Results of the Wrath of God: Romans 1:26-27 Introduction Having introduced the theme of the revelation of the wrath of God and having given the reasons for the wrath of God, o We are now in the segment of Romans 1 that deals with the results of the wrath of God. We have been observing, through Paul s eyes, the progression of sin. o First men suppressed the truth about God. As a result, when they begin to act as if there was no God, their foolish hearts become darkened. The foolishness of denying God o becomes a spiritual affliction on humanity, particularly on the heart of man, which is immersed in darkness. Because they rejected God, o because they turned their back on the light of the truth of God, they are relegated to walk in darkness. The next step in that progression is idolatry. o Men choose to worship the creation over the creator. They worship idols made in the image of God s creation. Idols that cannot hear them, cannot see them, and cannot impart to them a moral code for life. Ultimately the worship of idols leads to an obsession with themselves. o A mentality prevails that says, I will do whatever seems right and feels good to me. At this stage, man has become his own moral judge. o The next natural step in that progression is sexual immorality. First in the name of idol worship men begin to promote and practice illicit sexual encounters. However, what is born in the temples of false gods, eventually finds its way into the fabric of society All restraint, in regards to human sexuality, is stripped away. They exchanged the truth of God for the supreme lie, o The lie that something anything could take the place of God. And they worshiped the creature more than the Creator. That brings us to the next step in this downward progression: From sexual immorality, sin leads man to sexual perversion. o I stressed last week that we were talking about natural acts of sexual immorality. o But, with the next two verse, we move into the realm of the unnatural.
The passage that we will look at this morning explicitly describes homosexual behavior for both women and men. o And, just as clearly as it identifies this behavior, it also categorizes it as sin. It does not indicate that his is a genetic trait or that it is natural for some people. Instead, Paul labels all homosexual activity as vile, unnatural, and shameful. o In Paul s words, this goes against nature. Nature itself bears witness that homosexuality is sinful. In nature, the sexual drive exists for the sake of reproduction. The sexual relationship also helps to unite husband and wife in a lifelong marriage. This in turn creates the family unit and fulfills God s original purpose in creating the woman as a companion and helper to the man. o Homosexuality, on the other hand, provides for none of these things. From the biblical point of view, homosexuality is unnatural and it is wrong. Let me clarify, this does not mean that an individual who has been involved in that lifestyle is more evil than any other sinner o Or that they cannot be saved by the grace of God. Quiet the contrary. We are talking about sin and sinful behaviors. All of the sins mentioned in this chapter condemn a soul. And everyone of them can be washed away by the precious blood of Jesus! We are living at a time in American culture, where it is socially taboo to speak against this kind of behavior and call it sin. o However, our objective here is to preach and teach every passage of the book of Romans. The word of God trumps culture. The word of God trumps political correctness. If it comes right down to it, the word of God trumps manmade laws. o So, this morning, we are going to tell it just like the Bible says it. It is not a message of judgment or condemnation. It is a message about sin, but ultimately it is the message that there is a savior who saves men and women from sin! There is still freedom at the cross of Calvary!
Text: Romans 1:26-27 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. For this cause God gave them up. This is the second week, in a row, that our text has started with this kind of statement. o God gave them up. o We said last week that this represents an escalation. o It is the next downward step. Man rejected God. Then man exalted idols. And God gave them up to sexual immorality. Now that arena of depravity has run its course in their lives. For this cause, because they still aren t satisfied, they still are seeking ways to replace God in their lives, God gives them up again. This time he gives them up to sexual perversion. When man discards moral law, eventually nothing seems wrong to him. o When man has indulged in his natural, sinful lusts without restraint, eventually he explores unnatural lusts to satisfy his jaded appetite. o Widespread heterosexual impurity in a society eventually leads to homosexuality. That is the next downward step in this progression. To give them up actually means to hand them over. o God handed them over to the power of sin. God gives them up to the control of the very things that they desire, the things that they preferred over God. God will not violate man s will o and force him to do something he does not want to do. When men refuse to worship him And instead worship the creature over the creator, He releases them to sin. o He gives them the freedom that they desire. He removes any barrier to sin, he removes any inhibition against what they were doing,
he allows them the freedom to pursue their hearts desire. But this freedom is really the freedom to be in bondage. o It is the freedom to be bound by sin. Here we see, for the second time in this progression, the sad statement: o God gave them over. This time he gave them over to sexual perversion or vile affections. Unto vile affections. The word affections is from a Greek word meaning an affection or a passion. o The word vile is from a Greek word meaning dishonor, humiliation or disgrace. In Greek thought, o to honor someone means that you evaluate their worth and you give them the respect that they deserve. o To dishonor someone means that you have either, unintentionally undervalued them and not given them the respect that they deserve. Or that you recognize that they deserve respect but you still refuse to give it to them. o That is dishonor. This is the way Paul characterizes homosexual behavior: o Passions of dishonor. This tells us something important. o The passions controlling that kind of behavior are passions that have caused men and women to put an incorrect estimate on the sacredness, dignity, and purity of their own bodies because they have not recognized the value of their own body Or because they have chosen to ignore the value of their own body o They use it in a way that dishonors it. o At the heart of sexual perversion lies the sad truth that men and women have failed to see the value of their own bodies. They have dishonored themselves. o God made you. You are his creation. There is value in who and what you are.
