18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions; for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the males abandoned the natural function of the female and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them. Romans 1: 18-32 LSB
Romans 1: 20-
In other words, creation manifests God. And even for those who appear unable to perceive that creation there is the manifestation of God within them.
The great story of Helen Keller, the deaf, mute, and blind woman. Absolutely no capacity to communicate until Anne Sullivan spent hours upon hours, days upon days, and months upon months to unlock communication. And when Anne attempted to tell Helen Keller about God her response was, “I already know about Him. I just didn’t know His name.” J Mac
Through the creation of the world these things are not muddy but they’re what? Clearly seen, being easily understood by the things that are made. You say, “Well, in the time that the Bible was written people didn’t have science. I mean, could they see things?” Oh they could probably see some things clearer than we can see them. We’ve just about blotted out nature with concrete.
In ancient times before the microscope and the telescope, men were able to reflect on the vastness of the universe. They were able to understand the fixed order of heavenly bodies. They could pick up a flower and see how marvelously the petals were arranged. They could look at how the leaves attached themselves to the stem. They saw the cycle of the water as it evaporated into the clouds and was carried over the land and deposited.
They understood the mystery of human birth. They saw it. And they saw a growth. They knew the glory of a sunrise and the majesty of a sunset. They knew the rolling and the roaring of the seas, and the rushing of the rivers, and the trickle of a brook, and the flight of a bird, and the caterpillar that came out a butterfly.
And they looked up and saw what the Psalmist saw in chapter 19 when he said, “The heavens declare - ” what? “ - the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handywork.” They knew what the Psalmist had in mind also in Psalm 94:9. “He who planted the ear, shall he not hear? he who formed the eye, shall he not see?” In other words, they said, “If we can hear, then whoever made us must understand hearing. If we can see, He must see. If we can think, He must think. And you can carry it all the way out.
Sure they understood God. They understood about His nature from what they saw in their world. In Psalm 143:5 says the Psalmist, “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.” I sit here and I contemplate what You’ve done, he says. Even in the non-sophisticated world then by our standards, they sat in awe of the creation.
Look at Job. You just read through Job and see the staggering statements of that book about the creative power of God and the revelation of His nature. But just think about some things. Let me just tell you how you can see God in creation. Do you know that some birds navigate by the stars when they migrate? And do you know that if you raise birds, these kinds of birds, from eggs inside a building - they’ve never been out of the building - and if you show them an artificial sky - and this has been done in scientific experiment - representing a place their species have never been, they will immediately orient themselves to the proper place to which to migrate. Now you tell me how they know that.
There is a special fish that I’ve enjoyed reading about called the archerfish. It gets its food like all other fish. It just swims around, and opens its mouth, and takes its food. But they have the amazing ability to fire drops of water with great accuracy and knock insects out of the air.
And did you know that there is a little thing called the bombardier beetle who produces chemicals which mix perfectly and at the right moment explode in the face of his enemy, but the explosion never occurs prematurely and never blows him up?
Think about the hydrological cycle of water, which just absolutely staggers my mind. Water is lifted against gravity from the sea thousands of feet into the air, and there it is suspended, just suspended, collected in clouds, and then the clouds are floated over the land and they’re dropped.
Now we can’t invent a machine to do that, so God has one and it’s the sun, and it does it all an it’s only 93 million miles away. No wonder the Psalmist says, “Power belongs to God.” No wonder he says, “The greatness of his power.” No wonder Nahum says, “The Lord is great in power.” And Isaiah says, “The Lord God is everlasting strength.” And no wonder the Psalmist in chapter 65 says, “Who by his power establishes the mountains.”
You know scientists have always tried to say it’s all evolution and it’s all explained by certain circumstances, and so forth apart from God, but they’re really running out of the ability to say that. They’re fast losing their case.
Robert Jastrow, for example, who is an astrophysicist and currently the director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for space study says this. “Now we see how the astronomical evidence supports the biblical view of the origin of the world. The essential elements in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same. It wasn’t evolution at all,” says Jastrow. “It asks what cause produced this effect? Who or what put the matter or energy into the universe? And science cannot answer.”
He goes on, “For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance. He is about to conquer the highest peak, and as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who’ve been there for centuries.” J Mac
Vs. 20-23 Exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image - Some chose the image that looked most like them, that thought and behaved like they do in their fallen state. We have seen Zeus, filled with the passions of corruptible men, come down from Mt. Olympia to be with the mortal, Alcmene, and produce a demigod, Hercules. Some have made a god of their own minds, though they didn't create their mind. They say they are too smart, too enlightened to believe in a Designer above everything that looks designed. I have no problem believing that the God Who made me and my intellect is above by intellect and reason. Others have seen the beauty of nature, the power of the sun and worshiped the planets and constellations, or trees, serpents and even rats. We can't naturally deal with the otherliness of God in our fallen state, and so we make a god in our own image, who is in line with our desires.
