Romans 1:24–25

A surprising way in which God shows his wrath

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator— who is forever praised. Amen.

One of the sobering truths about our holy God is that, although he is unalterably opposed to sin and evil, he does not forcibly keep people from sinning. Fallen humanity retains the awful ability to defy God. And when people insist on doing wrong and opposing God, he does not prevent them. We see an example of this in the Gentiles’ being able to fashion images and idols to replace the true God. Paul says of their reckless folly, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator.”

That God did not prevent such folly does not mean that it went unnoticed or unpunished. It’s occasionally said, Virtue is its own reward. The opposite is also true: Vice is its own punishment. When people defy God and thumb their noses at him as they flagrantly disobey his holy will, he does not prevent them or punish them immediately. Rather, he lets them wallow in their sin. 

So it went here with the Gentiles. Paul says, “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.”