God Gave Them Over to Impurity

We are conducting a Bible study concerning homosexuality. We have seen how Paul gradually builds his arguments and clearly establishes that God’s wrath is revealed against people who resist His will, and that this leads them into idolatry.

Paul is speaking about the entire classical world in which he lived. And today, what applies most is the part where Paul says that people have become stubborn in their own reasoning and that, because of this, God has also condemned them to an imperfect mind and a darkened heart.

And then, in verse 24 of chapter 1 of Romans, Paul also says: “For this reason, God also gave them over to uncleanness.” That is, the apostle Paul is no longer speaking only of a darkened mind and a foolish heart, but also of God’s wrath being manifested in His giving these people over to unclean behavior.

Notice something here: later on, the apostle Paul will speak very explicitly of homosexuality as the ultimate expression of that uncleanness to which a rebellious humanity has been condemned. But here we see that homosexual behavior, far from being a civil right or an optional expression of humanity’s legitimate sexual behavior, is as though God takes a segment of humanity that has been rebellious and throws it, in a sense, into a lake of suffering whose manifestation is uncleanness, impurity, and lust.

This is what homosexual behavior is: God gave them over, condemned them, consigned them to uncleanness in the lust of their hearts. The word for lust, epitimía, means an addictive behavior, an all-consuming behavior, a tremendously powerful behavior that condemns a person simply to obey it and keep pursuing that kind of action beyond their own control. Paul says that this behavior is something to which God has irreversibly consigned a segment of humanity that resists Him and treats Him unjustly.

So that lust, that uncleanness to which a segment of humanity is given over, is such that they end up dishonoring their own bodies among themselves. Paul says here that homosexuality is something shameful, something that brings shame, rather, upon the person who practices it; it is not something about which we could truly say, well, it is simply neutral. No. It is something tremendously dishonorable.

And please let me pause here for a moment and say something: I know that there are people who may read these words I am now speaking, or who may hear them, who are struggling against homosexual impulses and attractions but who love God and want to leave that behavior behind. And I must say, brothers and sisters, that any person who recognizes that homosexual behavior is a sin against God, confesses that sin, and repents of it—God has mercy on that person and forgives them.

I know that many times people have fallen into homosexual behavior for different reasons—there are many, and perhaps one day we can talk about that. Sometimes they were abused as children; sometimes they were introduced to homosexuality by an adult or by a friend at school or whatever the case may be; sometimes there were simply very terrible family circumstances that distorted their minds and emotions, and they fell into this practice.

And what matters here is that the person repent, confess their sin, and do everything in their power, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to change the way they act. And I can tell you that this will not be very easy; it will take a long time. There are times when God can touch us immediately with His Spirit and change us overnight, but I have seen that in the vast majority of cases the practice of homosexuality is tremendously difficult to break.

Likewise, a person who has been—who has long been practicing, let us say, lust or persistent, impure heterosexual behavior often takes a long time to change their behavior after repenting and turning to the Lord. And even when they change it, they often have to struggle with obsessive thoughts, fantasies, and lustful images in their mind.

And what the Bible says is that we must always take every thought captive to Christ Jesus. Anyone who is struggling with any kind of homosexual impulse, or with lust in any of its forms, or with any kind of sin should know that in the blood of Christ there is forgiveness, there is mercy. What God condemns is when we try to conceal our sin, when we try to turn it into something acceptable before God, when we stubbornly continue sinning without feeling repentance in our hearts. Then, yes, there is no forgiveness for that.

If you are struggling with homosexual behavior, or with a homosexual addiction, or with a homosexual attraction in your mind, continually surrender your behavior to the Lord. Keep struggling, keep fighting the good fight, and ask God for help until you see the change that will take place in your life. As long as you remain firmly grounded in God’s mercy, seeking Him and trusting in the Lord’s grace, God will never abandon you, even while you are struggling.

We have a merciful God, and I believe we must offer hope to a homosexual person who is struggling and battling against that impulse. I believe the condemnation to which the apostle Paul refers here is directed toward those who persist in acting and behaving in a homosexual way and who do not acknowledge the sinful aspect of their behavior.

So I do not want this study I am conducting to be seen as an irreversible, merciless condemnation of the homosexual person. Rather, I want you to understand that there is also an element of mercy and hope in all this, because the Word of the Lord always offers us that note of hope in the end. May the Lord bless you. I hope this brings comfort and hope to your souls. Until next time, this is Pastor Roberto Miranda signing off. God bless you.