ROMANS 1:18: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
Romans is a theologically rich letter in the Bible. Paul opens the letter by introducing himself and his ministry, his longing to go to the Romans, and establishing the Gospel. Paul then moves into explaining God’s wrath towards the unrighteous. Unrighteous people are sinners, lawbreakers, essentially those who have not placed their faith in the work of Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:18, the verse above, is the opening sentence engaging how God judges the unrepentant. Paul states, “the wrath of God is revealed…against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” Importantly, we must note that God has righteous wrath against these individuals. His judgment is perfect and holy. The ESV Study Bible states, “The wrath of God refers to his personal anger against sin. God’s anger is not selfish or arbitrary but represents his holy and loving response to human wickedness.” 1 God’s wrath is not unfair or unloving. His wrath is the loving judgment against wicked rebellion. Also, his wrath against wickedness is essential to His righteousness. Robert Mounce explains, “There is an essential relationship between God’s righteousness and his wrath. If God responded to wickedness with no more than a benign tolerance, his righteousness could be called into question.”2 Thus, God’s wrath towards the ungodly is a reason to worship and celebrate, for it demonstrates God’s glorious righteousness.
This brings us to examine the causation of God’s wrath; the action of the unrighteous results in God’s wrath towards individuals. Paul states that their “ungodliness and unrighteousness…suppresses the truth.” Bringing us to a question, is there any unrighteousness that does not suppress the truth? The very nature of unrighteousness conceals righteousness from flourishing. If righteousness is not flourishing, then it is being hindered and suppressed. Douglas Moo explains, “‘Truth’ in the NT is not simply something to which one must give mental assent; it is something to be done, to be obeyed. When people act sinfully, rebelling against God’s just rule, they fail to embrace the truth and so suppress it.”3 Thomas Schreiner provides additional insight into the nature of the truth that is being suppressed when he writes, “The truth that people have unrighteously suppressed and rejected is that the one true God should be honored and worshiped and obeyed as God.”4 When we break God’s laws, we suppress the truth. Therefore, all unrighteousness will receive the wrath of God.
Why is it so essential to understand this specific verse in Romans 1? Paul spends the rest of Romans 1 explaining how these individuals are without excuse (Romans 1:19-20), their practice of idolatry (Romans 1:21-23), how God gave them over to their wicked rebellion (Romans 1:24-31), and that the corrupt approve practicers of wickedness (Romans 1:32).
While each of these deserves its examination, I will save that for a later date. I want to state that we see a few things come to light over this discourse. Three times the text says, “God gave them up.” In verse 24, it is to “the lusts of their hearts to impurity.” Then, in verse 26, it is “to dishonorable passions.” In the last one, it is to “a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” All three statements result in the rejection of God’s truth and embracing perversion and evil.
Let’s take a quick look at each example that Paul provides of rejecting God’s righteousness.
“God gave them up to the lusts of their hearts to impurity.”
In this first “God gave them up” statement, Paul explains that they gave up the worship of the Creator to worship creation.
Romans 1:25: 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.
It is the exchange from worshipping Creator to the creature that condemns. Of course, this exchange comes in a variety of perversions. For some, it is worshiping wealth, career, family, and, most often, self.
We often picture idolatry with a person bowing before a statue. While this is one form of the sin of idolatry, the most prevalent today is the idolatry of our mindshare. What do we give most of our thoughts to today? Is it things that please our fleshly desires or the things of God? What alters the way we live? Is it God or our desire for money, recognition, family, entertainment, sex, food, or something else? We need to recognize that idols come in many forms, and we see that played out around us. The misplacement of worship is proof of individuals who have given up worshipping the Creator. Thus, God has given them over to their wickedness.
Because people are given over to their lusts, sin grows more rampant. The forms of wickedness grow exponentially, resulting in a more godless society. A society that rejects God’s design and embraces idolatry. People ultimately “exchange the truth about God for a lie.” They have dictated to God instead of God dictating to His creation. This leads us to the second example of God giving people up to their evil desires.
“God gave them up to dishonorable passions.”
