Does God Give Up On People?
Romans 1:24-32
Good morning. Please open your Bibles to Romans 1.
We’ve been in a passage of the New Testament that is difficult for a lot of people to process. A few years ago, a campus ministry group at a large university in the United Kingdom printed the words of Romans 1:18-32 on a flyer which they handed out on campus. They updated the language of the King James Version so that it read as though it was composed in the 21st century. They printed it without verse numbers or citations—no evidence that it came from Scripture.
It didn’t take long before the leaders of the campus ministry group were called before the administration. They were told in no uncertain terms that they would be disciplined for distributing offensive literature, bordering on hate speech. And the administration demanded the students reveal the name of the author of this offensive leaflet. Was he a student? Give us his name. He may be subject to expulsion.
Sinclair Ferguson never said the name of the university. But it would not surprise me at all if it had been founded on Christian principles. After all, most of the world’s great universities—Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Harvard—all had their start as training academies for young men preparing for the ministry. I’ve shared with you before that Harvard’s original mission statement, when it was founded in 1636, was
“Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the end of his life and studies is to know God and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, and therefore to lay Christ in the bottom, as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning.
I imagine a lot of secular people would look at the world’s universities as they are now and applaud how much they have evolved. How much more enlightened they are compared to the puritanical or even medieval values of their founders.
But the picture the apostle Paul paints in Romans 1 is not of an evolved people rising to greater and greater heights, but a debased people, sinking to lower and lower depths.
Not, “look how far we’ve come,” but “look how far we’ve fallen.”
Not how enlightened they are, but, as we talked about a couple of weeks ago, how much their “foolish hearts have become darkened” (Romans 1:21)
And as those campus ministry leaders discovered at this unnamed British university, there aren’t many passages of Scripture that show the divide between a God-centered worldview and what has been labeled secular humanism than the passage we study this morning.
And it’s important for us to wrestle with today, because there has probably been no time in history where the pressure to accept as normal and natural what the Bible calls abnormal and unnatural has been more intense.
Romans 1:26-27 is probably the clearest and straightforward statement in the entire Bible that same sex relationships violate God’s plan and are subject to God’s judgment.
And so I think the reason the pressure is so intense is because this isn’t just an abstract issue. This isn’t like one of the early church councils where church leaders debated what books would be considered part of the Bible, or the nature of Jesus as fully God and fully man. While those issues are monumentally important, they are also abstract and academic.
Think about it this way: the percentage of people in the United States who identify as LGBT is somewhere between 4 amd 6 per cent. A Gallup poll from February 2021—almost exactly a year ago—put the number at 5.6%
Which means that almost everyone in this room either knows someone who identifies as gay. Many of you have a family member who identifies as gay. And if the numbers are to be believed, in a crowd this size, there would be between 8-9 people who have either experienced same sex attraction or identify as LGBT.
And so you feel the pressure as a loving, compassionate Christian human being to think maybe the Bible doesn’t really mean what it says about same sex relationships. Or maybe the way we understand loving, monogamous LGBT relationships is different from what Paul was describing.
Or, what we often do is keep talking about it as “an issue” without talking about real live, flesh and blood friends and coworkers and neighbors and sons and daughters and aunts and uncles.
As long as its just “an issue,” we can stay on our soapbox and keep making pronouncements about how our culture is going to hell, and never have to think about friends and coworkers and neighbors and sons and daughters and aunts and uncles going to hell.
So this morning, I want you to leave here knowing exactly what Paul says in Romans 1 about the sin of homosexuality. But I also want you to see it in the bigger context of what Paul says in Romans 1. And I want to do this without ever losing sight of the fact that people we know and love are facing God’s judgment for their sin.
Most importantly, I want you to understand that while Paul certainly doesn’t ignore the sin of homosexuality, he doesn’t isolate it either. We sometimes think that Romans 1 is describing the downward spiral of culture, and that the rock bottom of the slide is same sex relationships. What you’ll see in Romans is that homosexuality isn’t the last thing on the list. It’s not the only thing on the list. And I would argue that it’s not even the worst thing on the list. So let’s pray, and then get into what Paul teaches in the second half of Romans 1
[pray]
Now, you remember from a couple of weeks ago that after Paul describes the gospel as “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
He then launches into his indictment of the entire human race, but he does it in reverse order—the Greek first, and also to the Jew. This is probably because the church in Rome was a majority Gentile congregation.
