God Handed Them Over Part 2 - Romans 1:26-32

0:53God has put clear evidence of himself in creation for all of mankind to see. He's communicated himself to them, but men and women throughout all of history, all over the world, repeatedly and without fail, every single man and woman, they suppress that truth that they see in creation through unrighteousness. They push down the knowledge of that truth by sinning. And so last week we saw again that they should respond to God's reveal. God's revelation and creation. They should respond to that with thanksgiving. They should respond to him by honoring him, but instead they sin. And they fill the void of that void of who they should worship, who they should give thanks to. They fill it with idols. And so God gives them up to a debased mind, and when he gives them over to their own sinful hearts, all they do is keep running after more and more sin. Whatever pathway God opens up for them to sin, they sprint straight to sin as much as they can. So look at Romans 1, verse 24.

2:12Therefore, 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. Well, today in our text, we're going to see that this pattern only continues. They sin in these ways. God gives them up again, and it continues and continues and continues. Look again at verse 26. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. And then look down at verse 28. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to acknowledge Debased mind to do what ought not to be done. So, this idea is being repeated over and over. They keep running to sin faster and faster, and they keep going deeper into God's judgment as this chapter progresses. Last week we saw that the three pathways to this judgment were ingratitude and idolatry and immorality or impurity. Well, today we're going to see four more rebellions of mankind. Four more rebellions in this chain in chapter one. Four more rebellions of mankind. They are against nature, against God, against each other, and against truth. Follow along as I can read, as I read. We're going to start in verse 26. See if you can pick these out. Against nature, against God, against each other, and against the truth. Verses 26 through 32. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions, for their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature.

4:10And 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. 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. Be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

4:51Though 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. Pray with me. Father, I pray that you'd help us as we study this text, that you'd help us wrap our minds around what's going on here, that you give mankind over, you hand them over to their own sin in judgment. And as a result, they sin even more. And as a result, you give them over more and on and on. I pray, God, that you would help us understand your character in doing this. I pray that you would help us understand how we should respond.

5:38I pray that you'd help us. In Jesus' name, amen. The first rebellion that we see is against nature. Against nature. Look at verse 26. For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions for their women, exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature. So as we back up, the reason that he's saying, he says, for this reason, the reason is because they have followed their own hearts, they followed their own lusts of their hearts into immoral sexual relationships. They haven't followed God's design for marriage and God's design for intimacy. And so because of that, God gives them over to their passions even more. And the next thing that they chase are unnatural relationships. He starts with women, and then he'll continue on with men. 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. So both men and women commit acts that go against nature. They're following their passions. And here, Paul brings us to this idea that we see doctrinally in several places of Scripture. This idea that God has enmeshed a certain design into his creation. We could call it creation design. And he expects mankind to follow that design. We see it all over the scriptures. Jude will mention the same kind of sin that we're studying here, and he'll call it unnatural. But Paul also mentions the design of God's creation when he's talking about the role. Of men and women in home and at church. He says, this is the way that God designed it, and then he explains what they should do as a result. Even Jesus, he'll refer to God's design when he's discussing marriage and divorce. You remember in Matthew 19, they asked Jesus, can a man get a divorce for any reason? And this is his answer: Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate. So men and women are to do this. They're to get married because that's the way God made it. He made male and female, and he made the union, and he put them together. This was his design and creation. And so mankind has already, in Romans 1, as we've seen, they've already traded that marriage relationship for immorality. And now they're even trading that male and female relationship for something unnatural. They've moved outside of the confines of the sexual relationship. And therefore, God says that they are condemned. And you can see that all of this is definitely a rebellion.

9:01Think about this for just a moment. You can imagine that, let's say someone doesn't know about God. They don't know about what he's revealed in his word. Well, we know from Romans 1 that all men know what they see in creation. So, if someone still wants to rebel against God, but they don't know his words, what can they rebel against besides what they see in creation? And that seems to be the point that he's getting at. If mankind only knows what's been revealed to them in creation, but they still want to rebel against God, then they need to do it in a way that rebels against nature. It's unnatural.