Romans 1:26-27 outlines all forms of sexual perversion as proof of the rejection of God. Paul states that “women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature” (Romans 1:26). Douglas Moo explains, “the sexual sin that Paul singles out is homosexuality: ‘women exchanged the natural use of their bodies for that use which is against nature.’ The verb ‘exchange,’ which has been used twice to depict the fall into idolatry (vv. 23, 25), is now used to characterize this tragic reversal in sexual practice. The “natural use” has been replaced with one that is ‘against nature.’”5 There is nothing natural about homosexuality. It is a perversion and rejection of God’s design for sexual relations. John Murray expands on the degradation of homosexuality, “The implication is that however grievous is fornication or adultery the desecration involved in homosexuality is on a lower plane of degeneracy; it is unnatural and therefore evinces a perversion more basic.”6
It was not the women alone that Paul points out as being corrupted by their dishonorable passions. Paul explains, “men committing shameless acts with men” (Romans 1:27). Homosexuality and sexual perversion reject God’s design for humanity. It is the equivalence of a freezer deciding it wants to be an oven. It was never designed to be an oven, and it would destroy itself if it became one.
For some readers, I know this is a challenging subject. You might personally struggle with your sexuality. You are not alone, nor does it mean God has given up on you. What it does mean is that you need to surrender the sin of whatever sexual perversion you are struggling with to the Lord. Find a solid Bible-teaching church that will call LGBTQ+ struggles sin, lovingly walk with you as you surrender that sin to the Lord, and treat you with love, respect, and kindness.
Did I mention that sexual perversion is not the only sin listed in this passage? I haven’t? That is because they are listed under the third “God gave them up” section. Let’s dig into it for a moment.
“God gave them up to a debased mind.”
Paul does not hold back on calling out sin. He gives us a rundown of how humanity is depraved and engulfed in wickedness. Look at this list of things found in Romans 1:28-31:
- filled with all manner of unrighteousness,
- evil,
- covetousness,
- malice.
- full of envy,
- murder,
- strife,
- deceit,
- malice.
- They are gossip,
- slanderers,
- haters of God,
- insolent/ rude,
- haughty,
- boastful,
- inventors of evil,
- disobedient to parents,
- foolish,
- faithless,
- heartless,
- ruthless.
Maybe this comes as a surprise to you, but this encompasses the whole world.
So why did Paul spend so much time on homosexuality and sexual perversion? I believe John Murray provides a solid reason, “The reason is very likely that the apostle regarded the homosexual abominations as the most overt evidences of the degeneracy to which God in his wrath gave over the nations.”7 In other words, LGBTQ+ lifestyles rebel against God’s natural created order. But each of these sins listed above is equally condemning. The order of degradation in this list does not secretly mean some sins are worse than others. Paul is building a case proving the depravity of humanity. Moo states, “People who have refused to acknowledge God end up with minds that are ‘disqualified’ from being able to understand and acknowledge the will of God.”8 Ultimately, apart from God, humanity’s rejection of God leads them to a point they cannot know or follow God’s will.
The focus of Paul’s remarks is that humanity is in active and willful rebellion against God. As a result, evil spreads, and the evil manifests in many areas that require repentance and faith in Christ alone. Only once submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ does the depraved mind transform, over time, into the likeness of Christ. It all begins with trust in Jesus Christ alone.
Final Thoughts
A few things as we close out. The proof of the depravity of humankind is present all around us. Whether it be the evil presented through abuse, murder, greed, pride, arrogance, sexual perversions of all kinds (sex outside of marriage, LGBTQ+ lifestyles, adultery, pornography, etc.), deceit, gossip, etc., the atrocities are all around us and only becoming more prevalent. Evil is being called good and good evil. The statement “God gave them up” is proven daily.
Yet, for us that have received the free gift of God of eternal life. We have been called out of that depravity. We have been given a new mind that provides us with clarity and hope for God’s work of redemption in this world through the work of Jesus Christ. We must not identify with our previous sins. Instead, identify as Christian, followers of Christ alone. There is nothing more insulting than to say, “I’m a murdering Christian, Christian adulterer, greedy Christian, same-sex attracted Christian, etc.” God has saved us from our sin and depravity. We have a new identity in Christ. Let us all proudly proclaim, “I am a born-again Christian.”
- Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2158. ↩
- Robert H. Mounce, Romans, vol. 27, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995), 76. ↩
- Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), 103. ↩
- Thomas R. Schreiner, Romans, ed. Robert W. Yarbrough and Joshua W. Jipp, Second Edition., Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2018), 97. ↩
- Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), 114. ↩
- John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans, vol. 1, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1968), 47. ↩
- John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans, vol. 1, The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1968), 49. ↩
- Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), 118. ↩