…20You sit and malign your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. 21You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face. 22Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:… Psalm 50: 20-22
…19At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped a molten image. 20They exchanged their Glory for the image of a grass-eating ox. 21They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt,… Psalm 106: 19-21
…11Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols. 12Be stunned by this, O heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled,” declares the LORD. 13“For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot hold water.… Jeremiah 2: 11-13
Vs. 24-25 Therefore God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity - They didn't want the God Who was infinitely incorruptible, Who preexisted His creation. In their corrupt hearts they longed for things that went against His design. Man's quest for autonomy, thinking so highly of his own thoughts, has actually put him at odds with reality. The evidence of this in our culture is staggering. It is in man's very nature to believe in something or someone more knowing, and the longing for answers is unquenchable, but the heart wants what the heart wants, so any inconvenient truth is out of the question. Men will eventually design a god, like AI, in their own image, and consider it all wise. They don't comprehend the reality of sin, and so the consequences of sin are seen as problems or issues, presenting opportunities for compassionate resolutions. Men will forever chase symptoms rather than addressing sin. We have condoms, but sometimes that's too much of a bother so we also have abortion, which is really just a human sacrifice to the gods of our lusts and impurity.
…12Sidonians, Amalekites, and Maonites oppressed you and you cried out to Me, did I not save you from their hands? 13But you have forsaken Me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. 14Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you in your time of trouble.”… Judges 10: 12-14
God gave them over - This has to be one of the most frightening verses in the entire Bible. They refused light and instead loved darkness and consequently God gave them over to the power of darkness. Some see this (and I think rightly so) in part as an explanation of Ro 1:18 where "the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven". In this case God revealed His wrath, not by sending fire from heaven, but by abandoning sinful men to their lustful ways.
Newell offers an interesting comment…
This is deeper than the mere lusts of the flesh. Flesh has natural desires, which may or may not be yielded to. The lusts of the heart continue after the flesh is dissolved; and even when, in the tormented bodies of the damned, the lusts of the flesh cannot be conscious or controlling, “the lusts of the heart” will forever exist.(Romans 1 Commentary) - PA
…11But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me. 12So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. 13If only My people would listen to Me, if Israel would follow My ways,… Psalm 81: 11-13
…10and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. 11 For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, 12in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.… 2 Thessalonians 2: 10-12
Vs. 26-27 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions - In God's original intent and design He made the family, the basis for all societies. It was from this union, a man and a woman, that all humanity would come. We are all related in this, and when we return to God's design it is in repentance from our sinful passions. When we come back to His intent then ideas like racism, transgenderism, homosexuality and bestiality are all untenable. Since God is the Creator, He is also the Author of love, and He gets to decide what the definition of love is also.
…26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.” 27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”… Genesis 1: 26-28
From Paul's divinely inspired "pattern of moral devolution" here in Romans 1, notice how suppression and rejection of the knowledge of the true God [Ro 1:18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25] naturally "devolves" into worship of false gods and how this false worship in turn is intimately associated with the practice of sexual immorality in all forms! [Ro 1:24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32] Upshot? Knowledge of the one true and living God and growing intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ and His Spirit [Gal 5:16-see notes] in daily quiet times of worshipful fellowship are the BEST preventative measures and cures for so-called addiction to sexual immorality, better than all the Christian books and programs that are flooding the marketplace! Let us return to the "ancient paths", the "highway of holiness" and as Christian men begin to experience a freedom in this area that heretofore we never even thought was possible in light of the pervasive permeation of American culture by sensuality and sexual seduction.
G Handley Moule introduces this section writing that God...
As if animated by the word of benediction, he returns to denounce “the abominable thing which God hateth” with still more terrible explicitness. For this reason, because of their preference of the worse to the infinite Good, God gave them up to passions of degradation; He handed them over, self-bound, to the helpless slavery of lust; to “passions,” an eloquent word which indicates how the man who will have his own way is all the while a “sufferer,” though by his own fault: the victim of a mastery which he has conjured from the deep of sin. (Moule, C. G. Handley: The Epistle of St Paul to the Romans)
Gave...over (3860) (paradidomi from para = beside + didomi = to give so literally to give beside) is a very strong Greek verb meaning to hand someone over to the power and authority of another. It is that act of God whereby He hands over the entire human race for judgment because of their sins.
God gave them over - This is the second of three solemn uses of paradidomi in Romans 1. The restraint of God that might have kept people living in pure relationships with one another is now removed. This reverberating phrase "God gave them over" should put the fear of the Lord into the heart and mind of every thinking person. We may even be so deceived that we think we are in control but Sin always deceives (Heb 3:13, cp Pr 28:26, Is 44:20, Ro 7:11, Ep 4:22, James 1:14) and when we think we are not in the grips or power of sin we are completely deceived (when you are deceived you don't even realize your flawed state of mind).
John MacArthur explains God's giving...over writing that...
God’s giving over sinful mankind has a dual sense. First, in an indirect sense God gave them over simply by withdrawing His restraining and protective hand, allowing the consequences of sin to take their inevitable, destructive course. Sin degrades man, debases the image of God in which he is made, and strips him of dignity, peace of mind, and a clear conscience. Sin destroys personal relationships, marriages, families, cities, and nations It also destroys churches... Fallen men are not concerned about their sin but only about the pain from the unpleasant consequences sin brings. (cp Pr 28:13, Gal 6:7, 8) Someone has well said that sin would have fewer takers if the consequences were immediate....
