Hillcrest Evangelical Free Church

Pastor Curt's Sermons

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Depravity Unleashed -- Romans 1:24-32

We’ve come to a quite disturbing section in Paul’s letter to the Romans. Actually, this whole first point from 1:18 to 3:20 is disturbing. It deals with the fact that "We are all bad, we are all bad, and we all deserve to die!" I’d say that is disturbing. That is why I want to so quickly follow it up with "There’s hope for bad people through faith in Jesus Christ," the theme of the second section. It also leads us to the theme of the whole book, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ " There’s the good news, but as we saw last week, in order for it to be good news, there had to be bad news before it. We are in that "bad news" section of the book of Romans.

But in the passage before us, there is something even more disturbing than the rest. This passage deals with sexual perversion. Perhaps I should have given a forewarning for this morning so you could have planned to be out of town. But if you have been keeping up with where we are in the text, you already know what’s coming!

The issue that makes this a controversial text is that one type of sexual perversion is picked out among all of them, homosexuality. And it is done in a way that is clear and condemning. In today’s society, such an understanding is so out of favor that it borders on hate speech. In fact, I’m not sure I could legally preach this sermon in Canada , because of its laws against such hate speech.

And yet, I want you to know from the outset that this sermon is not really about homosexuality. I am convinced that homosexuality is used as an example, an example that any thinking person can recognize on its face. In other words, in making his larger point, Paul gives an example we all would recognize, even those who understand little about God. Here is what I believe is Paul’s larger point:

Main Point: As we refuse to give glory to God and glorify anything else, He gives us over to depravity unleashed.

When we choose to exchange worship of the true God for worship of anything else, God then gives us what is due us. He withdraws His protecting hand and sends us off in the direction we seek to go. When that happens, we end up in depravity unleashed, things like homosexuality and a whole host of other sins that are piled on at the end of the passage.

So, as we read and study this text, keep in mind the larger point: this is what you end up with when you do not honor God as you should and put something, anything else in His place. I would like to begin reading at v.21 for a bit of context, even though our study begins with v.24. READ 1:21-32. (3 parts)

1. When you exchange the truth of God for a lie, God gives you over to your worst desires. vv. 24-25

I think it is important as begin our detailed look at the text to see a two-fold pattern repeated three times. There are two repeated phrases in this text, "they exchanged" and "God gave them over." Notice the sequence. In v.23, we read "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man…" Next we have in v.24, "Therefore God gave them over." That’s one cycle of the pattern. The same thing is repeated in v.25, "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie," followed in v.26 by "Because of this God gave them over to shameful lusts." Second cycle. Later in that same verse "Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones." Followed in v.28 by, "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind…" Third cycle.

Can you see the pattern? When mankind exchanges right with wrong, good with bad, God responds by giving them over to depravity. But as we see in v.24, even when He gives them over, He gives them over to their own sinful desires. And this point is key. It is not that He invents something to punish them with, He lets go of them as they earnestly try to run away from Him. That is the picture I see here.

As we just saw, the first exchange was the glory of the immortal God for the images of mortal man, etc. In other words, instead of glorifying God and basking in His glory, they settled for glorifying mortal man and getting nothing from him in return. They chose idolatry over worship of God.

Thus in v.24, God gave them over to their sinful desires which spring from their (darkened) hearts to sexual impurity. The first sin of idolatry led to an unleashing of the second sin, sexual impurity prompted by unbridled lust. There is the pattern. Its as if God said to them, "OK, so you won’t acknowledge that I am the Creator of the universe, the LORD of heaven and earth. OK, so you think it wise to worship something or someone other than me. Fine, be that way. Here’s what you get. I’m going to let you go to your heart’s desires. Just know, its not a pretty picture. Your heart’s desires are not pure and good, but dark and evil. Here, this is what you get when I take my protecting hand off of you."

"for the degrading of their bodies with one another."—Their desires were toward degrading, not holiness. Instead of lifting them up, their desires unleashed led to rampant degradation.

v.25- "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen." In this case, the exchange was what was clearly true (as evidenced by what could be seen about God just by looking around) for a lie, or literally in this text "the" lie, the ultimate lie: that something or someone else was to be regarded as god. They worshiped the created rather than the Creator, just as we saw in v.23.

