SERMON: The Reality of Divine Retribution

Romans 1:24-27

Twin City Bible Church | twincitybible.org/media/sermons/

1. The Repetition of the Root of All Sin

• “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.” (Romans 1:25)
• “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer…” (Romans 1:28)
• “They know the ordinance of God…” (Romans 1:32)

At the core of divine retribution is the deliberate rejection of truth. Sin begins with an exchange—trading the truth of God for a lie, elevating the created above the Creator. It is not ignorance, but willful defiance. The downward spiral of depravity begins when people no longer "see fit" to acknowledge God.

2. The Repetition of the Phrase "God Gave Them Over"

• Found in Romans 1:24, 26, 28

The terrifying reality of divine judgment is not always fire from heaven or catastrophic calamity—it is often the silent and chilling act of God handing people over to the consequences of their sin. When God removes His restraining hand, the descent into corruption accelerates. The worst thing that can happen to a society is for God to say, "Have it your way."

What Does God Turn Ungodly People Over To?

I. Perverted Carnality

• “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity…” (Romans 1:24)
• Ephesians 4:19 – Gentiles have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
• 2 Corinthians 12:21 – Paul fears he will mourn over those who have not repented of impurity, immorality, and sensuality.
• Galatians 5:19 – “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality…”

First in the list of divine judgments is perverted carnality—rampant sexual impurity, unfettered lust, and unchecked indulgence in immorality. This is not an isolated issue but the first clear indicator that a society has been abandoned by God.

• “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions…” (Romans 1:26)
• Colossians 3:5 and 1 Thessalonians 4:5 refer to passions in this context.

Daniel Doriani: “If I want to punch someone in the face because he proves me wrong in a discussion, that desire is evil and sinful, even if I don't act on it. If the thought enters my mind and I immediately reject and repudiate it, we call that a temptation resisted. As Paul assures us, when temptation comes, God will also provide the way of escape” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

Sin does not begin with actions but with desires. The modern world insists that desires are neutral or even good, but Scripture makes it clear—there are evil desires, and when God hands people over, He does so at the level of desire itself.

• “Their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another…” (Romans 1:26-27)
• Genesis 1:27 – God created them male and female.
• Matthew 19:4-5 – “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female…”

Homosexuality is explicitly described as both unnatural and a result of divine judgment. It is not merely "another sin," but a particularly clear evidence of God handing people over to their depravity. It is the ultimate distortion of God’s created order, an outright rejection of His design for human sexuality.

• Genesis 19:1-28 – The account of Sodom and Gomorrah.
• Leviticus 18:22 – “You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.”
• Leviticus 20:13 – A detestable act punishable by death in Old Testament law.

The moral revulsion toward homosexuality in Scripture is not a product of "cultural bias" but a reflection of divine wrath. Sodom and Gomorrah were not merely destroyed for a vague kind of "inhospitality," as some revisionists claim, but for their egregious perversion and sexual sin.

• 1 Corinthians 7:1-7 – Paul affirms the honorableness of heterosexual relationships.
• Hebrews 13:4 – “The marriage bed is to be undefiled…”

Luke Timothy Johnson (Commonweal, June 11, 2007):

• “I have little patience with efforts to make scriptures say something other than what it says, through appeals to linguistic or cultural subtleties. The exegetical situation is straightforward: we know what the text says. But what are we to do with what the text says?”
• “I think it important to state clearly that we do, in fact, reject the straightforward commands of scripture, and appeal instead to another authority when we declare that same-sex unions can be wholly and good.”
• “We appeal explicitly to the weight of our own experience... By so doing, we explicitly reject as well the premises of the scriptural statements condemning homosexuality.”

Here is a man who openly admits that Scripture condemns homosexuality but then rejects it anyway, choosing instead to elevate human experience above the authority of God. This is not a case of "misinterpretation" or "misunderstanding"—it is sheer rebellion, clothed in academic sophistication. Johnson is at least honest in his defiance, unlike many who twist the Bible to say what it clearly does not. His argument is not an argument at all—it is a confession that experience, not Scripture, is his highest authority.

• “Receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.” (Romans 1:27)
• 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 – The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God, listing fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, and swindlers.

This is not merely "unfortunate" or "problematic"—it is divine justice. Those who persist in sin, particularly in sexual perversion, will bear the full weight of God's wrath, both in this life and the next.

Final Points: Speaking Plainly on Sin and Redemption

1. Speak Plainly About What Scripture Says on This Topic.
• The truth must not be softened to accommodate cultural sensitivities.
2. Speak Plainly About Our Own Sin.
• 1 Peter 4:17 – Judgment begins with the household of God.
• The church must not be silent about sin within its own walls.
3. Speak Plainly About Sin Beginning with Desires.
• Colossians 3:5 – Sin begins in the heart, not merely in actions.
4. Speak Plainly About the Remedy for All Sin.
• Romans 8:32 – Redemption is available for all who repent.

Sin, no matter how severe, is not beyond Christ’s redemption. But redemption is only for those who turn away from sin—not for those who redefine it or refuse to acknowledge its reality.