In a second, direct sense God gave…over rebellious mankind by specific acts of judgment. The Bible is replete with accounts of divine wrath being directly and supernaturally poured out on sinful men. The flood of Noah’s day (Ge 6:5, 6, 7, 17ff) and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Ge 18:20, 19:24,25, 26), for example, were not indirect natural consequences of sin but were overt supernatural expressions of God’s judgment on gross and unrepented sin. God often allows men to go deeper and deeper into sin in order to drive them to despair and to show them their need of Him. (MacArthur, J: Romans 1-8. Chicago: Moody Press) - Precept Austin
…5They called out to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have relations with them!” 6Lot went outside to meet them, shutting the door behind him. 7“Please, my brothers,” he pleaded, “don’t do such a wicked thing!… Genesis 19: 5-7
…22You must not lie with a man as with a woman; that is an abomination. 23You must not lie carnally with any animal, thus defiling yourself with it; a woman must not stand before an animal to mate with it; that is a perversion. 24Do not defile yourselves by any of these practices, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have defiled themselves.…
…25Even the land has become defiled, so I am punishing it for its sin, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants. 26But you are to keep My statutes and ordinances, and you must not commit any of these abominations— neither your native-born nor the foreigner who lives among you. 27For the men who were in the land before you committed all these abominations, and the land has become defiled.…
…28So if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it spewed out the nations before you. 29Therefore anyone who commits any of these abominations must be cut off from among his people. 30You must keep My charge not to practice any of the abominable customs that were practiced before you, so that you do not defile yourselves by them. I am the LORD your God.”… Leviticus 18: 22-30
…4If you see your brother’s donkey or ox fallen on the road, you must not ignore it; you must help him lift it up. 5A woman must not wear men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing, for whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD your God. 6If you come across a bird’s nest with chicks or eggs, either in a tree or on the ground along the road, and the mother is sitting on the chicks or eggs, you must not take the mother along with the young.… Deuteronomy 22: 4-6
…8Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, even against your own brothers! 9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who submit to or perform homosexual acts, 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.… 1 Corinthians 6: 8-10
…17No daughter or son of Israel is to be a shrine prostitute. 18You must not bring the wages of a prostitute, whether female or male, into the house of the LORD your God to fulfill any vow, because both are detestable to the LORD your God. 19Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan.… Deuteronomy 23: 17-19
Vs. 28-32 But also give hearty approval to those who practice them - This perfectly describes the present age. Our festivals, television, radio, even some churches, which should be the heralds of God's warning, all reflect the spirit of an age where you are far more likely to be punished for telling the truth. We have moved from protecting women and children to protecting predators who pretend to be women and those that traffic children. It is a delusional time. People now believe that they can shape a reality by getting others to acknowledge that what they are saying is true, and people are easily led by the crowd, so even against the facts they will mostly reinforce the delusion. Some will hold out for a while until they become too afraid of the consequences of standing up to the mob. They will slander you, chastise you, you may lose your job, so most compromise.
Epiginosko in Ro 1:32 is in the aorist tense which indicates that they had been effectively made aware of God's ordinance. These men have a full experiential knowledge not only that the things they practice are wrong but also that they themselves are deserving of death. They know this is God’s verdict, however much they seek to rationalize or even legalize these sins (cp states sanctioning gay marriage in the United States!). But this knowledge does not deter them from indulging in these forms of ungodliness (which speaks to the power of the fallen flesh!) In fact these truth rejecters unite with others to promote ungodly behavior and feel a sense of camaraderie with their partners-in-sin.
Albert Barnes writing about their knowledge of God's ordinance says that this is substantiated by the secular writings - Livy says of the age of Augustus, in some respects the brightest period of the Roman history, "Rome has increased by her virtues until now, when we can neither bear our vices nor their remedy." (Preface to his History.) Seneca, one of the purest moralists of Rome, who died A. D. 65, says of his own time, "All is full of criminality and vice; indeed much more of these is committed than can be remedied by force. A monstrous contest of abandoned wickedness is carried on. The lust of sin increases daily; and shame is daily more and more extinguished. Discarding respect for all that is good and sacred, lust rushes on wherever it will. Vice no longer hides itself. It stalks forth before all eyes. So public has abandoned wickedness become, and so openly does it flame up in the minds of all, that innocence is no longer seldom, but has wholly ceased to exist," Seneca de Ira, ii. 8. Further authorities of this kind could be easily given, but these will show that the apostle Paul did not speak at random when he charged them with these enormous crimes. (Romans 1) - PA
…17For you hate My instruction and cast My words behind you. 18When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers. 19You unleash your mouth for evil and unharness your tongue for deceit.… Psalm 50: 17-19
…2But they fail to consider in their hearts that I remember all their evil. Now their deeds are all around them; they are before My face. 3They delight the king with their evil, and the princes with their lies. 4They are all adulterers, like an oven heated by a baker who needs not stoke the fire from the kneading to the rising of the dough.… Hosea 7: 2-4
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