The Downward Spiral: When God Gives Us What We Want Text: Romans 1:18-32
Introduction: The Inescapable God
Before Paul can lay out for us the glorious remedy of the gospel, he must first give us a thorough and unflinching diagnosis of the disease. We live in an age that does not like to talk about wrath. It is considered impolite, uncivilized, and altogether too severe for our modern sensibilities. But the apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, does not share our squeamishness. He understands that you cannot appreciate the breathtaking beauty of the good news until you have first reckoned with the soul-crushing reality of the bad news. And the bad news is this: the wrath of God is not a future possibility for a select few monsters; it is a present reality being revealed from heaven against every last man, woman, and child who rejects the living God.
This passage is the definitive biblical statement on the universal sinfulness of mankind. It is the great indictment. It explains not only why individuals are lost, but why entire cultures unravel. It shows us that the core of sin is not a simple mistake or a minor infraction, but a deliberate, willful, and energetic rebellion against the plainest of truths. Man's problem is not that he cannot find God, but that he knows God exists and actively works to shove that knowledge down, to hold it underwater where he hopes it will drown. But the truth, as we shall see, is buoyant.
Paul here demolishes the idea that there are any innocent pagans out there, waiting patiently in the jungle for a missionary to arrive. He teaches us that every man knows God. The atheist who stands on a stage and declares his unbelief is not being honest. He is like a man holding an overinflated beach ball underwater with all his might, arms trembling from the strain, all the while inviting you to prove to him that beach balls even exist. He knows they exist. His whole life is structured around the frantic effort of suppression. This passage is God's diagnosis of that frantic effort, and the terrible consequences that follow when God finally decides to let go.
The Text
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions; for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the males abandoned the natural function of the female and burned in their desire toward one another, males with males committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper, having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, violent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
(Romans 1:18-32 LSB)
The Universal Knowledge and Willful Suppression (vv. 18-20)
We begin with the fundamental problem of humanity. It is not ignorance, but rebellion.
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, both His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." (Romans 1:18-20)
Paul says the wrath of God is being revealed. This is a present, ongoing reality. It's not just stored up for the final judgment. It is being poured out now. And it is directed at two things: ungodliness (our vertical rebellion against God) and unrighteousness (our horizontal rebellion against our fellow man). These two always go together.
The central action of sinful man is that he "suppresses the truth." The Greek word here means to hold down, to restrain, to smother. The truth about God is constantly bubbling up in the conscience of every man, and sinful man's primary occupation is to keep that truth from surfacing. He does this "in unrighteousness." His wicked living is the very means by which he tries to silence the truth that condemns his wicked living.
And how does he know this truth? Because God Himself has made it plain. Paul says it is "evident within them." This is not an external clue hunt. God has hardwired the knowledge of Himself into the very fabric of our being. Furthermore, this internal knowledge is confirmed by the external world. "Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes... have been clearly seen." How can you see invisible things? By looking at what He has made. You look at a painting and you know there was a painter. You look at a building and you know there was a builder. You look at the staggering complexity and majesty of creation, from the Andromeda galaxy to the flagellum of a bacterium, and you know there is a Creator. This is not a difficult leap of logic. It is inescapable. Specifically, we see His "eternal power and divine nature." Creation screams that its Maker is powerful and transcendent.
The result of this two-fold witness, internal and external, is that all men "are without excuse." On the day of judgment, no one will be able to plead ignorance. No one will say, "If only I had known." God will simply have to play the tape. The heavens declared His glory every day of their lives, and their own conscience echoed the refrain. They knew, and they chose to suppress what they knew.
The Great Exchange: From Worship to Idolatry (vv. 21-23)
This suppression of the truth is not a passive act. It requires an active exchange. You cannot simply have a God-shaped vacuum in your heart; you must fill it with something.
"For even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the likeness of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." (Romans 1:21-23)
Here is the headwaters of all sin. It begins with two fundamental failures. First, they "did not glorify Him as God." They refused to acknowledge His supremacy and worth. Second, they refused to "give thanks." Ingratitude is the original sin in motion. It is the refusal to live as a creature, dependent on the Creator for every breath and every blessing. When you refuse to honor God and thank Him, you have declared your independence. And that is a declaration of war.
The consequences are immediate and intellectual. They became "futile in their thoughts." Their reasoning became empty, pointless, and detached from reality. When you reject the foundational truth of the universe, God, then nothing else can make sense. Your "foolish heart was darkened." The heart here is the center of the intellect and will. It is not that they lost intelligence; it is that their intelligence was shrouded in moral and spiritual darkness. They could still build bridges and write symphonies, but they could no longer see the meaning of anything.
This leads to the great irony of rebellion. "Professing to be wise, they became fools." This is the story of every secular university, every atheistic philosopher, every proud rebel. In their sophisticated rejection of the God who is there, they become utter fools. And the proof of their folly is the great exchange. They trade the "glory of the incorruptible God" for cheap trinkets. They trade the infinite for the finite, the eternal for the decaying, the Creator for the creature. They fashion gods that look like themselves, or like animals, or bugs. This is not a primitive mistake. This is the inevitable destination of all proud, ungrateful, truth-suppressing hearts. We become what we worship, and when we worship corruptible things, we become corrupt.
