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Romans 1:24-32
Paul has begun to share his gospel with the assembly in Rome, indicating that men are saved by receiving
the righteousness of God, which comes through them putting their faith in Christ.
Now Paul is making his case for why this is the only possible way for men can be saved. Paul will show
this by demonstrating that all men are unrighteous, apart from God, and that they cannot make themselves
righteous, through their own works. Therefore, they must put their faith in Christ, in the work that He has
done on their behalf, in order to be saved.
Last week, we began with Pauls indictment of all men, universally. All men have rejected the revelation
that God has made concerning Himself through His creation.
The revelation through creation that Paul was referring to is the story of redemption, which was
incorporated into the constellations of the Mazzaroth, or Zodiac, through the names which God gave to the
stars, which He created on the fourth day. These star names reveal the way for a man to become righteous,
as they picture the person and the work of the Coming Christ, the Savior of the world.
This is the gospel in the stars, Gods universal revelation which has been declaring the glory of God as
seen in Christ from before the time that the first man was ever created so that men can know the truth of
God. And men have taken it in, and they can easily understand its meaning.
But what have men done with this truth, inside of them? They have suppressed it. They have held down
the truth, keeping it outside of their active thoughts.
And why have men done this? Because in their ungodliness, they dont want to give reverence to God;
they want to deny Him. And in their unrighteousness, men dont want to submit to God; they want to do as
they please.
Because of this, men are subject to the wrath of God, who is holy and righteous; who is their Creator and
Savior, and is worthy to be praised. Just as the righteousness of God is revealed in the starry heavens, the
wrath of God is also revealed so that men can know the consequences of their own choosing, in regard to
God. The fact that God has shown this to men leaves them without excuse.
Nonetheless, men rejected God as God; they would not give Him His glory. And in suppressing the
knowledge of God in their minds, their minds became void of any good, of any meaning. Their
understanding was darkened, because they had no Light. They had reduced themselves to fools who were
so foolish, they thought they were wise.
In their foolishness, men took that very same story in the stars, and changed it into a different story one
that was to their pleasing one that let them do what they wanted.
That was the story of the Incorruptible God of God the Son, who would take on a body of flesh, in order
to deliver mankind from sin and death. Their deliverance from death would come through a glorified body,
which the Son would bring forth out of His own death.

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But in their foolishness, men rejected God, and His deliverance. They changed the story of the
Incorruptible God, and moronically, made it into stories about the corruptible creation stories that had no
power to save from sin, no power to deliver from death. But in so changing it, it did enable men to pursue
their own way. It seemed right to them to those who thought they were wise but they were fools it
was the way of death.
What Paul will show next is just what men do, when they go their own way. It tells us the reason that it is
the way of death; death being the righteous judgment of God, on men who have gone their own way
because it is the way of unrighteousness.
Well read this section together, first, starting back in verse 22.
[Romans 1:22-32]
Now, as mentioned last week, the passage in chapter 1 begins as a universal indictment on all men (v. 1823); but the section we just read now has a distinctively Gentile sense to it, although Paul does not mention
the Gentiles.
This is a description of what men do in a culture, where the true God is in none of the thinking; where He is
not worshiped; where His Word is not known, or is ignored whether we are speaking about His word in
the stars, or His written word. This is the description of the practices, the works, of a godless, heathen,
pagan culture.
Lets stop for a minute and consider Pauls audience. Would the believing Gentiles in Rome identify with
what Paul says, in all of chapter 1, regarding their culture? Yes; and we will have even more of a sense of
that, after our lesson today.
What about the believing Jews, in Rome? Would they have identified with what Paul says, in chapter 1?
With any of it? Probably not. They would have been thinking it was purely a description of the
unbelieving Gentiles; and its certainly a good profile of them.
The Jews in the assembly, listening to the letter read, would readily have recognized this to be a description
of a godless culture, and with their knowledge of Gods law, they would have been zealously judging that
culture, in their minds.
But Paul will surprise them when we come to chapter 2, because there he indicates that the unbelieving
Jews, with their religion of Judaism, are no different; that they practice some of these same sins (2:1, 3, 2123). What Paul is bringing out is that both the godless Gentiles and the religious Jews are both equally
unrighteous.