Thus, the ultimate sin is: not worshipping God or worshipping something other than God, worshipping the created rather than the Creator, exchanging the truth for the lie. When you do that, God gives you over to the sinful desires of your heart and you end up doing all kinds of nasty things.

Now, if you were there when we worshipped in our new facility, I made a big deal out of the fact that there in Ephesus was a temple to the goddess Diana. Do you remember that? Well, guess what. The letter to the Romans was written (best evidence) from Corinth . And what do you suppose was in Corinth ? The temple to the goddess Aphrodite. And what do you suppose was the prominent feature of worship in the temple to Aphrodite? Cult prostitutes, over 1,000 of them. So, as Paul is writing this book, this chapter, he undoubtedly had in his mind his own setting, this renowned temple to the goddess of sex, with 1,000 prostitutes of all persuasions waiting to greet you as you came to worship. Are you catching the picture here? Can you see why he puts together sexual sin with idolatry? It was the clearest example you could get from his own day. Corinth was not unique. Pagan faiths often connect worship with sexuality. Easter started as a fertility celebration. You want to be fruitful, so you appeal to the gods of fertility.

But though it may have been common, it was far from innocent or inconsequential. Worship in this form was degrading to that which was designed to be holy. Worship in this form unleashed all sorts of depravity. Worship in this form was not high and lofty, but played to our basest instincts. Worship in this form became all about us and nothing about God. When you go down this road of idolatry, you deserve what’s coming to you.

Instead of worshipping the Creator, who is forever praised, Amen, they worshipped their own body and its sinful lusts. And so, He gave them over. Result? All kinds of degrading sin. Just look at Corinth .

2. Such sexual perversions are clearly against nature and nature’s God. vv. 26-27

Notice in these verses the appeal to nature, to the natural. This is no insignificant point. It takes us back to verse 20 and the fact that God has made clear in nature who was God. So, when you see something so clearly against nature, it is just as clearly an act of rebellion against nature’s God and carries the penalty due that rebellion. Example? Homosexuality.

v.26- "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones."— Again we see this combination of God giving them over, but giving them over to their own lusts. He lets go His grip on them and they engage in all sorts of perversions. We will see in v.27 clear evidence that this can be taken in no other way than homosexuality, here women with women, there men with men. But I want you to see that the context is not a condemnation of the particular sin, but an explanation of how this sin is an example from a host of sins, and how it fits into the bigger picture. The basic sin is believing the lie instead of the truth, putting something in the place of God. When that happens, God gives you over to your desires. Results? All kinds of shameful behavior that even a blind person can see. Example? Homosexuality.

Even today, in our enlightened, sexually tolerant society, those involved with homosexuality make the point that it is not a choice, indeed it is not something anyone would choose. Now, we can debate that issue on good merits. But why would even participants make the point that no one would choose homosexuality, that they were born that way? Precisely for the reason Paul uses it as an example. It disgusts us. It blows our minds. It goes against everything we know to be true. It brings with it condemnation from everywhere. It is a miserable way of life.

Those engaged in such behavior who also claim Christ so often tell of praying for years that God would change them, make them heterosexual. They are miserable, they feel trapped in a way of life that separates them from everyone else. Or, in the words of our text, it goes against nature (and nature’s God). This is not the way God designed it. You don’t look around and see this as a natural, normal, alternative lifestyle. My dog has no inclinations toward this way of life. Everyone can see that. It is clear. It is so clear it proves Paul’s point. God has let go and allowed sinful desires to take their own course. When He lets go, this is what you get. Its wrong and shameful, even to those who do not know God. That’s the point I want you to see.

v.27- "In the same way, the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversions."— I don’t think there would be a way to write it more clearly. Don’t let anyone try to tell you that the Bible does not see homosexual behavior as sinful. That is the only self evident conclusion of a study of this text. It is sinful and carries the due penalty.

I once read a commentary on this passage from an apologist of homosexuality who explained that going against nature here meant going against one’s nature, meaning a homosexual person trying to be heterosexual, or a heterosexual person trying to become homosexual. Oh, please! The text is clear. Women with women, men with men, committing indecent, shameful acts, abandoning the natural function of the opposite sex for the unnatural function of their own sex, that is what this text is about.