9:49At the end of verse 27, he'll say another part of the judgment that comes with this. He says, and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. This seems to be the diseases that we see even today. They're receiving an extra judgment in themselves, the due penalty of their error. So, even in ancient times, there were these physical consequences of sexual immorality. Now, as we think about this topic, I know this is uncomfortable for many of us in the room, but I think as we think about this topic, we need to. To be thinking clearly about it, we need to understand what the scriptures say. We need to be able to defend what the scriptures say, and we need to be careful and kind. On the one hand, homosexuality here is mentioned as something that is separate from other sexual immorality. He mentions it separately and calls it something unnatural, since you're going against the design that you see in your own bodies. So it is something separate, but on the other hand, I think it's far more similar than we realize. Both of these, every kind of immorality, but both of these options are the result of allowing men to follow after their own hearts, to follow after their own lusts, what's inside of them, their own passions. Both of these are the result of God's judgment, that God handed them over to their own hearts, and both of them lead to further judgment. That's what we see in our text today. In both of these kinds of sin, as we think about the context of Romans as a whole, both of these sins can be fully forgiven through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

11:50So let me just plead with you. If you're here today, just like we said last week, if you're here today and you struggle with any kind of sexual sin, No matter what the flavor, please approach the elders. Let them bear that burden with you, no matter what it is. No matter who you are, you are not uniquely disgusting, though you might feel that way. You're not beyond God's forgiveness. We are the body of Christ, and we're all in this together. And so I just encourage you to be honest and let the elders help you with any kind of sexual immorality. But second, for those of you who aren't struggling with these things, but maybe you're having discussions about this with your family members, maybe you have a family member who's struggling with this, maybe you've been discussing this with your coworkers or your classmates, make sure you're ready to be clear on this topic. Know these verses, but also be ready to be kind and compassionate and loving.

12:58If you want a resource that'll help you with all of this, if you're really confused about these things, I recommend this book. It's little and it's clear, and we have it in the Resource Center. It's called What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? It'll look at these verses. It'll also look at some other verses. And it'll be the book giveaway tonight if you come to the evening service. But for now, let's move on to the next rebellion. The first one was against nature. They're rebelling against what they see in nature. What they see in their own natural bodies. Next, they are going to rebel against God. Verse 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. 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. Paul spends the smallest amount of time here, and so we will too, but you can tell that this is already kind of a review. He's coming back to that same idea. They should respond in a certain way to what they see in creation, but they don't. So we've seen they should give thanks, they should honor him. Now we're seeing that he should also be acknowledged. He should be acknowledged. But mankind doesn't see fit to do this. They don't, that word that he uses there, it means they don't consider it their duty to acknowledge, to know God, to know more about God and acknowledge God in creation. And when he says this, he has a little bit of a play on words, or at least an expression that shows they're getting what they deserve. So the word there that in my translation is translated see fit, it's the same root that he uses for the word debased. So my translation says this, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased. Mind. But another way you could say that is that since they did not consider it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a worthless mind. You see the connection there? They considered God worthless, not worthy of their time, and so he's giving them up to their own worthless mind. It's what they deserved. Their own depraved mind.

15:29And therefore, they do what they ought not do. They do what ought not to be done. Probably the list that we're about to get to in a few moments. So the application for this little part, I think, is clear for us. We should be marked as people. We should be marked. Christians should be marked as people who are going to do the opposite of what he's saying here. We are going to acknowledge God. We're going to consider it our duty. We're going to consider it fitting to acknowledge God. We should consider it worth our time to know him and to know him better and learn more about him. And I think that, of course, all of us in this room would say, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's worth our time. Of course, God is worth our time. But then, as the time goes away, did we actually practically consider it worthwhile to acknowledge God, to pause over and over, learn more about him? And give him the credit he's due. So I think that's convicting. We, with our mouth, will say, yes, it's worthwhile. But then, how often do we spend a day just like the rest of mankind not acknowledging God? So let's train ourselves to acknowledge God. This is our duty. So mankind has rebelled against nature. They've rebelled against God. The next section is the biggest, and he says that they are against each other. Against each other. Verse 29: They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. So you can see that all of these are specifically directed against your fellow man, except for one, if you can find it in there. Haters of God. But other than that, one exception, the next chain, the next link in the chain as men are following their own sinful hearts is that mankind as a whole has turned against each other. They're being unrighteous and wicked towards each other. And he says this in three different sets. So if you look at the text in verse 29, the first set it says that they are filled with, this seems to be a More permanent attitude. They are filled with these things. They are filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, and malice. So, of course, unrighteousness is a broad term that's going to cover everything in this list. But he also gets more specific. They are evil towards each other. They're covetousness. They're covetous of others' belongings. They're malicious toward one another. And so they're acting out of this deep-seated hatred for one another. That's what mankind is doing permanently. That's what they're filled with. The next group is what they're full of. And it looks like the same word, but it's not. This seemed to be more temporary manifestations of the first list. So they are filled with some things. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and maliciousness. So they're going to envy their neighbor. They murder each other. There is strife and conflict. They're unwilling to make peace with one another. They deceive one another. They are malicious and hateful toward one another.