The Judicial Abandonment: God Gives Them Over (vv. 24-27)
Here we see the terrifying nature of God's wrath in this age. It is not just a lightning bolt from heaven. It is God giving sinners exactly what they want, to their own ruin.
"Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity... For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator... For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions; for their females exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the males abandoned the natural function of the female and burned in their desire toward one another..." (Romans 1:24-27)
Three times in this section, Paul says, "God gave them over." This is a judicial act. It is a divine sentence. Because they insisted on exchanging the truth for a lie, God hands them over to the consequences of that exchange. The sin itself becomes the judgment. The mercy of God is when we say to Him, "Thy will be done." The wrath of God is when He says to us, "Alright then. Thy will be done."
The first "giving over" is to general impurity, driven by lust. But Paul immediately zeroes in on the canary in the coal mine of a culture under judgment: the corruption of sexuality. When a society begins to celebrate what God has called an abomination, it is a sign that God has taken His hands off. Paul is explicit. This is not a matter of cultural preference or genetic predisposition. He says they "exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural."
The argument here is from creation. It is an appeal to natural law. God designed the world in a certain way. He made them male and female. The plumbing is not complicated. The design is self-evident. To reject this design is to reject the Designer. Paul calls these passions "dishonorable" and the acts "indecent." This is not the language of a man who is confused about the morality of the issue. He says they receive in themselves the "due penalty of their error." This refers not only to the natural consequences of such behavior, but to the spiritual degradation and judgment that it represents. A society that champions this behavior is a society that has been given over by God.
The Depraved Mind and the Catalog of Sin (vv. 28-32)
The downward spiral does not stop with sexual confusion. It metastasizes into every area of life, resulting in a complete breakdown of the social order.
"And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind, to do those things which are not proper..." (Romans 1:28-32)
There is a terrifying wordplay here in the Greek. Because they did not "approve" (dokimazo) of holding God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a "disapproved" (adokimos) mind. Their minds became unfit for their basic purpose, like a warped ruler or a corrupted hard drive. When the mind is given over, the culture is given over. The result is a society that does things which are "not proper," things that are contrary to nature, reason, and God's law.
Paul then unleashes a torrent, a catalog of the sins that pour out from this depraved mind. It is a grim and exhaustive list, covering every kind of wickedness, greed, envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. It describes a society where relationships have completely broken down: gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful. It is a society that has lost its moral compass, becoming "inventors of evil," and has lost its respect for authority, being "disobedient to parents." It is a society of fools, "without understanding," who cannot be trusted, who are "unloving" and "unmerciful." This is not a description of some primitive tribe. This is a description of downtown America on a Tuesday.
And Paul saves the most damning indictment for last:
"...and although they know the righteous requirement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them." (Romans 1:32)
This is the final stage of cultural rot. It is not just that they sin. It is not just that they know better, which they do. Deep down, every man knows that the wages of sin is death. The final step is when the society begins to applaud the sin. They not only practice these things, but they "give hearty approval" to those who do. They throw parades for it. They pass laws to protect it. They teach it to their children in schools. They create movies and songs celebrating it. They cancel and persecute anyone who dares to call it what God calls it. When a culture reaches the point where it applauds its own destruction, it is a sign that the judgment is not coming. The judgment is already here.
The Only Escape
This is a bleak picture. If this were the last word, we would be in utter despair. This is the state of every one of us apart from the grace of God. We have all suppressed the truth. We have all exchanged the glory of God for idols, whether they are made of wood and stone or of ambition, comfort, and self-esteem. We have all been given over to the lusts of our hearts in one way or another.
But this is precisely why the gospel is such glorious news. Paul has spent this chapter showing us the revelation of God's wrath. But just before this, he told us about another revelation: "For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith" (Romans 1:17). The disease is the revelation of wrath. The cure is the revelation of righteousness.
Into this downward spiral of sin and judgment, God sent His Son. Jesus Christ did not suppress the truth; He is the Truth. He did not fail to glorify God; His entire life was an act of perfect worship. He was never ungrateful. He never exchanged the glory of God for a lie. He lived the life of perfect righteousness that we have all failed to live.
And on the cross, He took upon Himself the full measure of the wrath that we deserve for our truth-suppression, our idolatry, our impurity, and our depraved minds. He was "given over" for our transgressions. He endured the ultimate abandonment by God so that we who trust in Him would never have to. God treated Him as if He had lived our sinful life, so that He could treat us as if we had lived Christ's perfect life.
Therefore, the only way out of the downward spiral of Romans 1 is to repent of your sin and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is to stop suppressing the truth and to confess it. It is to turn from your idols and worship the Creator. It is to receive the forgiveness that was purchased at so great a price. When you do, God does not give you over to a depraved mind. He gives you the mind of Christ. He does not give you over to dishonorable passions. He gives you a new heart with new, holy desires. He reverses the curse. That is the good news, and it is the only hope for a world under wrath.