Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Romans 1:26

"For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature:" — Romans 1:26 (ASV)

For the second time the sad refrain is sounded—“God gave them over”— this time to immorality, with emphasis on perversion in sexual relations. What is the connection between the idolatry and immorality? By inventing their own deities, people were free to follow their own sinful passions, for they had no outside God to give account to. Moreover, the heathen went so far as to project their own license onto their gods, who in many cases were extremely immoral. Paul’s use of “exchanged” is suggestive. The first exchange, that of the truth for the lie (v.25), is followed by another—the upsetting of the normal course of nature in sexual relations. Instead of using the ordinary terms for men and women, Paul substitutes “males” and “females.” The irony is that this sort of bestiality finds no counterpart in the animal kingdom. Sexual perversion is the unique contrivance of the human species.

In bringing this discussion to a close, the apostle uses the expression “received... the due penalty,” which denotes the idea of recompense, a punishment in keeping with the offense. Sexual deviation contains in itself a punishment for the abandonment of God and his ways. This need not demand the conclusion that every homosexual follows the practice in deliberate rebellion against God’s prescribed order. What is true historically and theologically is in measure true, however, experientially. The “gay” facade is a thin veil for deepseated frustration. The folly of homosexuality is proclaimed in its inability to reproduce the human species in keeping with the divine commandment (Genesis 1:28). To sum up, what people do with God has much to do with their personal character and lifestyle. Throughout the passage they are represented as actively choosing a religion and a lifestyle; they are not being taken captive against their will.