Just to review, Paul’s argument is that everyone needs Jesus because everyone has rejected God, and therefore everyone is under the wrath of God. Verse 20—ever since the creation of the world, God’s invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived from the things that have been made, so they are without excuse.
But even though all humankind knows this inherently, we all have suppressed that truth (verse 18) and refuse tp honor God or give thanks to him. Instead, we’ve exchanged the glory of immortal God for idols.
We ended two weeks ago by saying that the biggest idol of all is ourselves. And that’s where we pick up this morning. Look at verse 24:
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
Now, does anyone else think that verse 25 is a weird place for an “Amen?”
They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and serve the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.
Amen.
What’s up with that? Well, Amen is actually a Greek word. The Greek word for Amen is amen. And it means that something is fixed. It’s settled. It’s true. The reason “amen” became the last word in a prayer is because “amen” is the last word, period. It’s like the Mandalorian saying “This is the Way.” To say amen is to say something is fixed, true, established, unalterable, irrevocable. It is so. So be it. Let it be fulfilled.
And so if you are wondering what “the truth about God” is that people reject, its that God is the creator, and you are the creature. Amen.
And if God is the Creator, that means that God gets the final say—God gets the amen—over the things He has created.
That’s why sexual sin is such a big deal to God. Because sexual sin is a violation of the design for which someone has been created. This is what Paul is saying before he ever gets to the verses about homosexuality. Look at verse 24:
When human beings reject God as the Creator, they immediately begin to trash His creation. God “gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.”
Sexual sin always, always degrades human beings. In Genesis 1, humans are the high point of God’s creation. After God has made everything else, He makes human beings, and pronounces them very good. He separates them from the animals, choosing human beings from among all His creation to rule over it, subdue it, name it, and take care of it. Human beings alone are described as being made in God’s image.
So what does sexual sin do? It comes along and says, you are no different from animals. You have animal instincts and urges. You weren’t meant to show restraint. Monogamy is unnatural.
No song put it better than “The Bad Touch: by the Bloodhound Gang, way back in 1999:
“You and me baby ain’t nothin’ but mammals, so let’s do it like they do on the Discovery Channel.”
God says in Psalm 8 that He has made man a little lower than the angels, and crowned us with glory and honor. He says that He has put all things under our feet.
But instead of being a little lower than the angels, sexual sin makes people even lower than the animals. Instead of crowning them with honor, verse 24 describes sexual sin as the dishomnoring of the human body.
Think about how pornography objectifies human beings. When you are watching porn, you’ve made the human being on the screen nothing more than an object—a thing—whose only purpose is to gratify your lust.
Most porn doesn’t even show people’s faces. There’s a psychological reason for that. If you show a woman’s face, someone might remember that they are a human being. Or worse, that they are someone’s daughter.
And so verse 24 says that God “gives them up” to sexual impurity. I want you to circle that phrase “gave them up,” because you’ll see it two more times in this passage. The Greek word is paradidomi. Various English translations translate it as “gave them up;” “gave them over;” “abandoned;” “delivered them.” It’s used often in the New Testament for when someone is arrested and “handed over” to the authorities. When someone is imprisoned, they are delivered up or handed over to imprisonment or enslavement. It’s used in the Gospels when Judas “betrayed” Jesus—he delivered him up to be crucified.
And this is what God does with people who reject Him. He removes His protection from them. He abandons them to their desires.
And at the end of the day, what we think is sexual freedom turns out to be bondage and enslavement.
Now, many people see a sort of downward spiral in Romans 1. And I think there is something to that. Because notice what happens from the first “God gave them up” in verse 24 to the second one, in verses 26-27:
Paul says in verse 26 that “it is”
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Do you notice what has happened here? We’ve moved from sexual impurity to sexual perversion. In verse 24, while it is still absolutely sin, it is what Thomas a Kempis called “natural sin”—men and women carrying normal heterosexual relationships to degrading and dehumanizing levels. It’s taking God’s good gift of sex between a man and a woman to sinful extremes.
But in verse 26, its no longer a degrading of natural sexual relationships. It is a perversion of natural sexual relationships. Paul says that women exchanged the natural use for that which is contrary to nature, and that men gave up the natural desire for women and burned in their lust for one another.
