Romans 1: A Fair Exchange

Romans 1:18-32: We, the human race, have suppressed the knowledge of God that we all have. We all have it because God has made his existence, deity and power known in his creation. The creation is his conscious handwriting intended to communicate to us. We have done so effectively, such that Paul can say we all knew God. The problem is not ignorance, it is culpable suppression of what we know.

God’s temporal judgement for this is to hand us over to self-harming sin. The human-race is constantly attempting to self-destruct; Romans 1 interprets this as God taking off the reins.

In Romans 1:30-31, Paul lists a catalogue of sins that are the expression of this. But before that, in Romans 1:26-27, Paul gives the exhibit of homosexual activity. The question is: Why does he single this out? Why does he not just include this in his “vice list” of 30-31? He includes it in other vice lists, so why the special treatment here?

The answer, I think, lies in the word “exchange” (alasso), which comes three times in verses 23-26.

What is our sin?

“They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles” (Romans 1:23)

“They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever! Amen.” (Romans 1:25)

The sin was to swap the object of our worship. Immortal swapped for mortal. Creator swapped for creature. “Other-than” swapped for “just-like”. We were made to worship the Creator God; instead we worship fellow-created objects.

What does God in his anger, by way of temporal punishment?

“For their women exchanged nautral relations for those that are contrary to nature, 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.” (Romans 1:26-27)

He allows us to exchange “other-than” for “just-like”. He lets us have what we want. If we want to give our attention to something like ourselves, rather than something other than ourselves, he will consign us to do exactly that.