God's Wrath on Unrighteousness
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Rom 1:24
Results of Condemnation
In a real sense the results of God’s condemnation on rebellious humanity are nothing more than the natural consequences of suppressing truth, ignoring revelation, and perverting God’s glory. However, God did more than simply let nature take its course. God acted to abandon (the thrice-mentioned “gave them over” Rom. 1:24, 1:26, 1:28 is paredōken, “abandoned”) people to expressions of a corrupt lifestyle that deserved God’s wrath and the sentence of death (Rom. 1:32).
Abandoned to fornication
One aspect of mankind’s corruption (to which God actively let people go) was sexual profligacy. The frequency of live-in lovers, wife-swapping and group sex parties today only confirms this result of God’s abandonment. Sex within marriage is a holy gift from God, but otherwise sex is impurity (lit., “uncleanness”) and the degrading of… bodies by using them contrary to God’s intent. “God gave them up” is a judicial term in Greek used for handling over a prisoner to his sentence. When men consistently abandon God, He will abandon them. He accomplishes this:
1. Indirectly and immediately, by removing His restraint and allowing their sin to run its inevitable course
2. Directly and eventually, by specific acts of divine judgment and punishment.
“Uncleanness”: A general term often used of decaying matter, like the contents of a grave. It speaks here of sexual immorality which begins in the heart and moves to the shame of the body.
Our heart condition determines what we are. Luke 6:45 "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh."
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