Honoring God: Romans 1:24-27 (Sermon)
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WELCOME
Good morning, church! It is great to be with you. What an honor. This is our fifth week in the book of Romans. We have arrived at a challenging text. Maybe one of the most in our series.
CONTEXT
If you missed the last few weeks, Romans is a letter from the apostle Paul to the church resident in Rome. The Christian population consisted of both Jewish and non-Jewish people. Over time, these two groups clashed. Paul responded to both, encouraging them to be united in their commitment to following Jesus. His letter was a call to everyone to “live together in the power of the gospel, for it saves everyone who believes.” As we unpack the sixteen chapters in Romans, we will discover that God invites us all to walk out our days in the strength of the great news about Jesus for our benefit and his renown.
TEXT
Now, I am going to have ________ read for us Romans Chapter 1, verses 24 through 27. Would you please stand with me in honor of God’s Word?
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 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. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 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. (Romans 1:24–27, ESV)
PRAYER
Thank you. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word. We need your help in understanding it and applying it. Please help us to live for you. Speak to each of us now by the power of the Spirit, we pray in Jesus’s name, amen. You may be seated.
STRUCTURE
As we look at the passage, it breaks down into two sections,
24–25 First, God gave people up to their lusts because they worshiped his creation, not him.
26–27: Second, God gave people up to their passions, resulting in retribution.
These points will be in the manuscript that we send out in our weekly email, called the Wednesday Gems. If you don’t get the email, you can fill out a connect card, contact the office, or scan the QR code in the bulletin [verify] to communicate your desire to be on the list.
MAIN IDEA
This passage communicates that a heart problem led to sexual one. From the broader context, dishonoring God devolved into dishonorable behavior. Paul described a people who flip the script, calling what is evil good and good evil. People suppressed the truth, lived for lies, and promoted others to do the same. It is almost as if Paul were talking about our day, but he wasn’t. Lust and same sex attraction have been temptations since the early days of human history. They were an issue in the days of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Paul. This subject matter touches most people. Some contend that Paul and the Bible were wrong. Others mishandle the text and use it to either justify hatred towards people who have same sex attraction, or license to sin. But God calls us to love one another, our neighbor, as well as our enemy. We want to be known for loving and being faithful to the Bible simultaneously. Those two things are not contradictory. We must preach courageously, unabashedly, graciously, and gently the truth of Scripture. If we don’t, shame on us. If you struggle with being judgmental or lustful, listen up. And may the Holy Spirit drive us back to Romans 1, verses 16 and 17, which communicate the power and hope of the good news concerning Jesus for all who believe.
VERSE 24
That being said, let’s look at the first Section, verses 24 and 25. What does verse 24 say?
“Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves” (Romans 1:24, ESV).
What did God turn people over to? [] Their lusts. What is that? One Greek dictionary defines lust this way: “to strongly desire to have what belongs to someone else and/or to engage in an activity which is morally wrong.” (Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 290.) Who hasn’t strongly desired what belongs to someone else? Who hasn’t engaged in something morally wrong? Anyone? Another word for this is to covet. However, in our passage, Paul went beyond describing coveting. He called these lusts “impure,” specifically involving the “dishonoring bodies.” Paul was talking about people who had sexual lusts that they acted on.
HONORING GOD
Before we explore further, what does honoring God with our bodies look like? What does God say about marriage, sexuality, and our drive? Please, turn to the first book in our Bibles, Genesis. Let’s look at the first couple of chapters. If you have a Bible, look at Chapter 2. If you don’t have a Bible, the words will be projected behind me. Look at verse 18 of Chapter 2. God said,
“It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:18–25, ESV)
Reading these verses, why did God bring the first man and woman together? He designed them for companionship and assistance. There is a unique relationship between a husband and wife that counters loneliness and offers help. And where does God place sexuality? How do they honor God with their bodies? It is vaguely referenced here. God engineered it as a physical and metaphorical complement: two become one.
MULTIPLICATION
The union of one man and one woman in marriage binds them into a new family, which leads back to Chapter 1 and another purpose for sexuality. Flip back to Chapter 1, verse 27. What does it say?
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:27–28, ESV)
Thus, God made sexuality between a husband and wife to unite, help, and one more thing? What is it? To multiply. The original design for sex is beautiful, God given, and made only for the expression between one man and one woman in marriage. Though this is a descriptive history, the Biblical laws promote this description as prescriptive. As we look at the entirety of Scripture, books like Proverbs and Song of Songs indicate that sexuality is also for pleasure. Unfortunately, Scriptures like Romans 1 reveal that people have hijacked God’s design over the years. What was once euphoric, uniting, and productive has become broken and divisive. Many of us know the pain of this injured treasure. Some know the trial of being double-crossed and two-timed. Others know the guilt and shame of giving in to lust. And plenty know both.