Last time, we noted that Pauls words in verse 23 were particularly evocative of when the families of the
earth rebelled against the LORD on the plain of Shinar Babel. Here was the first recorded incident of men
changing the glorious gospel in the stars into the worship of the host of heaven the stars themselves.
Remember at that time that God scattered the rebels over the face of the earth, giving them unique
languages, and specific geographic locations, in which they would grow into nations.
But their rebellion at Babel had been a rejection of the true God. God would not overturn their freedom of
choice, which He had given them; so since the nations had rejected Him, God had to set the nations aside
for the time being to pursue their own way.

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We can see here that Paul is continuing along this historical line of thought, from Babel, in his description
of what happens to men, in rejecting the true God. God must allow them their freedom to choose to reject
Him; He gave men freedom of choice. But in men turning from God, God must let them go. The result is
seen in the unrighteous practices of a godless society such as the pagan Gentile society in Rome.
Well read verses 24-25 again.
v. 24-25 We see that Paul begins verse 24 with the word therefore for this reason. For what reason?
Men rejected what God has shown of Himself, as revealed in the stars that they could have a foreverliving body, through the Incorruptible Seed, Christ. They perverted the gospel, changing the story in such a
way as to glorify the creation, instead the corrupt creation, that was under a sentence of death, due to sin.
For this reason, as this was the choice that men made, Paul says, God also gave them up. Paul uses this
term no less that three times in this passage (v. 24, 26, 28). This is a judicial term in Greek, used for
handing over a prisoner to his sentence; the prisoner is being handed over to the power of someone or
something else in this case, the power of sin.
This is not speaking of a punishment on Gods part; nor is God fostering their sin; nor is God giving up
on them. The idea is of God as the Judge, allowing His creation of mankind to experience the consequence
of rejecting Him, and the righteousness He offers them; and the consequence of their rejection is heinous
sin, which ultimately will lead to the judgment of death.
This is a just retribution on the part of the Creator, whose creation refuses to go the way that He designed;
He is giving them their way, and all that comes with it.
Men rejected the forever living body that God offered them, in Christ. Instead, they glorified the creation,
in its corruptible bodies bodies that will all return to the dust of the ground. So God gave them over to
uncleanness. This Greek word refers to any unnatural pollution or defilement. It is a general term often
used of decaying matter, like the contents of a grave.
What a fitting term, for those who are intent on glorifying the corrupt creation! In this context, Paul is
using the word to refer to sexual depravity. We see Paul tracing it from its source, as lust in the heart, to its
completed practice in the shaming of the body.
The irony cannot be missed in wrongly honoring themselves, with their corruptible bodies, mankind
wound up dishonoring their bodies. Paul will detail the extent to which they did this, shortly.
Paul then further elucidates what mankind has done, in their rejection of God, in verse 25. They exchanged
the truth of God for the lie; not a lie, but the lie. This isnt just one of many lies; Paul is referring back to
the original lie; the big one, which mankind first took in. What was it?
It was the lie that the serpent held out to mankind in the garden: you will be like God (Gen 3:5). And
just as the first couple had swallowed that lie, putting themselves in the position to decide what was good
and what was evil for them, so did the rest of mankind after them.
They decided evil was God and His plans for them; and good was glorifying themselves in His place;
worshiping and serving themselves, created beings, instead of the One who created them. But Paul knows
better, and immediately ascribes praise to the Creator, at the mention of Him.

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To be like God is the heart of idolatry; for ultimately, the subject of idolatrous worship is always oneself;
man serves and honors himself. When Paul commended the saints in Thessalonica, who were former pagan
Gentiles, he said that they turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God (1 Th 1:9); the
opposite of the process that we see here.
Paul now records one of the most heinous and characteristic practices of men, in their dishonoring of
their bodies among themselves.
v. 26-27 Similar to the therefore in verse 24, we have for this reason in verse 26. For what reason?
Again, because men rejected God, and reverenced themselves in His place.
So God gave them up; He allowed them to do what was in their hearts and what was in there? Verse 26
vile passions; shameful lusts. This corresponds to the lusts of their hearts in verse 24, as do the practices
that come out of those lusts dishonoring their bodies.
Here in verse 26-27, Paul indicates one of the most disgraceful and destructive of those practices,
homosexuality. First Paul mentions homosexuality among women.