19:13Let's just stop right here for a moment before we look at the next set and remember that it's probably really easy for us to look out at our culture or look out at other people around us and point the finger and say, yeah, people are this all the time, which is true. But it's a little hard. To wade through this list and think of all the ones that we've committed, maybe even yesterday. So let's be humble this morning and find at least one of these that you can repent and change of. But we've seen what they are filled with, we've seen what they're full of, and next we see what they are. That's the third set. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. So mankind in their sin, they turn to gossip. They turn to slander. They're going to publicly be speaking against each other, making charges against each other. They are haters of God. Rather than loving God like they should, they hate God. They're insolent or contemptuous in their speech, is what that means. They're insolent. And related to that, they're arrogant and boastful. They're looking down on people. They're bragging. Mankind keeps finding new ways to sin. That's when he says inventors of evil. They disobey their parents. That might seem like something that doesn't fit in the list. It seems something so innocent to us because we're so used to it. But in God's system, he's placed his authority with the parents. And so when children do disobey their parents, they're disobeying God. And it's another way that this. Wickedness crops up. The last four, men don't act with wisdom, they don't act in faith, they don't act in compassion, they don't act in mercy, they're foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. These are the depths to which men have sunk. This is the result of mankind following their own heart.

21:24Mankind as a whole runs in the opposite direction of God. They willingly sprint along this path of their own making that leads to all of these sins. And of course, as we read this list, we should be people who are trying to have soft hearts, who are trying to be doers of the word. On Friday, a friend told me, it's easier to be convicted than to change. I thought that was a good statement to say, it's easier to be convicted than to change. And I think that some of us on a Sunday morning could even look at a list like this and say, it feels good to be convicted. It's cathartic, or it feels good to be convicted. But it's easy to accidentally stop there at the conviction and not go on to the change, to work hard to say, okay, how am I going to change this?

22:25Whether it's being deceptive or being disobedient to our parents. Or slandering or gossiping or being malicious to somebody. But as you seek for something to work on in this long list, let's not lose our bird's eye view of this text. He's saying that as a result of mankind not being grateful to God, he has opened the gate for them to sin in another way, and then opened the gate for them to sin in another way. And they are running after all of these things over and over and over. All they want to do is sin, and it gets worse. Our last point: mankind also rebels against truth. Verse 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.

23:24Though 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. It's kind of a unique verse, isn't it? They know God's righteous decree. How does all of mankind here, which is who he's talking about, how do they know God's righteous decree that whoever practices these things deserves to die? Well, in the context, I think it has to go back to the same thing we've been talking about for several weeks now. Now is this what they see in creation. And it might sound funny for us to think that this could be called a decree, but we see that elsewhere in Scripture. If you remember Psalm 19, he says, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out throughout all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. So creation does proclaim a message about God.

24:42And in our text today, he's saying that one of the parts of this message that creation proclaims is that mankind deserves the death sentence for what they do. This is something that all men know. They understand that they are supposed to die because of their sin. And so when they do die, no one after they die can say, oh, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to be disobedient to my parents. They're not going to say, oh, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to gossip or be sexually immoral.

25:19No, they're guilty. They do know. And they're uncomfortably reminded of this truth every time someone dies. They know that that's coming for them too. And they know that they deserve that death. And so I think it's good if we just pause for just a moment and say, if you're in this room and that's you, that you're a little uncomfortable right now with this idea that you are going to die, if you're scared of death, if you're scared of seeing God face to face because you know that you have sinned in all of these ways.

