The Downward Spiral of Sin - Romans 1:18-31

Gospel Revealed (Romans 1:16-17)

Romans 1:16–17 ESV

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

In verse 16, we are reminded, what power does the gospel behold? Salvation to those who believe. This is an essential point. We can often spin in circles, trying to think of round about ways to talk to God or even for us. You might start to have lots of questions about God.

Why does He allow evil in this world?

Why are people going to hell?

Why is there suffering and so much pain?

These can be hard questions that when I’m talking to someone about Jesus, they will bring this up as a reason for not following God. I can’t follow a God who would do this. We need to go back to the essentials. We need to always go back to the Gospel. Those are good questions and Christians should have answers. Biblical answers that help defend for what we believe and why. But remember, if this person is unsaved and truly does not know God, then they won’t truly care for your answers. Pastor Bill mentioned this on Sunday.

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV

14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

What do they need? The gospel. For the spirit of God to awaken their eyes and to seek the right answers. Not what they think are the right answers.

Galatians 3:2 ESV

2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?

Ephesians 1:13 ESV

13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

Acts 2:38 ESV

38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The righteousness of God has been revealed and they need the gospel to truly have these questions answered.

God Made Known (Romans 1:18-23)

Romans 1:18–23 ESV

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 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. 21 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. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Suppression of Truth

In the same way the righteousness of God is revealed, the wrath of God is also revealed for all of us sinners. This is the disease of sin. I could simply state that this is from pride. Meaning that the ungodly, which is all of us by the way, simply want to do what they want to do. Their lust, which means desires, take the place of God in their life. Any of you have that happen to you?

Through this sin, we naturally suppress the truth. We naturally don’t want to listen to God, because that’s not fun.

I want to do what I want to do and not what God wants me to do.

I want to do what I want to do and not feel guilty about it.

I want to do what I want to do and I want to suppress that conviction of things not seen even though creation simply shows of God.

Romans 1:19 ESV

19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

It is plain to us but many can’t handle the truth.

I want to quickly explain two types of revelation. The first is this:

Revelation

Special Revelation

While general revelation is broad and accessible to all, Special Revelation is more specific and detailed. It includes God revealing Himself through direct communication, supernatural events, and ultimately through Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

Special revelation comes in various forms:

Dreams: God’s communication through dreams, such as with Joseph (Genesis 37).

Visions: Supernatural appearances, like the visions seen by the prophet Ezekiel.

Miracles: Events that break the laws of science, such as Jesus turning water into wine.

Prophecy: Divine predictions of future events, like Isaiah’s prophecy of the Messiah.

Jesus Christ: The ultimate revelation of God through His Son, who came in the flesh to reveal God’s nature and plan for salvation.

Special revelation is revealed through scripture. Although I believe God has revealed himself in some ways in this manner, the main and most trustworthy special revelation is from the word of God

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

The gospel - The gospel is special revelation.

The second type of revelation is called General or Natural Revelation.

General or Natural Revelation

God reveals Himself in various ways, and one of the most foundational is through what is called General Revelation. This is God’s self-disclosure through creation, nature, and the human conscience.

Romans 1:20 ESV

20 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.

In the passage, Paul emphasizes that God’s eternal power and divine nature are visible through the created world. Whether it’s the vastness of the stars, the complexity of ecosystems, or the moral compass within humans, God has made His existence clear to all. This revelation holds people accountable, as no one can claim ignorance of His presence.

Sin is Cancerous (Romans 1:21-32)

We see this awful line of thought throughout humanity.

The Pull of Sin (Romans 1:21-23)

Let’s all stand

Romans 1:21–23 ESV

21 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. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

They start off with this knowledge of God, at least an understanding of God’s general revelation to then no honor, no gratitude. Paul is going to reveal more of God’s general revelation in the next chapter mentioning how when we judge people doing wrong things, do you not realize that there is an ultimate Judger? That there is a law that God has written on our hearts to know right and wrong.

