“Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves” (Romans 1:24).
Thus far in Romans chapter one, Paul the Apostle has established several links that unite an attitude or behavior with an associated consequence. For example, God expresses His wrath against those who choose to suppress the truth in unrighteousness (verse eighteen). In addition, those who reject the existence of God are without excuse since His attributes are clearly seen in the created realm (verses nineteen and twenty).
In verse twenty-one, Paul explained that a refusal to acknowledge God leads to futility. Finally, those who professed to be wise ultimately exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for images of His creation. In doing so, they became fools (verses twenty-two and twenty-three). Here now in verse twenty-four, our author introduces another related consequence: God responds to those who take such actions by “giving them up” to their preferences.
This act of “giving them up” communicates the idea of someone who is surrendered into one’s power or use. (1) When people habitually reject and dishonor God, He may opt to withdraw from them and permit them to dishonor themselves. This is a form of judgment in itself; God delivers them over (the judicial decision) to the degrading and shameful desires of their hearts (the corresponding sentence). In one sense, it is almost as if God says to the unrighteous, “If that’s the way you want it to be, I’m going to let you do what you want.”
So, the decision to reject God did not lead these individuals to become more virtuous or honorable human beings. On the contrary, that decision led to dishonor and a multitude of destructive behaviors that our author will catalog in the closing verses of this chapter. God did not initiate that chain of events but “steps aside” to permit the unrighteous to follow the path they have chosen…
“Paul clearly portrays the inevitable downward spiral into sin. First, people reject God; next, they make up their own ideas of what a god should be and do; then they fall into every kind of wickedness: greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. Finally, they grow to hate God and encourage others to do so. God does not cause this steady progression toward evil. Rather, when people reject him, he allows them to live as they choose. God gives them over to or permits them to experience the natural consequences of their sin.” (2)
(1) G3860 – paradidomi – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (kjv). (n.d.). Blue Letter Bible. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3860/kjv/tr/0-1/
(2) Life Application Study Bible [Romans 1:21-32] Copyright © 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996, 2004 by Tyndale House Publishers Inc., all rights reserved.