Homosexuality a degrading passion - New Testament Book of Romans
Before Paul can proclaim the good news of redemption in Jesus Christ, he must establish the need of that redemption. So the beginning of the letter that epitomizes the good news begins with two and a half chapters of bad news. These initial chapters of Romans provide an unquestionable demonstration of the sinfulness of man.
It is in the context of this necessary presentation of man’s need that we find the key texts that come into play in the debate over homosexuality. But it should be emphasized that these verses do not exist in a vacuum. They cannot be separated out and considered without realizing that they are a part of an entire presentation. And this presentation is one that confirms, beyond question, the essential correctness of the view Christians have held from the beginning: that Paul singles out homosexuality in Romans 1:26–27 as an illustration of the judgment of God upon those who refuse to acknowledge His lordship over their lives.
To establish the unquestionable nature of the argument, we must begin where Paul begins. Upon announcing the topic of his letter, the gospel (Romans 1:16–17), he turns immediately to the subject of why the gospel is so vital. Romans 1:18 reads,
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
Men need deliverance from the wrath of God. This wrath is being revealed from heaven in an ongoing fashion, not merely against gross sin and immorality, but against “all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” As God is holy, His wrath comes upon everything that is not holy, all ungodliness and unrighteousness.
The depth of man’s sin is only increased by the description Paul gives of man’s culpability. Man is not the ignorant innocent who should not be held accountable or who can offer an excuse. No, man suppresses the truth.
The term is rich, in that we cannot suppress something that we do not already possess. Men are involved in suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. It should be emphasized that man’s relationship to truth is not a neutral or “secondary” issue. To suppress the truth is a wicked act; it is an act of rebellion against one’s Creator. Despite the popularity of the view in Western culture today, it is not a biblical belief to view truth as a neutral, non-moral issue.
The suppression of truth is sinful. Giving positive assent to error as an act of suppression is sinful as well. This truth is rarely understood—oftentimes even this is suppressed.
Paul explains the basis of his assertion when he writes, “Because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them” (Romans 1:19).
God’s wrath is just and holy, for it comes upon those who have no excuse. God has actively revealed himself to those who are busily doing all they can to suppress that knowledge: “That which is known about God is evident within them.” Some see this as referring to “within each individual” as one who is created by God, and therefore unable to escape God’s revelation in our own person, while others see this as referring to within “them” as a group, i.e., within creation and society as a whole. Both are true as Paul goes on to explain:
Two vital elements of God’s existence have been clearly revealed through creation itself: His eternal power and His divine nature. While this is surely not an exhaustive revelation of all there is to know about God (such is found solely in Christ, who is the “exact representation” of the Father’s nature, Hebrews 1:3), it is sufficient to hold all mankind accountable, rendering humanity “without excuse,” or more literally, “without a defense.”
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.
The clarity of the revelation of the existence of the divine and powerful God who has made us brushes all excuses of ignorance aside. Man knows, but man suppresses. He knows he is accountable to God, and owes to God a debt of honor and gratitude for life itself, but he refuses to give it. Paul continues,
21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
Suppression is displayed in the form of twisting, as man, knowing he should honor the God who made him and give thanks for the many blessings he provides, substitutes futile, foolish speculations in the place of the knowledge of God. This results in a “twistedness” that marks all of human experience. They profess wisdom, but, since fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10), they are, in reality, fools. This perversity (claiming what one does not possess, namely, wisdom) leads to the twisting of man himself. The first element of this twisting is religious in nature.
It is natural for man to worship. But when man rebels and refuses to give that worship to the only one worthy of it, God the Creator, he does not cease to worship. Instead, man engages in idolatry, the giving of that which rightfully and solely belongs to God to anything in the created order. For while those who worship in spirit and truth revel in the glory of their God, those who refuse to give Him His due honor are left “exchanging” that glory for a cheap imitation, mere images of the creation itself and not the Creator. The exchange is a poor one, of course. Only a twisted person who is seeking to suppress the knowledge of God would make it. And yet, that is what man does.
We should emphasize the fact that idolatry does not require one to bow down before a hideous idol in the dark recesses of the earth. Idolatry expresses itself in many ways. The person who idolizes science, technology, or human philosophy is engaging in idolatry. The persons giving their time and energy to fulfilling their own selfish lusts engage in idolatry as well. Idolatry speaks to the entirety of man’s activities wherein he seeks to express his natural urge to worship outside of the parameters God has established (Colossians 3:5).
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 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.
Verse 24 introduces the result of man’s twisted refusal to honor God and the resultant descent into idolatry: God “gives them over.” This is a judicial act on God’s part. In essence He says, “If what you wish is to wallow in your sin, then your punishment will be to do just that, for your sin will consume you.”
The cycle of sin is vicious, and outside of grace, unending. What was once an attraction becomes a degrading addiction.
