Romans 1:19-20 says that God has and is clearly revealing Himself to people everywhere: OUTWARDLY, through His majestic creation and INWARDLY, through an inner awareness of God, a conscience and moral code; written on every person’s heart by God Himself. Regardless of when or where a person has lived, every person knows there is a God, because God has revealed Himself and therefore, we are without excuse.
Unfortunately, people suppress the truth of God (v.20-23) because they don’t want to be accountable to God. They exchange God for counterfeit idols, and the truth of God with lies, because they do not want to worship or follow God.
When people suppress the truth of God and replace God with earthly idols, three things happen:
- God’s wrath is revealed or unleashed;
- The thinking and rationale of those who reject God becomes foolish
- Their lives begin to spiral downward into a selfish, sinful, self-centered and hedonistic way of life.
This moral decline happens as a result of God ‘giving them over’ which is the topic we will explore as we look deeper into verses 24-32. What does ‘giving them over’ mean? How does God give them over? What does Paul mean by sexual impurity, shameful lusts and a depraved mind?