But this kind of behavior denies the purpose for which God made you o It denies the very plan of your creator And it is dishonorable because, in order to engage in this kind of behavior, o one has to put a lower valuation on themselves than God has placed on them. You have to think lower of yourself than God thinks of you! Let me point something out here, before we move on. o We said, in the beginning, that man was made for worship. We are religious beings. We were made to worship God. o This truth is abundantly evident in the history of humanity. Even when man rejects God, he must worship something. That is what we were made for. We were made to worship. Even the atheist worships scientific thought and knowledge, elevating it to the level of a deity. We all worship something! o But we weren t made just to worship something. We were made to worship God. Man was made for God. o Sin perverted that. The first step in this downward progression was the rejection of God. Man, who was made to worship God, instead chose to worship something else. He used utilized that innate need to worship but wasted it on powerless, ineffective, idols. o In a spiritual sense, sin has perverted the relationship between God and Man. Man has turned away from that which he was made for. And has sought to satisfy that inner need to worship Through other avenues, which he was not made for! Sin perverted the act of worship. That s what sin does. Without being too graphic, let me say that man and woman were made for each other. o After sin perverted, in a spiritual sense, the reason why man was made,
It then perverted, in a physical sense, the purpose for which his body was made. Man was made to worship God. o Instead man dishonored the very purpose for which he was made, by worshipping lesser things. He devalued his own worship. He dishonored himself spiritually. o Now we come to the place where he dishonors himself physically. Neglecting the purpose for which he was made. He refuses to see the value in himself. And instead pursues that for which he was not made. o So the physical follows after the spiritual. What is being acted out in the flesh Is what has already been acted out in the spirit. Sin is driving man further and further away from God And step-by-step is perverting the purpose for which he was made. For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. Paul makes a key point here, in regards to homosexual behavior. o First of all he makes a subtle but important change in the language of what he is saying. o It doesn t show up real well in the English translation but in these two verses Paul moves away from the words that are normally used for men and women and, instead, uses the words that indicate gender: males and females o By doing so, he sets up his point. Hes not just talking about men and women Hes talking about males and females Homosexual behavior is unnatural. This kind of perversion is uniquely human. o It has no counterpart in nature. o God made males and females throughout the whole system of biology. o And nature, itself, demonstrates the natural union that was intended. Paul says, The females changed their natural use into that which is against nature o By using the word female, he is calling on the witness of nature.
o Not just women, but all females, in all of nature, have a natural use for their bodies. o And that natural use has been perverted by sin only in the human race. And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman. Again, the word here is males. o And again the argument here is taken from nature. o Males leave the natural use of the females. Burned in their lust one toward another. The Greek word for burned literally means to burn out or to be totally consumed. o It is a very intense term that describes the drive or intensity of desire that compels men and women into these unnatural unions. It was an all-out effort to satisfy their depraved nature. o Sin has perverted, each step of the way. But sin has not satisfied them That is why the progression continues. Because with each downward step Man recognizes that his desire still isn t satisfied. There is a God-sized hole in his heart and nothing will satisfy it but God. But man, in his depraved state, refuses to recognize God o So with an intensity that Paul likens to a raging fire that consumes everything Man throws all reservation aside and pursues dishonorable passions in a misguided effort to satisfy the longing of his soul. Men with men working that which is unseemly. The Greek word for unseemly refers to immodesty or shamefulness. o What they are doing, Paul says, is shameful. And receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. Paul s last words in verse 27 are the most frightful of all. o In a simple sense, recompense means a penalty but it conveys a deeper meaning. It means a penalty that is equal to the offense. o That meaning is underscored by the final phrase, which was meet. That word meet implies that which was necessary. Or in this case that which the law demanded. If the penalty for murder is death then if a murder is sentenced to death
he has received the reward for his error o that law demanded. o That is what the language of this verse conveys. There is a penalty for this kind of behavior that is equal to the offense and that is demanded by the law of God. o What is the penalty? Paul doesn t spell it out. Only that it is equal to the offense and it is necessary. But, here s the good news: o Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 6:9 that practicing homosexuals, along with a whole lot of other sinful people will not enter the kingdom of God. o But he went on to say (1 Cor. 6:11), Such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. o Make no mistake about it, according to Paul, practicing homosexual cannot inherit the kingdom of God o BUT former homosexuals can. o When any sinner, repents of their sin and is washed in the blood of the lamb in the name of the Lord Jesus, and is filled with the power of the Holy Ghost, they are numbered among the people of God! Close To sum things up. o The entire character of mankind is determined by what he does with God. o Sin cannot just take man captive. o Sin s reign in the life of a man is determined by his disposition towards God. o If man honors God, worships God and walks with God, sin has no hold on him. o But when man rejects God, then he submits himself to the power of sin. o One thing to note here is that throughout the passage man is represented as active seeing, thinking, doing. o He is not represented as victimized or as taken captive against his will. o In each step along this progressive trail of sin, Sin comes from the mind of man.
o It is conceived there, before it is acted out in the flesh. Philippians 2:5 - Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: If you want to overcome sin in your life, it begins in your mind. o Let the mind be subject to Jesus. o Let that same mind that was in Christ, reign in you. o When think right about sin, you will never engage in it. o Perhaps we need to pray that God would help us think right.