Paul’s list of immoral behaviors–Romans 1:18-32

In our last post from Romans, we saw how Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus, and we explored the benefits of living a life, unashamed, in the way Paul was unashamed. If you’re interested you can learn more here: Not Ashamed–Romans 1:16-17.

In today’s passage Paul shares a list of behaviors that are ungodly and unrighteous, according to Paul, including sexual practices that are approved and even celebrated in Western culture today.

Romans 1:18-32

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

A Muslim’s Reaction to the Prodigal Son

Jacob Fareed Imam’s father was a Muslim. So, when Jacob became a Christian, there were problems between them. In Jacob’s own words:

“There was immediate tension with my father. That was hard to push away, to be honest. There was a good falling out between us until he was diagnosed with lung cancer. And that was a great opportunity for reconciliation for us, on many levels.

“But I was also reading in Bukhari, in one of the Hadith, the sayings and doings of Muhammad, that he recommended, that Muhammad recommended, the sacred scriptures at one point. So I offered to my father. And so, we did reunite. We had a time together. And we began to read sacred scripture together as well. Reading all of John’s Gospel, and then moving through parts of Luke, and Matthew.

“And I’ll never forget the night when we were reading the story of the prodigal son. And he was expecting a different ending. He had never heard it before.

“He was expecting that as the son was returning, the father would go out and kill him for his negligence.

“And so when it was quite the opposite ending, he just said, ‘That was the most beautiful story I’ve ever heard.’”

God or Muslim Culture

We shouldn’t be surprised Jacob Imam’s dad expected the father to kill his prodigal son. In Muslim cultures around the world, Christianity is often seen as lacking justice and structure. There’s too much grace and forgiveness. With Muslims making up almost one quarter of the world’s population, we can see that there’s a huge number of people in different places all over the world, that live in a culture with this attitude toward Jesus and his teachings.

God or African Tribal Culture

In Africa, there are cultures that look at Christianity as being too restrictive. These cultures are often found in rural areas among different tribes living there. Polygamy is common in these cultures and they don’t agree with the Christian teachings about marriage and monogamy. According to the Pew Research Center about two percent of the world population live in polygamous households. That’s around 164 million people. (Pew Research Center)

God or Ancient Roman Culture

Before Jesus came, Roman culture was all about power. That a more powerful human being, say a male Roman citizen, would put his advantage to use against a less powerful human being was just an accepted part of the culture. It was a horrible situation for women, slaves, and children.

But then Jesus came and he changed all that.

Notes:

Jacob Fareed Imam, What will my Muslim father think?, Interview with Matt Fradd, 2020

Household Patterns by Region, Pew Research Center, 2019

Kurt Bennett, The Difference Jesus Made: Sex and Power before Christ entered the world–Acts 28:11-19, December 7, 2024

Kurt Cameron Bennett best known for his book Love Like Jesus. After attending church and studying the Bible for most of his adult life, he was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven-year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote Love Like Jesus for himself as much as for others. He currently lives in Hillsboro, Oregon, just a few miles from his son Gabe, daughter (-in-law) Charise, and grandson Andrew. He has another son Nate and daughter (-in-law) Anastasia who live in Sammamish, Washington. His blog, God Running is a place for anyone who wants to (or even anyone who wants to want to) love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.

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