When mankind exchanged the truth of God for the lie, they wound up exchanging the natural use of the
body heterosexual relations within marriage for what is against nature homosexuality. When mankind
rejected God, he rejected Gods order in the natural world, as well.
Paul actually uses the Greek words for male and female in verses 26 and 27, not man and woman. It is
likely he does so to emphasize the violation of Gods natural order: for male and female, He created
them (Gen 1:27); distinct from one another, complements one to the other; not to another of the same
gender.
In mentioning the females first, Paul may be singling this out as a sign of the ultimate degradation in a
society even their females for it is said that women are usually the last to be affected in a culture by
this sin.
It is important to understand the way Paul is using the words nature and natural here. Paul is not
saying that this practice was not according to the usual way men and women conduct themselves; he is
saying that it is not according to the natural order God established.
Some try to read into these verses the first interpretation, indicating this was simply a first-century cultural
prejudice on the part of Paul; but as all Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16), this cannot be the case.
Both the OT and the NT roundly condemn homosexuality, and Paul indicates that those who practice it will
not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 6:9-11).
Concerning males, Paul says that they abandoned their God-designed relations with females, and in the
strongest of terms, he says that they burned in their lusts for one another practicing indecent, obscene
relations to their shame.
Homosexuality was widespread among men in pagan societies. It was considered acceptable practice for
Greek men to have relations with both sexes, and boys were actually socialized in this direction. In many
places within the Greek empire, homosexual practices were sanctioned by the public laws. Among the
Romans, this vice was no less common; it was practiced openly in Rome, without shame.

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Notice that Paul says that those who practiced homosexuality received in themselves the penalty of their
error which was due (v. 27). I believe Paul meant this quite literally; they received a temporal penalty for
their sins right within their own bodies.
Even in Pauls day, sexually-transmitted diseases were rampant. Although sexually-transmitted diseases
affect more than homosexuals, and not all homosexuals contract them, these diseases are well known for
being sexually contracted, particularly between homosexuals, due to their promiscuity.
It is interesting to consider that there are many myths among the Greeks and the Romans, perversions of the
story in the stars, which tell of the gods participating in homosexual practices. Truly the pagans had
created gods of their imagination, patterned after the lusts and desires that were to be found in their hearts;
they had created their own license for their sins, in their gods.
Whereas homosexuality was rampant among the pagan Gentiles, it was almost unheard of among the Jews.
So you can imagine that as the assembly in Rome heard Pauls letter read, both the Jewish and Gentile
believers knew that Paul must be speaking of the pagan Gentiles here.
Paul has shown that the rejection of God creates a godless society that also rejects Gods order in the
natural world. The resulting sin is particularly self-destructive; as Paul wrote to the assembly in Corinth, a
city also plagued by sexual promiscuity, he who commits sexual immorality [fornication] sins against his
own body (1 Cor 6:18).
Homosexuality is perhaps the ultimately corrupting sin against ones own body, as an individual. And out
of the destruction of the individual comes the destruction of the family, and finally, of the society.
Paul now moves on to sin which is not against oneself, but against ones fellow man.
v. 28-29a The word like in verse 28 actually means to prove a thing, whether it is worthy or not.
We can take this to mean that men actually put God to the test in their minds, so to speak; and they
determined that they didnt want to believe Him. The cost was too great; they would have to submit to
Him; in their minds, it wasnt worth it. Despite His revelation to them, despite their understanding of that
revelation; men chose to suppress the truth, and reject God.
So God gave them over to a debased mind. This is the exact same phrase as in verses 24 and 26. Once
again God was handing over His rebellious creation of mankind to go their own way, so that they could
experience the consequence of rejecting Him and His righteousness.
The word debased in the Greek means not passing the test. It is often used to describe useless,
worthless metals, discarded because they contained too much impurity. The idea here is that apart from
God, the minds of men are reprobate; they are devoid of judgment. When God tests such minds, He finds
them worthless and useless.
A good example of this concept is found in the OT, regarding the nation of Israel. Turn to Jeremiah chapter
6. The LORD was warning through the prophet Jeremiah that judgment is coming on Judah, because they
have abandoned their LORD God. This judgment will take the form of the Babylonians. The LORD describes
Jeremiah as His assayer the one who will test His people.