26:01And you want to know what to do about your sin, if you want to find forgiveness, I just encourage you to know that this forgiveness can only be found in Jesus Christ. And so if you came with a family member or you came with your parents, if you came with a friend, ask them about this. Ask them how you can have the forgiveness in Jesus Christ because of his death on the cross. Don't die like the rest of mankind without first coming to God for forgiveness. And ask someone soon because this death is coming sooner than you think. But back to our text. He's saying that all men know that what they're doing is wicked. It's been revealed to them in creation. And all men do it anyways. And so all men know that they deserve death for these things. It's the just cause. But still, in verse 32, they not only do them, but give approval to those who practice them. So, not only do they ignore all of that and still do what they want because of the lust of their heart, they also cheer on those who practice these things with them. They're going to root for them. They're going to be on their team and rejoice when others practice this wickedness with them. The young adults on Thursday saw the exact opposite of this pretty vividly in 1 Peter 4. He says, With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them. That's in their wickedness. They're surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you. But they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. In the same ominous tone as in our text today, right? Yes, these people, they are applauding those who are joining and sin with them. Yes, they are maligning those that will not join in their sins.

27:59But the judge is coming, and the wages of sin is death. And they know it. You might have seen these kinds of rebellions in your own children. I think this is one of the clearest illustrations of this that we see in day-to-day life. You know, sometimes a toddler will want something, or there's something specific that they want to do, and so they're going to disobey. Because they want to do that. Okay, that's still wicked, but it's not necessarily personal, right? But then there's these other times, and maybe you've witnessed this, that there's nothing even that they want to do. All they know is that they want to rebel. And you can see the wheels turning in their head: there's nothing specific they want to do, they just want to act in defiance. And so they'll turn to whatever they can get their hands on. Maybe they just throw it or something. They're being creative in how to rebel. One of ours did this the other day.

29:07They were in trouble and they couldn't find anything to do, but they just wanted to do something to show defiance to me. And so they kicked the wall with their bare feet. It wasn't very smart. It didn't go well for their toes. But they just wanted something they could do to show this rebellion, whatever it was. And that's kind of the picture we get of mankind as a whole in this text, in Romans 1. That after they take the step of seeing creation and refusing to be grateful to God for it, refusing to honor God for creation, that after that, they're going to, whatever pathway God opens, they're going to run straight for sin and sin and sin and sin.

29:58You might be wondering. You know, this certainly doesn't apply for every individual, right? There are people that we look out in society and they're non-Christians or something. Maybe they're another religion, or maybe they're just part of the noble people in society. They don't seem to be running after every possible sin they can. But remember, that's not what our text is saying. Our text is talking about mankind as a whole, that God is allowing mankind as a whole to run down these pathways to sin. But also remember that there are some things in the list that do describe every individual, right? Disobedient to parents, gossip, slanderers, malicious, unrighteous. So there are things that describe all of mankind that men run after when they get the chance. And know that if you are someone who considers yourself self-righteous, maybe you look at this list and you say, oh, yeah, those people are terrible, but I don't do any of that. Know that he's going to get to you in chapter 2. Okay, I think that that's what that maybe is what most of the Jews, as they're reading chapter 1, that's what they're thinking. They're thinking, yes, yes, those wicked pagans. I can't believe they would do all those things.

31:18But he's going to deal with them in chapter 2. But for now, he's showing us that the tendency of every human heart is to run towards sin, even if some do it in more respectable ways. And others. Before we close, I just want to think for a moment about how we can apply this passage. We did this last week. Some of you, maybe a lot of you, picked an application that you could work on last week before you left this room, and maybe a lot of you forgot to do it. So we get another chance today. First, there is definitely a wrong way that we've already hinted at to apply this passage. And the wrong way is to be smug as we read this list and we see men going after, going against nature, and against God, and against each other, and against the truth. And we puff up a little bit and we look out on our culture today and say, you know, look at those wretches. That's exactly what they're doing. They're running after all of these sins. How wicked. Well, we consider ourselves righteous. But the text isn't going to give us that luxury. Yes, it is true of mankind as a whole. But the text is forcing us to examine ourselves, that we also are those wretches that run after sin before we come to Christ.