Now, let me present the argument from the other side. There are some liberal interpreters that push back on this idea of what is “natural” and what is “unnatural.” They say that what it really means is that it is a sin to go against your own nature. That Paul is describing someone who is biologically heterosexual, but has become so jaded and bored with straight sex that they begin to indulge in homosexual sex instead. And that this isn’t addressing someone who identifies as same sex attracted.
They say that Paul is talking about the rampant excesses of some of the Roman emperors who sexually abused boys as a display of their power or dominance, not about two people in a committed, monogamous relationship.
In response, I would simply say that Romans 1:26 doesn’t say that these women “went against their nature.” It says they went against nature.
Verse 27 doesn’t say that men were doing what was unnatural to them. It says they were doing what was unnatural.
The LGBT community says, “Well, who are you to tell me what is natural to me? I was born this way. God wouldn’t make me a certain way and then call it sin.”
And I am really, really sensitive to that. I was in chorus and drama in high school. I was around a lot of guys who did not fit the typical masculine stereotypes. Many of them, without a strong sense of identity in Christ, wound up saying, “Well, the world has labeled me in a certain way, so it must be true.” Many of them remain friends of mine to this day.
I know that there are some that either through biology (how they are wired) or biography (how they grew up) have concluded that they were “born gay.” And that God would not create someone in a certain way and then call it sin.
And on that point, I agree with the LGBT community. The difference is, they say, “Therefore, it’s not a sin.”
I say, “Therefore, you weren’t born this way.”
I also have someone that I would call a very good friend who was a speaker for the same Christian youth camp I used to work for. About a year after he came out, we went to lunch together, and he told me his story. He told me how much he had struggled with his sexuality. How much he had prayed that God would make him “not gay.” But how, when he was finally honest with who he was and who he felt God had created him to be, he was free.
Listen, I don’t pretend to be an expert on human sexuality, and if I’ve come across that way, I am sorry.
What I do feel like I have some expertise on is God’s Word. And on this issue, I think you go back to how Paul started this whole section: People exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen.
The truth about God is that He is the Creator. He created all things very good. And that includes you. That includes His design for sexuality. That includes Genesis 1: God created them male and female. And I would say with all the love in my heart to my friend, and to any human being who thinks God made a mistake when He made you in a certain way, God did not and does not make mistakes.
And any attempt you make to change God’s design for your body and God’s plan for your sexuality really comes down to your worshiping and serving the creature rather than the creator.
Again, that’s why the Amen is there.
And it is when we turn our back on the Creator and say, “You know what, I’m going to put myself in charge of creation. I am going to be the ultimate arbiter of what is right and wrong” that God “gives us up.” “Hands us over.”
First to the lusts of our hearts.
Then to dishonorable passions.
And then, finally, in verse 28, to a debased mind.
Like I said before, many people see a downward spiral in Romans 1. And I think there is some truth to that. I think it does show a progression of increasing levels of sin. And there are a number of Christian theologians throughout the centuries that have seen this too—from Thomas a Kempis to CS Lewis to James Montgomery Boice, just to name a few.
But contrary to what a lot of people think today, if there is a downward spiral in Romans 1, then homosexuality is not what is circling the bottom of the drain.
It’s not the first sin on the list.
It’s not the last sin on the list.
And I would argue, it’s not the worst sin on the list.
Verse 28 is the third “God gave them up” statement.
28 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.
The word “debased” can also be translated corrupt, reprobate, depraved, or disapproved. It’s the word adokimos—the negating participle “a” and the word “dokimos.” Dokimos was a word that meant “approved” or “accepted” It came from the world of banking. In the ancient world there no paper money. Coins were made from various precious metals. The molten metal was poured into moulds and allowed to cool. Once they were cooled, it was necessary to smooth off the uneven edges. And shady, unscrupulous moneychangers would often whittle them down more than what was necessary, to the point that the coins were no longer dokimos—acceptable, but adokimos—counterfeit. They had been debased to the point that they no longer had value.
More than eighty laws were passed in Athens to stop the practice of circulating adokimos coins. Because they were worthless. Even though they might look acceptable, the truth is that they were counterfeit. They had no value.
So follow me here. Paul first describes “natural” sin—God gave people up to sexual impurity. Then he describes “unnatural” sin—God gave people up to dishonorable passions.