For although they knew God, there was no honoring or thanking Him and this is where the downfall starts.

First, in a futile way of thinking. What does futile mean? This term refers to thoughts or reasoning that are empty, aimless, or useless. The people in question, by choosing not to honor God or give thanks to Him, have their minds become corrupted. Their thinking becomes distorted and unproductive—unable to lead them to true knowledge or understanding. It's the consequence of suppressing the truth about God.

Second, in a heart that is darkened. What does this mean? This refers to spiritual blindness or hardness of heart. It's not that people are actively choosing to be blind or ignorant in every moment, but rather that their rejection of God's revelation results in their hearts becoming progressively harder and more closed off to the truth. The heart, in biblical terms, often refers to the center of a person's will, emotions, and intellect. As a result of their sin, their hearts become "darkened," meaning they are no longer able to perceive or understand the things of God rightly.

Although we are saved and have the spirit to awaken us from this, we must be very wise to honor and thank God continually. The real reason for doing this is for putting God in His rightful place, and putting ourselves in the rightful place, which is below him.

James 1:14–15 ESV

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

It may start small and then it grows and grows into such evil. We must be careful of that. I have experienced this in my life. A sin that did not seem like a big deal developed and truly warped my mind and at a young age, I read this verse and resonated with it. I could see my life just enveloped with sin and God just handing me over and my thoughts and heart continued to grow calloused to sin.

Please fight it.

Do you honor and thank God daily? Throughout the day? Constantly?

In verses 22 and 23, we see a lack of honoring and thanking God has a natural fall now where we claim to be wise but in reality are foolish and then lead into worshiping and representing everything else but God. This is the severity of sin, this is why God must punish where even though we don’t think it is a big deal, it is a big deal to God.

God Let’s Go (Romans 1:24-32)

Romans 1:24 ESV

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,

Romans 1:26 ESV

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;

Romans 1:28 ESV

28 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.

You will see this time and time again in scripture where even though God does harden the heart of Moses and uses Judas in His redemptive plan, you will see that there hearts were already darkened. Their minds already futile.

Sin is evil and God does love us but if we continue to reject and dishonor Him, I see this like a parent would treat their child. Sometimes kids are so stubborn and rebellious that they need to learn the hard way.

A good way to describe this “action” of God is “inaction.

Two Important Cultural Truths

We All Long to Worship Something or Someone

Romans 1:25 ESV

25 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.

We were created to worship God, we can suppress it as much as we want but it is built within our DNA. Look at the world, think of your friends, what do you think people worship? Who do you think they worship?

The Act of Homosexuality is a Sin

Romans 1:26–27 ESV

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 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.

I will specify this, that if you have desires or these thoughts, that is not necessarily wrong or a sin. It is the act of committing them either in your mind or with someone. What we see here, is that this is not natural and there is a punishment for it. I’m not saying to treat them or you if you struggle with this with hatred and bigotry but just an acknowledgment of the truth.

Many of us struggle with many sins and it is really hard because some sins more than others become our entire personality and we exchange the glory of God and decide to worship either someone, something, or ourselves, such as our genders.

But we must be reminded of who God is and how He offers hope, love, and purpose for those that follow Him. He knows you better than you know yourself. He created you. He knows how you operate and what you truly desire.

The Tumor Grows (Romans 1:28-29)

Romans 1:28–32 ESV

28 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. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 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.

I won’t elaborate much on this but I want to help you see how there is just evil in this world and no one is righteous, no one. We all deserve to be judged yet God has offered a way out. We all deserve death and truly don’t deserve a way out.

However, God’s grace is wonderful. Be reminded though of verse 16.

Romans 1:16 ESV

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

The only way to escape death and destruction and this cancer that will continue to grow and grow is through the power of God’s spirit. The gospel. We need the holy spirit to resurrect our dead bodies and make us alive.