God's Anger at Sin

(Romans 1:16-32)

^{18But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked
people who push the truth away from themselves. 19For the truth about
God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their
hearts. 20From the time the world was created, people have seen the
earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible
qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no
excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.}
They knew Him, but would not worship Him:
^{21Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or
even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what
God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused.
22Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. 23And instead
of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made
to look like mere people, or birds and animals and snakes.}
God allowed them to please themselves:
^{24So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their
hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with
each other’s bodies. 25Instead of believing what they knew was
the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they
worshiped the things God made but not the Creator himself, who is to be
praised forever. Amen.}

Sexual Sins

^{26That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the
women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged
in sex with each other. 27And the men, instead of having normal sexual
relationships with women, burned with lust for each other.}
You can’t escape the penalty of sin:

Men did shameful things with other men and, as a result, suffered within themselves the penalty they so richly deserved.

God abandons them:
^{28When they refused to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their
evil minds and let them do things that should never be done. 29Their
lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy,
murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30They are
backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They are
forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their
parents. 31They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are
heartless and unforgiving.}

Death Penalty:

^{32They are fully aware of God’s death penalty for those who do
these things, yet they go right ahead and do them anyway. And, worse
yet, they encourage others to do them, too.}
But Salvation is to the Believer:
^{16For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the
power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—Jews first and
also Gentiles. 17This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his
sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the
Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has
life.”}