God gave them over...Only His love, light, truth can win them over.

Romans 1:18-32 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Unbelief and Its Consequences

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. ²⁵ For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, ²⁷ and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

²⁸ And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; ³² and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Keep in mind as you read this text, who Paul is writing to,  to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is writing to believers. His letter is not meant for the conversion of unbelievers but rather that we as believers will have a better understanding of the consequences of unbelief. When we read the conditions that Paul describes it certainly seems that this is a timely message for believers today.

Paul begins by saying:  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

Men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. When you look at the current social, cultural and scientific arguements against Biblical principles, whether concerning social issues or scientific issues, there is a definite effort to suppress the truth. Often this suppression of truth is hidden behind an overstatement of a small percentage of the information. It is not always an outright lie but rather telling only the part of the story that is convenient for their arguement. 

In the case of evolution vs creation for instance they make their case based on a lot of circumstancial evidence, in the fossil record, regarding different life forms and conclude, even though there is not one single evidence of a transitional life form, that we all came from the sea, then changed into mammals, then primates and eventually, although no other forms are currently evolving, we became what we are today. They fail to recognize the very basic evidence that creation itself, logically points to a creator. Paul says:  since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.  Anyone who will, with an open mind, look at both the vastness of the universe and the inticacies of genetic and molecular structure will have to admit that it would take more than a random sequence of events for it all to come from nothing. That does not prove creation. What we have though is a choice. We can choose to believe the theories of men, remember it was scientists who first believed the world was flat, so we can rely on the theories of men or when something is beyond our ability to explain and understand we can turn to faith, accepting the fact that there are somethings we don't fully know or understand.

Back to the text and what it means for us as believers in this present time we are in. Paul says:  For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. ²⁵ For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Amen means so be it. Paul accepts what God has done. He explains what has taken place in the hearts of unbelievers and that God "gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity"   Verse 26:  God gave them over to degrading passions     Verse 28:  And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.

God gave them over. God created each one of us with a free will. Free to choose to follow Him or to  exchange the truth of God for a lie. Paul says:        being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; ³² and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.    They are worthy of death.       That is the truth and the condition of all fallen man. That was our condition before we knew Christ.

We know that: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.(Romans 5:8) and  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.(2 Peter 3:9)  Regardless of what part of Paul's description in verses 29-30 that people fit into, the truth is Jesus went to the cross to pay the price for their sin and God desires that they come to repentance.

It is God though who has given them over to their present way of thinking and it is only God, through the Holy Spirit, who can change their mind.   "And He,(the Holy Spirit) when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:8) We are not to embrace and accept the unrighteous ways of the world, but neither can we by simply telling them the rules, change their minds. Our part is to preach the gospel, the good news, not the law. We couldn't measure up to the law and neither can they. We are to be light in the darkness of our culture and society.

Jesus says:      "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.    If we will do our part, to be the light and the love of Christ in the world,(light does not tolerate darkness, but it's presence dispels it and love cares enough to tell the truth and not a lie) The Holy Spirit will be faithful to do His part to convict the world regarding  sin and righteousness. Jesus says: Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.(Revelation 3:20)

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, precious Holy Spirit, thank You for revealing the truth to me. Thank You for the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, my Lord and Savior. Help me to live my life in such a way that others will see You, Your truth, Your love and a revelation of who Christ is and what He did for them. Holy Spirit guide and direct both my actions and my words. Let me speak only what You would have me speak, may I heed what the writer of Ecclesiastes says, Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.(5:2) and rather may my life shine Your light and Your love. May they hear You knock.   Amen