STATISTICS: PERVASIVE
Last year, the survey group Barna published a study that found,
“The average Christian is not experiencing freedom in this area—75 percent of Christian men and 40 percent of Christian women report that they are viewing pornography at least occasionally.”
So, statistically, two-thirds of men and almost half of the women in this room are viewing pornography. Perhaps our population is not representative of those numbers, but it is an issue for loads of Christians.
STATISTICS: NO HELP
The study also found,
“84 percent of reported porn users say they don’t have anyone in their life helping them avoid pornography.”
Pornography can be taboo and embarrassing. The church needs to address the issue. If we don’t, the world, the devil, and our flesh will fill the void. I would encourage us to have godly people in our lives whom we trust, with whom we can share our struggles. If you don’t have someone you can speak with, I encourage you to ask God to send you someone to talk with. If you don’t struggle in this area, you might be a good person for someone to process and pray with. Certainly, you have some types of struggles. We all do.
STATISTICS: NO CARE
One other thing I found fascinating in this study was,
“Over three in five Christians (62%) tell Barna they agree a person can regularly view pornography and live a sexually healthy life.” https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60246cd30685761e93a015ed/t/67b0d36d29ab1059a067f402/1739641722100/Barna+-+Beyond+the+Porn+Phenomenon.pdf
Friends, the Bible disagrees. Pornography involves lust. And lust is not okay or healthy. We cannot be lax with our hearts.
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Jesus taught,
You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. (Matthew 5:27–30, ESV)
Jesus wanted his disciples to pursue radical purity. Gandhi, aware of Jesus’s teaching, said that if we took Jesus literally, most people would be blind. Lust is a massive problem, and people who think that they can have a healthy sexual life and view pornography are wrong.
DEVIL’S ADVOCATE
Let me play devil’s advocate. “Why is it wrong? What is the big deal?” Let me respond:
First, what we see impacts how we view people. If we are consuming a diet of pornography, it is selfish and self-centered. Instead of appreciating the beauty and image of God in a person, we use them and carry that perspective wherever we go.
Second, the industry uses people for money. By clicking on an image, you are giving it to someone through an algorithm. And that fuels their sin and can lead others to sin.
Third, one image is never enough. One look is never enough. It is like the old Pringles commercial, “Once you pop, you just can’t stop.” Pornography is addictive. What is attractive now loses its appeal, and you will need more and more and more and more and more and more and more. It might give you a dopamine rush for a moment, but it leaves you worse off and craving another fix.
Fourth, it can be illegal. Depending on what you are looking at, it can get you in severe trouble. I know people who have gotten fired for it.
Fifth, because we have a conscience, it can cause us to feel guilt and shame.
Sixth, it puts you on the same page with those Romans said were unrighteous and ungodly, because it doesn’t honor God.
Finally, God said, ‘Don’t do it.’ Do we need any other reason?
Those are just a few, and I am sure there are others.
VERSE 25
That being said, why did God allow this sin to persist? Look at verse 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” (Romans 1:25, ESV).
The reason that God gave them up to their lust is that they chose it over him. They loved his gifts more than him.
WORSHIP
We are worshippers. Worship involves loving, fearing, and seeking something or someone. What we worship controls us. I talked about this last week. The gods of this age are myriad. Whatever created thing that takes the place of the Creator becomes an idol.
AGENDA EXAMPLE
A god could be my agenda, for example. If it is, I can get worried about completing my work. When I get interrupted by a child, spouse, or co-worker, I could blow up or not truly listen. Perhaps a deeper reason for this is that I don’t have enough time. Deeper still is that I might do a bad job. And deeper still, maybe I am afraid of what people will think of me. And deeper down, I want people to love me, job security, ease, or more “me” time. When we start to discover our motivations, they are often a mix of good and evil. We are complicated. We can do good things for bad reasons or do things that aren’t that great, thinking that we have good reasons. Pausing to consider the why behind our feelings and actions helps us discern our functional idols.
BLESSING
Paul ended verse 25 with a breath of fresh worship, praying to God, “Who is blessed forever!” God is faithful, good, kind, and the maker of everything we enjoy, including our sexuality and the gift of marriage. Do we give God the credit he deserves? Do we thank him for the blessings in our lives? If we don’t, we may drift to a substitute god that can lead us down destructive paths.
VERSE 26
Verse 26 repeats verse 24. And it is the start of the second section, verses 26 and 27. Look at verse 26. It states,
“For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions” (Romans 1:26a, ESV).
Like a parent allowing their children to experience the natural consequences of their actions, God gave people over to their desires.