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[Jeremiah 6:27-30]
v. 27 An assayer is a tester. A fortress refers to one who works with metals. Jeremiah is to test, or prove,
the ways of Judah, represented as a metal here. Is the metal pure? That is, are Judahs ways righteous?
v. 28 stubborn rebels is literally rebels of rebels; Judah is utterly rebellious, and they slander the LORD;
they do not give Him the glory He is due. As Jeremiah tests them, all that comes forth are undesirable
metals, considered impurities; they are corrupt.
v. 29 So the LORD turned up the heat; the bellows blow fiercely. This reflects Jeremiahs words to Judah
concerning her imminent judgment. But with the added heat, what now comes out? Lead an even less
precious metal; more corruption, to be consumed by the fire. The work of Jeremiah is in vain; for whats
left is no good, either.
v. 30 Refuse silver is not silver at all; it refers to dross; the impurities that contaminate silver. Silver is a
symbol of redemption. To be rejected silver means that Judah could not be saved; the kingdom of Judah
had become entirely corrupt, and would have to be destroyed by this judgment.
Once again we see that Gods judgment is retributive; Judah had rejected the LORD, and because of that, the
LORD must reject Judah; He gave them over to their judgment.
[Return to Romans 1]
Paul is also showing in our passage here that Gods judgment is retributive. Men had put God to the test,
and rejected Him; now God gives them over to a debased mind, worthless and devoid of judgment. This is
an evil state of mind, and when God tests it, He cannot approve of it; He must reject it.
That God is just to do this is demonstrated by the practices that come out of such debased minds, which
Paul catalogues in the subsequent verses.
What we have seen in verses 23-27 is that because men had glorified the corrupt creation, God handed
them over to the lusts of their corrupt flesh. Now, in verses 28-31, we see that because men have rejected
God, and suppressed their knowledge of Him in their minds, God handed them over to the lusts that
emanate from their minds.
Paul groups these first under the general term unrighteousness (v. 29), and then gets into some specific
examples. Well just quickly consider this catalogue of vices.
Now, as you look at this list of what might be called lusts of the mind, there is one in particular that does
not seem to fit this category; one which would be considered a lust of the flesh, instead. Can you find it?
Its the first one listed after unrighteousness; sexual immorality (fornication). This term is not in the older
manuscripts; it was most likely a late addition, and does not fit Pauls train of thought here.
The rest of the list does, however. There is no particular order to this list, and considerable overlap. The
idea is that this is the unrighteousness that men with debased minds are filled with.

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There is maliciousness wickedness as an evil habit of mind; and wickedness its active outcome; a
desire to hurt others. Murder refers to premeditated malice, which is acted upon. But in this context, it
includes all manslaughter, which was particularly prevalent in Rome assassinations, poisonings, killing of
slaves, even in the name of entertainment.
Then theres covetousness wanting what belongs to others. In a similar way, envy has its eye on what
another has; it is the pain of jealousy experienced by the prosperity or happiness of others.
Strife is contending with others to have ones own will or way; deceit is the trickery of others, by lies and
falsehoods; even fraud.
Evil-mindedness, whisperers and backbiters are related. The evil-minded person takes everything with an
evil connotation and giving a malicious interpretation to the actions of others. A whisperer is a secret
slanderer; a backbiter, one who openly maligns another.
A hater of God is one who is hateful to God; who has no love for Him. This has its effect on others, as
well, for there can be no genuine love of ones fellow man without the love of God.
A violent one refers to an insolent persecutor of others who mistreats them for the pleasure which the
affliction of the wrong brings him.
With the terms proud and boasters, we have the thoughts and the words of those arrogant men whose
hearts are puffed up with inordinate self-esteem.
Inventors of evil things refers to those who create the means for men to indulge their lusts and worldly
desires. The Romans could well attest to this in their city the Coliseum and the baths come readily to
mind.
Disobedient to parents has obvious meaning. In Rome, the duty of honoring parents was actually
enjoined by the laws; an indication that it was necessary to put the power of the state behind parents in
order to get their children to conform to their wishes. Neglect of older parents was a common crime among
all heathen societies.
It would seem that the next four (unforgiving is not in the older manuscripts) are grouped by their like
sound, in the Greek, just as they have in English.