The man and woman caught in the trap of sin are dishonored by their servitude to its power. And while the attitudes described so far have existed primarily in the mind (suppression, idolatry), man is a single unit. The mind that dwells upon dishonorable thoughts will result in a body that is dishonored in the actions that flow from such a mindset. People who rebel against God eventually find themselves freed to revel in their rebellion, to their demise.
Verse 25 reminds us of what brings this kind of judgment from God. The theme of twisting and exchange is repeated. These people have exchanged what they possessed naturally—the truth of God (v. 20)—for a lie, or more literally, for the lie. This is a “deal” they desperately want, for the truth of God tortures their conscience, and they will seek any kind of remedy to silence its voice. Though man was not made to tell, or embrace, untruth, in his rebellion he sets his affections upon what is unnatural: a lie.
And while he knows it is a lie, he prefers the lie to the truth that brings conviction of his rebellion and sin. He works to convince himself he loves this lie, and in time, he is successful.
The worship and service of man’s soul, that insatiable religious nature of the creature made in God’s image, cannot avoid the twisting that sin brings. As we already noted, man will worship, but when he is actively involved in suppressing the truth about God, that worship will be focused anywhere but upon the true and living God. And so that which is created worships and serves that which is likewise created, all in the effort to avoid recognizing the blessed Creator. The twistedness becomes blatant and increasingly reprehensible.
This then provides the context to the two key verses:
26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
These verses form a single sentence, connected directly to the preceding words by “for this reason.” Paul does not depart from his theme at this point. These verses are not some separated, a-contextual leap into another subject. The theme continues without a break. But here Paul teaches that because of the idolatry of mankind God gives men over to “degrading passions” (NASB), “shameful lusts” (NIV), “vile passions” (NKJV).
However the phrase is translated, it obviously refers to desires and passions that are dishonorable and indicative of God’s judgment upon those who indulge in selfish, lustful behavior. Paul then gives a fitting example of these “degrading passions,” one that illustrates “twistedness” at the very core of human identity.
He first mentions lesbianism, describing, clearly, adult, mutual lesbian activity. This is seen in the description given in both verses 26 and 27, for verse 27 begins with “and in the same way,” indicating that the description of male homosexual activity in that verse is parallel to the lesbian activity in verse 26. Hence, the description of lesbianism as “against nature” in verse 26 would apply to male homosexuality as well, and the description of mutuality and “indecent acts” in verse 27 would apply to lesbian activity as well.
There is a note of sadness in Paul’s words, “for even their women …” (NIV and NKJV). The female, as a result of the twistedness of sin, exchanges the “natural sexual function” (the most basic meaning of the words Paul uses) for that which is “against nature.” This is a voluntary act. These women exchange the natural function for that which is against nature.
There is choice involved here, a choice that expresses the twistedness of the rebellion against the Creator that Paul is illustrating. The “natural sexual function” is still known to these women, but they choose to “exchange” it. Paul uses the very same term he had used in the preceding verse, “exchanging the truth of God for the lie,” so obviously this exchange carries the same negative character: the exchange of God’s truth for a lie is the same as exchanging the natural sexual use for the unnatural. The choice is purposeful in the first, and it is in the second as well.
The meaning of “against nature” is defined by the context. The word translated “sexual function” is not ambiguous or questionable. The conjunction of the word for “natural” is likewise clear, and the resulting phrase “natural sexual function” is easily understood both by Paul’s original audience and by any unbiased person today. He is referring to the way God created human beings, male and female, and the sexual union that takes place between a man and a woman. This is what has been “exchanged” in the downward spiral of sinfulness. God created women with a natural sexual function. When one rebels against God’s truth and exchanges it for a lie, that lie impacts everything else in one’s life. The natural function is exchanged for that which is against nature, that is, unnatural, against the created order.
Verse 27 is a continuation of the same thought. It begins “in the same way,” tying the two verses together without question. Verse 26 spoke of “the women,” and verse 27 begins “the men.” The men “abandoned” or “left” the “natural use” of the woman. Paul uses the same words here he used of lesbianism: these men have abandoned (another word signifying choice) the natural sexual use of the woman (“natural relations,” NIV). God’s intention in the sexual expression of His creatures is to be between a man and a woman, just as it was with Adam and Eve. This is the natural sexual function. But these men abandon this. They know what it is, but they reject it, they leave” it.
Paul’s description of homosexuality is clear and without compromise. “They burned in their desire toward one another” (NASB) is rendered by the NIV, “were inflamed with lust for one another.” Both terms speak clearly of sexual lust and desire. These desires are consuming. Such would point us toward an ongoing lifestyle, not a single incident of sexual debauchery. And these desires are mutual. The desire goes both ways, one homosexual man desiring another, and vice-versa. This point is important to remember in reference to revisionist attempts to blunt the force of this passage.