DESSERT
Here is a related question. “How do you know if the word dessert has one s or two?” [] The difference between “desert” and “dessert” is that we like dessert more, so there are two s’s. I bring this up because I have a sweet tooth. And so do my children. They come by their sweet teeth naturally. We love cookies, cookie dough, cake, ice cream, and donuts. We tell our kids that when we go to church functions, we only have a limited amount of desserts, because, like me, if we don’t set limits, we will be in trouble. However, one day my kids will be out of the house and grown up soon enough. When they are, they can eat whatever they want. If they don’t check their desire, they will load up on sweets, get cavities, feel sick to their stomach, be vitamin deficient, and have other health issues. I have to let them go. In the same way, God allowed people to pursue their desires, and their desires got out of control in a bad way. How so? What is Paul talking about?
WHAT PASSION?
Go back to verse 26. Paul spelled out the problem in the second part of verses 26 and following:
“For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men” (Romans 1:26b–27a, ESV).
REINTERPRETATION
In the last fifty years, a new argument has arisen that people are naturally homosexual, and Paul was not speaking against those behaviors. I disagree and so do most Christian scholars throughout history. For example, commentator Tom Schreiner wrote:
“Paul rejects homosexuality as contrary to the created order—homosexual activity is a violation of what God intended when he created men and women” (96).
Even Jewish historians Josephus and Pliny, in Paul’s day, viewed same-sex activity as unnatural. Why? Why were they so confident? There is the natural order of things, conscience, and God’s word is obvious. The Bible tells us that God designed Adam and Eve, the first human beings, to be in a monogamous, lifelong marriage relationship. Practicing homosexuality deviates from that. That is not to say that people are not biologically born with a temptation toward this sin. We are all prone to wander in various ways. In what ways do you wander? [] Are there things that tempt you and have tempted you for most of your life? [] Some perhaps were latent in you until the right time, but they have always been your predisposition. However, just because we have a proclivity toward something doesn’t mean it is good, godly, or okay.
LEVITICUS
Moses wrote,
“You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination” (Leviticus 18:22, ESV).
God cares about us deeply and knows our brokenness. He knows what sin does to our bodies, brains, and those around us. God’s word is blunt, using history and Laws to help us navigate our desires. God is well aware of the invisible adverse effects of going against his ways. It is like a flesh-eating disease that, if we don’t treat it, it will kill us. God cares so much that he sent his one and only Son to die to forgive us our sins, heal us, and free us from the shackles of shame and addiction. God wants his people to follow him. Jesus demonstrated what self-control and purity can look like. He was never married. He never gave in to lust or dishonored God with his body. And he was perfect and pure. He lived an exemplary life but died a sinner’s death to forgive us for our imperfections and impurities. That forgiveness is ours by faith.
OTHER BIBLE VERSES
Paul also wrote,
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9–10, ESV)
Those who exchange God’s way for a life of unrighteousness with things like sexual immorality, idols, adultery, homosexuality, thievery, greed, alcohol, insults, and fraud will not get to enjoy the kingdom of God. They will die. Therefore, Paul ended our passage with,
“Receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error” (Romans 1:27, ESV).
A life committed to pursuing these lesser things over God’s design is sad and frightening.
UPSET
As we conclude, please know that if you are hearing this and are upset with me, I would love to talk with you. Reach out to me. I want to hear from you. I will say this: God is speaking through the Bible by the Spirit. Listen, please. God loves you.
STRUGGLER
For those of you who struggle with homosexual desires, pornography, lust, or any vice, you are not alone. We all have desires that are not proportionate. Paul elsewhere wrote,
“And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11, ESV).
He wrote,
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Corinthians 10:13, ESV).
To a man named Titus, he wrote,
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3–7, ESV)
There is hope and help for us all. None of us is too far gone. The gospel not only saves us from God’s wrath, but it empowers us to say no to all forms of ungodliness and unrighteousness. God’s mercy is available this morning. That means we have another chance to follow him. Follow him. Trust in his power. Don’t lose hope. God loves you.
HELP
If you are stuck, we have some people here who would love to walk alongside you. You don’t have to remain in bondage. God offers freedom. The letter to the Romans will help us. Keep reading. God is good. We are all in this together. God loves you.
JUDGMENTAL
If you see these sins as gross, if you cannot relate, then in one sense, praise the Lord with me. I am thankful that you do not struggle like that. However, that doesn’t mean you are perfect. None are. Nor does moral success permit us to be judgmental, conceited, rude, or mean. Let the world know we are Christians by our love. You and I love others, including those with disordered desires, because God loves us.
FINALLY
Ultimately, the Bible helps us respond to a nation that takes pride in something shameful. We need Jesus, not a parade of lies. Jesus is our only hope and help. He offers us the true liberty we need. We may not like or understand all his rules, but we know he is good. He loves you. Let’s pray.
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