One who is undiscerning cannot comprehend the will of God; he is foolish.
To be untrustworthy refers to those who do not abide by their agreements; they break their contracts.
To be unloving means to be devoid of natural affection. It is the lack of affectionate regard and care of
parents toward children, and vice versa.
It was a common practice among the heathen to expose unwanted children, or put them to death. Among
all the nations of antiquity, the Romans were the most unrelenting of their treatment of infants.
The state sanctioned the destruction of all children that were deformed. And the Roman father had the
absolute right over the life of his child. The Romans regularly starved, exposed, drowned or strangled their
children as they wished.

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To be unmerciful is to lack compassion. It was notable among heathen societies that no provision was
made for the poor of the infirm. Instead, they were cast out, and doomed to depend of the stinted charity of
individuals. Rome was no different.
In general, Pauls list reflects the harm that people do to other people, which was widespread in a godless
culture, such as the pagan Gentiles. But what about the Jews? Would the assembly in Rome have thought
that these things characterized the Jewish culture, as well?
In fact, sins such as greed, jealousy, slander, arrogance and ignorance also occur in Jewish listings of sins
which some Jewish people committed. And surely both Jew and Gentile had seen Jews committing some
of these sins.
But I think that most of Pauls audience would have been assuming that he was continuing to recount the
sins which characterized the Gentiles; and so he was. Paul will later pull the Jews into his argument
specifically.
Paul now returns to the very beginning of his argument (v. 18), and the wrath of God.
v. 32 As Paul has been writing of the rejection of God by all men, and the resultant sin in a society without
God, he has been using the aorist tense, translated in the past tense in English (v.21-31).
But in verse 32, Paul returns to the present tense, which he used in the beginning to describe the wrath of
God, the state of righteous indignation of God, who is revealing Himself to men, but they suppress that
revelation in their minds. Because men do this, they are without excuse (v. 18-20).
Pauls resumption of the present tense is significant here. He is returning now to his original point. His
point is that, just as men have acted upon the unrighteousness that is in them, with their vile practices, God
will act upon the wrath that is within Him, against their sin with His judgment.
Men are without excuse (v. 20); they fully know the righteous judgment of God, that He cannot ignore sin,
or explain it away, or dismiss it despite the fact that they suppress the knowledge of Him, in their minds.
They even know that the sin they are practicing deserves nothing less than the death penalty.
The word translated deserve refers to an estimate or value. It is from a verb which means to weigh.
Man has been weighed in the balances, and has been found wanting, because of his sin. This brings to
mind the constellation of Libra, from the gospel in the stars the scale, with one of its stars meaning, the
Price which is Deficient.
As we mentioned last week, many other signs reveal the certainty that God will judge the wicked with
death. Men have been given that revelation; they are not ignorant; they know. We will see that, later in
Pauls letter, they have another witness to this truth; their inner conscience (Rm 2:14-15).
Paul then makes his final point. Fully knowing that their sin will result in the judgment of death, men do
the same; they continue to practice it anyway. Not only that, but they then aggravate their offense against
God, by encouraging others to practice the same things; that is, they approve of others doing it, meaning
they applaud them.
Is there any room for doubt that our righteous God can and will He must judge the wicked? And yet,
here we are, 2000 years after Paul has written this, living in the midst of this godless, heathen society of our
day.

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They, too, have suppressed what may be known of God, and have chosen to worship the creature rather
than the Creator primarily, worshiping themselves pagan idolaters.
And they, too, are acting out their unrighteousness left and right: homosexuality, fornication, lusts of the
flesh as well as lusts of the mind our culture is filled with this whole catalogue of vice nothing has
changed. Our society is unraveling before our eyes, due to its sin.
But God is longsuffering. He is unwilling that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2
Pet 3:9). He is enduring, with longsuffering, those who will ultimately receive His judgment in order to
extend His mercy and grace to those who will yet believe Him (Rm 9:22-23).
God continued to endure, until we answered His call, and became sons of God arent we thankful? And
so we must, with our God, endure; continuing to extend to mankind Gods offer of reconciliation through
Jesus Christ, so that they, too, might become righteous, and enter His kingdom. Its no less than what Love
would do.
Read Romans over the summer!!!