The Results of Suppressing God (Romans 1:25-32)
In the past few months, as I've mentioned to people in our church that we were teaching through Romans, one of the comments I've heard repeatedly is, "Wow, so what are you going to say about the end of chapter 1?"
Well, it's here.
Romans 1:26-27 is the longest and clearest statement about same-sex sexual behavior in the New Testament. It's hotly debated online, each word parsed and phrase disputed in light of the current cultural obsession with issues of sexual morality.
While I'm not eager to jump into the fray in the online debates, I do have a burden to help you navigate this as a Christian today. For many in our church, this is a deeply personal and emotional topic, tied to their own sexuality or that of someone they love. And for all of us in this culture, it is something that we are forced to reckon with and determine our own convictions.
Let's approach this Sunday with a high regard for God's Word, a deep humility about our own flawed motivations, and a commitment to Christian charity toward one another.
In Christ,
Pastor Bob
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 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.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and 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.
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. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 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.
- Romans 1:24-32