“They exchanged God’s truth for a lie and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason, God delivered them to degrading passions as their females exchanged their natural sexual function for one that is unnatural. In the same way, their males also abandoned their natural sexual function toward females and burned with lust toward one another. Males committed indecent acts with males and received within themselves the appropriate penalty for their perversion.”
Rom 1:25-27 (ISV)
An Italian Proverb says, “The workman is known by his work.” In other words, a carpenter builds things, a mechanic fixes stuff that no longer runs, and sinners sin. Verse 25 of our text continues from verse 24, which says, “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves.” Paul continues in verse 25 with the reason God gave them up to the lusts of their hearts. They had exchanged the truth about God for a lie.
To better understand this portion of scripture, we need to go back to verse 18. God’s wrath is revealed to those who suppress the truth. Creation itself shows the attributes of God. But, Paul focuses on the fact that those in Rome worshiped creation instead of God. There seems to be a sequence that happens when we entertain lies and the development of the basest forms of human degeneration. Consider the words of Psalms 14:1, which says, “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt; they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.”
The problem with worshipping creation is that it denies God and degrades the idea of His invisible attributes, eternal power, and divine nature. Paul points out that when they reject God and worship and serve the creature, He turns them over to their own hearts’ lust and debauchery. He left them where they had placed themselves, in “the fatal region of self-will, self-indulgence;” “unto uncleanness,” “to dishonor their bodies,” the intended temples of the Creator’s presence.
The lusts of their hearts tell us where the problem lies. Dishonoring God led to the disgracing of themselves. A man cannot be delivered up to greater slavery than to be given up to his lusts.