01/23 Romans 1:25-28
25 They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. 26 That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. 27 And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved.
28 Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done.
EXCHANGED
1. Exchange of Truth for Falsehood
• Humanity knowingly rejected God’s truth and chose to embrace lies, leading to idolatry and spiritual blindness.
2. Worshiping the Created Over the Creator
• Paul critiques the distortion of worship, where humans revere creation rather than the Creator, highlighting the root of spiritual rebellion.
3. God’s Eternal Blessing
• Despite humanity’s rebellion, Paul declares God as “blessed forever,” affirming His unchanging nature and glory.
4. Divine Judgment Through Abandonment
• “God gave them over” indicates God’s response to persistent sin by allowing humans to experience the consequences of their choices.
5. Degrading Passions
• Paul addresses moral and natural order violations, showing how rejecting God leads to corrupted desires and behaviors.
6. Disordered Relationships
• The abandonment of natural relations reflects the broader breakdown of God’s design for human relationships.
7. Penalty of Sin
• The phrase “receiving in their own persons” suggests that sin carries inherent consequences, both spiritual and physical.
8. Rejection of Acknowledging God
• Humanity’s refusal to honor God leads to a depraved mind—a state where moral discernment is lost.
9. Depraved Mind Defined
• A depraved mind is one incapable of aligning with God’s will, resulting in actions contrary to His purposes.
10. Proper vs. Improper
• Paul emphasizes the contrast between what aligns with God’s design and what deviates from it, underscoring the moral implications of rejecting Him.
11. Universal Implications
• This passage reflects the universal condition of humanity under sin, demonstrating the need for redemption through Christ.
12. Hope in the Gospel
• Though this passage highlights judgment, it implicitly points to the hope of restoration through repentance and faith in Jesus.
