of that belief. Such belief then assumes the great power of reality. Now to be sure it may not be genuine reality but it assumes the posture of the genuine and the power thereof.
What is the outcome? Right
and correct belief has the power to lead to greater and deeper insights into
reality. Wrong and incorrect belief has
the power to lead into greater and deeper deception and in doing so leads one
away from genuine truth.
Exclusive Truth
However, at this point an interesting dynamic begins to
unfold. It is that of superior exclusive
truth. That is to say the one caught in
this trap begins to make exclusive truth claims to the point that such a person may even
claim superior understanding(s) that are not available to others.
Illogical Logic Then Isolates
As the process continues to deepen, such an one begins to invest much in such “false” reality that it becomes logical. Now it may not be logical to others but it is to that person. The outcome is that person becomes isolated in their illogical notions. However, once again the process does not end there but continues on.
That “truth,” as false as it is has becomes so real that it
now is the paradigm, through which life is viewed. An attendant outcome is that the one who
holds such “false” reality can no longer see nor embrace genuine truth. Thus there is no challenge and therefore
nothing to hold at bay, the ever deepening decent into deception.
A Sobering Warning to All
While this is not the sum of all the Apostle Paul had to say
on the matter in Romans 1, it certainly is a part of that of which he wrote as
directed by the Spirit of the Lord. Such
a warning is not limited to those who reject the notion of God but to all who
deal in that which is not genuine. Thus
it should be a sobering warning to all. 