The mutuality of this desire is emphasized by the phrase “men with men.” The apostle leaves no doubt as to his reference: adult homosexuals. And these are active men: They act upon their desires, accomplishing what Paul identifies as literally “the shameful deed,” or as it is rendered by the NASB and NIV, “indecent acts.” The term comes from an old word that referred to something as “deformed,” and hence flows into the concept of perversion and deviation that is part and parcel of this section of the chapter. There is no possible way of reading this term as referring to anything neutral or simply “unusual” or “out of the norm.” Paul views homosexual activity as shameful or indecent.
This fact is further proven by the final phrase of verse 27. He writes, “and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.” Man cannot expect to engage in deviant activity without receiving the “due penalty.” While interpreters differ over the extent and meaning of the “penalty” and how it is received “in their own persons,” a number of facts are beyond question.
First, the fact that a “penalty” or “punishment” is attached to the “error” of performing these “shameful deeds” reinforces the understanding that these are sinful deeds, worthy of retribution.
Second, this is a “due” or “necessary” punishment; it is fitting that such deeds receive a penalty: God’s justice demands that the twisting of His created order receive a punitive response.
Third, their “error” is not merely a “miscalculation” as we might use the term “error” today. Indeed, a better rendering of this term, which often is used in the New Testament to refer to being misled or drawn from the right path, is “perversion,” just as the NIV renders it, “the due penalty for their perversion.”
Again, opinions differ as to what receiving the penalty due to their error “in their own persons” means. Some believe, along with John Chrysostom, one of the leading commentators of the early Christian church, that the penalty referred to in this passage is the sexual perversion itself.
It becomes a cycle, the sin degrading the sinner who is trapped by his or her own lusts. Others believe this to refer to their final punishment, which they will receive “in their own persons”—the penalty due their blatant violation of God’s will.
Of course, with the spread of the AIDS epidemic, many have attempted to connect this passage with the disease. AIDS, however, impacts non-homosexual offenders as well, and not every homosexual offender receives this punishment. From Paul’s perspective, whatever this punishment is, all those who engage in this behavior receive the due penalty for their perversion.
Since we do not have an utterance from God as to a one-to-one correspondence between homosexual behavior and AIDS, we must be careful about making definitive assertions about their correlation.
However, we can assuredly declare that all sin, since it is destructive to individuals and societies, does deserve—and often receives—frightful and deadly penalties; God does judge sinners, He reveals His wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. The fact that some non-homosexuals have AIDS does nothing to overturn the fact of God’s holy wrath being exercised against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. Sin, especially that of a public nature, affects others, and often the penalty affects others too.… Jeremiah, for instance, was swept away in Babylonian captivity.
The next verses continue on without any hint of a break or discontinuity of thought. In fact, the theme of judicial “giving over” of rebel sinners continues uninterrupted as well. And while the length of the passage obscures this fact, we have here a single sentence, and the final thought is connected directly to everything that came before, including 1:26–27:
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance 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.
Verse 28 repeats the idea of judgment coming upon those who are involved in that suppression of knowledge with which Paul began his discussion (1:18). Before he described the result of this suppression as foolishness and darkness. Now he says that God gives men over to a “depraved mind,” resulting in the catalog of sins that comes in verses 29 through 31.
Though created in the image of God, the very crowning jewel of creation itself, man is so twisted as to rebel against His Maker, banish fear of God from his mind, and engage in behavior that he knows is contrary to the law of the One who formed and made him.
Verse 32 is not only a summary of the preceding clauses of the single sentence that makes up 1:28–32, but of the entire section. Sin has so twisted the mind of man that even when he knows full well the result of his actions, he not only willfully chooses to continue in them but is also active in encouraging the very same insanity among his fellow creatures!
The guilty man on death row, fully knowing his condemnation, often continues in his life of crime and tries to get as many as he can to join him! How consistent is man in sin: from suppression of truth to the final result of self-destruction in the face of certain judgment. The one created in the image of God, knowing full well the righteousness of God’s condemnation of sin, rushes blindly on, striving to drag as many as possible with him. In this passage of Scripture we see twistedness in the harshest light of reality.
Thus we see the plain teaching of the apostle. These words have been understood to express God’s disapproval of all of the aforementioned sins and transgressions, including homosexuality, down through the centuries since the founding of the Christian church.
And yet today many seek to deflect the weight of these words in the most novel ways. We now turn to the vindication of the text (for surely, given the clarity of the passage, any revision of its teaching requires a fundamental attack upon it as well) and the refutation of the attempts of revisionists to remove this passage from the body of revelation that should guide our understanding of God’s will for our lives.
White, J. R., & Niell, J. D. (2002). The Same Sex Controversy: Defending and Clarifying the Bible’s Message about Homosexuality (pp. 110–123). Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers.