There is much more that could be said about this particular sin, but I wish to make just one more point about it which fits into Paul’s bigger point. Once you abandon God’s design in nature and live without limits and without God’s protection, there is no bottom to the depravity. People who are committed to faithfulness in marriage have one partner. Those who go outside of marriage often have not two but many. But people who cross the boundary of homosexuality do not have one or even a few partners, but research shows us they average about 1 new partner a week, hundreds over a lifetime. Why this disparity? Why so many partners? Clearly, it is a sign of a deeper problem. The sin is not the problem, the sin is a sign of a deeper problem. The deeper problem is not having God in His proper place and receiving the help of His restraining hand. Without His restraining hand, look out!

Know that every boundary you cross comes with it a darkening of the heart and a giving over by God to more and more sin. It is a bottomless pit. We see that in all sin, we can see it perhaps most clearly in sexual sin. Example? Homosexuality.

III. When God gives over your minds to depravity, it unleashes a whole host of sin. vv. 28-32

This is where Paul makes sure we understand this is not about one particular sin, but indeed there could be a host of examples. This paragraph contains the longest New Testament list of sins. We will not spend time dissecting each one, but I hope the effect is still clear. This is what you end up with when God gives you over to your sinful desires.

v.28- "Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, He gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done."— Notice he once again points them to his first point. They knew the truth about God, but they exchanged the truth for the lie. Mankind’s basic problem is not treating God like God. They threw out their knowledge of God, so He threw out their mental stop signs. Their thinking about Him was messed up, so He gave them messed up minds about other things. And this is what you get when that happens: they do all sorts of things they ought not do.

Vv. 29-31 "They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder strife deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless." Notice they do not just do these things, they are filled with such things. When God gives them over, they go off the deep end, depravity unleashed. The thing I like most about this list is that it contains all sorts of sins, putting them on equal ground. Can you believe it, they are even disobedient to parents! In fact, I think Paul makes it clear even this list is not complete, "they invent ways of doing evil!" They don’t have the good and they are filled with the bad of every sort.

Vv. 31-32 "Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."— Instinctively, all of us know that doing wrong carries the penalty of death, that a God so powerful as to create the heavens and earth allows for no free lunch. We rebel against Him at our peril. But instead of seeking forgiveness from that God, we go out and do bad things all the more. That is the human predicament. In fact, not only do we continue to engage in such things, we promote those who join us. We lift up our sinful way of life. Isn’t that the truth? We lift up those who do the same things we do. We try to convince everyone that such things are not wrong, that such behavior is simply misunderstood, that there are benefits and joys from doing so. You could make such a case with any sin, from gossip to disobedience to parents, to homosexuality. Sinners want to feel good about their sin and they want company.

So, if this is the Word of God, what should be different about our lives?

1) Well there is a whole list of sins here. Choose your favorite ones and don’t do them. Don’t encourage others to do them. Don’t rationalize them in your mind as being OK. Instead, see such things as the fruit of depraved thinking, not part of who you are but hurdles to overcome.

2) When it comes to "sexual preference", remember that God does indeed have a voice on the issue. His "sexual preference" is purity outside of marriage and faithfulness in marriage: one man, one woman married for life. That is God’s "sexual preference." All others are shameful perversions.

3) Yet, we must not view this sin apart or differently from other sins. It is but a clear example of how things work. Do we segregate socially from gossips or liars or those disobedient to parents? Do we view them as lepers to be avoided? Then we ought not either those caught up in sexual sin, or particular sexual sins. Instead, we ought to seek to help them as one sinner to another, helping them find the same gospel and its freedom we have found, showing them the compassion we have sought from others.

4) More than all this, we will see the connection between sin we can see and the sin that is underneath it all. The sin we can see is simply a reflection of the fact that we have failed to have God in His place, we have exchanged the immortal for the mortal, the truth for the lie, the natural for the unnatural. If we are going to live by the truth of this passage, then we must make the most of our knowledge of God, treating Him as who He is: the Creator, the LORD of heaven and earth. Anything less than that will result in depravity unleashed. Amen?