32:46And maybe we didn't fill up our lives with all of these sins, but even then, it's not our right to boast. Because this text is saying that if the right opportunity had Been presented to us that we would have run after these different sins. And so we can be grateful that God spared us. So, Christians, as we look at a text like this, I think the first application is to be humble, to remember how wicked our flesh is, and trust our flesh less, and trust the Lord more, and be desperate to come to His Word and let it be a mirror to us as we examine ourselves. Another application, like we read in the scripture reading this morning, is if this is true, if this is our heart before we came to the Lord, and we are still living in these earthly tents, the next application is to try as hard as we can every single day to be done with those sins.

33:52Turn for just a moment to Romans 6 as we look at that idea. In Romans 6, verse 1, he opens with that question: What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? So, should we keep doing these things that all of mankind is doing, since God is forgiving us, anyways, of all of our sin, past, present, and future? By no means. How can we who died to sin still live in it? That's his answer. And then look down at verse 6 as he continues to answer. We know that our old self was crucified with him. In order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. So this is the reality that's happened in the Christian's life. We've died to sin. Why would we go back? Look at verse 11. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin, therefore, reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Verse 13, do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law, but under grace. And so why, even though we are being forgiven, why would we ever present our bodies back to this list of sins that we read in Romans 1 as slaves? Instead, we should be slaves of righteousness, slaves of God. Verse 17 in Romans 6. But thanks be to God that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed. And having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. So it was not you who did this, but we give thanks to God that he brought us out of this slavery to sin into it. Slavery to God, slavery to righteousness. Verse 20, for when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So, as we look at the list in Romans chapter 1, our response first should be humility. It should be realizing this is our sinful heart that runs after these sins. But then another application is to then try as hard as you can to be done with those sins.

36:57That's the slavery you used to be under. You don't need to go back and do those sins. You can come out and be a slave of God. God is to be thanked because we were slaves, but he gave us this free gift. Our wages, what we had earned from our sin, is death. So why would we go back? Instead, let's rejoice under the free gift that we've been given, eternal life. So back to chapter one. We're going to be humble. We're going to avoid this list of sins, like he says in Romans 6. Of course, we have all the applications in the text that instead of doing unnatural things with our body, we are going to follow God's design for marriage and for intimacy.

37:44Instead of refusing to acknowledge God, we are going to acknowledge him. That's our duty. We're going to know more about him and give him credit. We can avoid all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. We can avoid evil, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. We can work hard not to be gossip, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. And of course, in verse 32, we need to be careful not to cheer on those who are committing these acts, but instead we encourage the faithful to keep fighting temptation.

38:31Finally, last thing. I think it's important for us to remember unbelievers in their plight. If someone has never come to Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, then they are still stuck in this first chapter of Romans. All of mankind is stuck in this refusal to acknowledge God and give him thanks. And so out of judgment, God gives thanks. Them over to their own hearts, and they chase their own hearts all the way into even more sin and more sin and more sin.

39:09They are just like we were before we came to faith. And they're running after sin because they think that that's what they want. And so I just encourage you to be all the more eager to share the gospel, like Paul is doing in the book of Romans. We should be eager for this as we remember, like Paul did, that it is the power of God for salvation. Yes, people are stuck in that cycle in Romans 1, but God is able to save them, and he's gracious enough to save them and pull them out of that.

39:46So let's join in the work as we pray for our unbelieving family and friends and share the gospel with them. So pray with me. Father, there's so much to learn in this text this morning about your character. There's so much to learn about the history of mankind as we look at ourselves in this passage. As we look at our own sinful flesh and we see that just like all men everywhere, we have this tendency to run as hard as we can towards sin and away from you.

40:28And Father, we rejoice that you've given us. This new birth. We rejoice that you've made us new creations. We rejoice that you've given us this new life so that we can desire you and come to you and run away from sin. And we pray that we would do it. I pray, Lord, that you would cut to the heart anybody here who has never repented of their sin and who maybe fears death, since they know that the wages of their sin is death.

41:06And I pray, Lord, that you would cause them to ask somebody about the forgiveness that they can find in Jesus Christ. But I also pray for all of the Christians in this room, myself included, that you would cut us to the heart for sins on this list that we see, that we still commit. I pray that we would work hard to not just be convicted, but also to change and be doers of the word. Thank you, God, for your creation that shows us so much about yourself. And thank you for your word that's so clear for us, that displays your righteousness and how we can come to you and be righteous as well. In Jesus' name, amen.