Both of these are sins that look pretty obvious. You know when something is impure. If you are not personally tempted to same sex attraction, then the whole idea of it is repulsive to you.
And that’s why I think this adokimos mind—these counterfeit sins, are the last on the list, because I think they are the most subtle and insidious of them all. Look at the list:
29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
You’re like, James, do you really think envy and deceit and arrogance are worse than homosexuality? In terms of the consequences, no. Apart from the saving work of Christ, the porn addict and the homosexual and the arrogant gossip are all going to the same hell.
But the reason I say they are worse is because, just like those coins that have the edges shaved off every time the money changes hands, these sins erode away the edges of a Christian character. I guarantee there are people sitting in church this morning who feel guilty when they give in to sexual impurity. They are repulsed by what they see as sexual perversion.
But they don’t think twice about gossiping. They don’t give a second thought to their envy or covetousness. They think nothing of slandering someone. They wouldn’t hesitate to lie to protect their reputation.
This is why CS Lewis, when writing about Romans 1 said,
The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual. The pleasure of putting other people down, of bossing and patronizing and backbiting; the pleasure of power and hatred… between the animal self and the diabolical self, the diabolical self is the worst of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig who goes to church every Sunday may be far nearer to hell than the prostitute.
Look at verse 32:
32 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.
When Paul was writing to the church in Rome, the Roman Colosseum dominated the city skyline. In the Colosseum, thousands of people would gather to watch gladiators be torn apart by wild animals, or fight each other to the death. And the crowds would be whipped up into a frenzy.
And I think this is what Paul had in mind when he said people not only do these things, but they give approval to those who practice them.
• We cheer for the most arrogant athlete.
• We tune in to the most gossipy, slanderous talk shows or podcasts.
• We roll on the floor laughing at the most cynical, sarcastic, late night comedian.
• And the most arrogant, boastful, haughty, insolent, god-hating deceitful politician? We vote for him. We applaud him for having the guts to say what we are all thinking.
God help us. Though we know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, we not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
It’s a grim picture of a slide into deeper and deeper levels of sin. And the picture that is painted in Romans 1 is that the wrath of God is being poured out everyone who has exchanged the truth about God, and chosen to worship some creature—whether that be a musician, a film star, a politician, or even who we see in the mirror, rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen.
And Romans 1 ends with every one of us being given over to sexual sins, or dishonorable passions, or to a debased and counterfeit mind.
And maybe you are thinking, “And gospel means good news?”
Indeed it does. Because as much as we might think “give them over” means “give them up,” the good news of the gospel is that God is never going to give up on us.
In the Old Testament book of Hosea, God paints a similar picture to what we see in Romans 1. In chapter 11, God says,
11 When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
2 The more they were called,
the more they went away;
they kept sacrificing to the Baals
and burning offerings to idols.
Through the prophet Hosea, God talks about how he taught Israel to walk. He healed them. Verse 4 says he
4 I led them with cords of kindness,[a]
with the bands of love,
But in spite of all this, they refused to return to God. So he handed them over to the Assyrians. He says in verse 7,
7 My people are bent on turning away from me,
and though they call out to the Most High,
he shall not raise them up at all.
But the good news for Israel is that verse 7 is not the last word. Remember what “Amen” means? “Amen” means so be it. This is the final word.
And there’s no amen in Hosea 11. In the very next verse, God says,
8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim?
How can I hand you over, O Israel?
How can I make you like Admah?
How can I treat you like Zeboiim?
My heart recoils within me;
my compassion grows warm and tender.
The good news is that no matter how much we turn away from God, no matter how much we chase after sexual impurity or homosexual sin or debased attitudes toward other people, God is still pursuing us. God us still seeking to lead us with cords of kindness and bands of love.
I believe that’s why He hasn’t come back yet. I believe that’s why we have not experienced the final judgment. Because as 1 Peter says, God is patient with us, not wishing anyone to perish but all to come to repentance.
And he’s made a way, through Jesus Christ, for us to be in right relationship with us! Do you know how I know that God is never gonna give us up?
Because he gave up His son on our behalf. Flip over to Romans 8:31-32. There’s our word again. Paradidomi. Given over. Delivered. Handed over.
Only this time, God isn’t giving us over to our sin. He is giving His son over for our sin.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?
God may indeed give us over. But as long as we have breath, God is never gonna give you up. He is always pursuing. And he is pursuing you this morning.
