Romans 1:26: For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
God gave them over to shameful lusts (lit., “passions of disgrace”). This involved, as the text states, both sexes engaging in homosexual instead of heterosexual relationships. Women deliberately exchanged natural relations (with men in marriage) for unnatural ones (with other women). 1
C. S. Lewis wrote:
If anyone thinks that Christians regard unchastity as the supreme vice, he is quite wrong. The sins of the flesh are bad, but they are the least bad of all sins. All the worst pleasures are purely spiritual. The pleasure of putting other people in the wrong, of bossing and patronizing and spoiling sport, and backbiting; the pleasure of power, of hatred. For there are two things inside me competing with the human self which I must try to become: they are the animal self, and the diabolical self: and the diabolical self is the worst of the two. That is why a cold, self-righteous prig, who goes regularly to church, may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute. But of course, it’s better to be neither. 2
Application
- We honor God with the way we use our bodies.
- Remember, for Christians, our bodies are a temple for the presence of God. When we sin against our bodies, He is in the midst of that sin.
Prayer
Lord, purify my passions.
1. Walvoord, John F., & Zuck, R. B., Dallas Theological Seminary. (1985). The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
2. Hughes, R. K. (1991). Romans: righteousness from heaven. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
