After proclaiming the righteousness revealed in the gospel (Romans 1:16-17), Paul turns to describe what happens when life is not centred on God’s ways. Drawing from Jewish covenantal traditions such as Deuteronomy 28-30, he reflects on the real consequences of living either in alignment with or apart from God’s purposes. Choosing life leads to blessings; choosing injustice produces death-dealing conditions - anger, hatred, and violence. These are signs of God’s “wrath,” not as divine rage, but as the visible consequences of misalignment. 

For Paul, the core issue is idolatry. Throughout Israel’s history, worshipping false gods led to moral corruption and social breakdown. Idols mirror human fallibility - vengeful, violent, self-serving - and those who worship them become like them. In contrast, the God revealed in Jesus is marked by love, mercy, and forgiveness. True knowledge of God is not legalism but love of God and neighbour, which fulfils the Law (Luke 10:25-28; Acts 15:10).

When Paul says “God gave them up,” he describes humanity being handed over to the consequences of its own desires. The Greek word epithumia (often translated “lust”) need not refer narrowly to sexual desire. It can signify destructive cravings that lead to dehumanisation and violence. Reading Romans 1:26-27 exclusively as a condemnation of homosexuality isolates the passage from its broader context of idolatry, injustice, and social collapse.

Jesus never addressed homosexuality directly, and the early church freed Gentiles from Mosaic Law obligations. The prophets condemned Israel for idolatry, injustice, and violence - not same-sex relationships. Within this larger biblical narrative, “dishonourable passions” can be understood as inflamed desires that lead to abuse, bloodshed, and the breakdown of human dignity.

Paul’s focus remains resurrection life (Romans 1:4). Unrighteousness produces division and death; Christ calls humanity toward transformation and reconciliation. The catalogue of sins in Romans 1:28-31 applies universally - envy, greed, strife, deceit, ruthlessness - revealing that the passage addresses widespread human corruption, not a single sexual category.

Thus, “the due penalty” is not limited to sexual consequence but death itself - the inevitable outcome of lives driven by power, status, and scapegoating. God’s wrath is revealed when humanity chooses destruction over Love. Yet even here, Paul’s aim is not condemnation but invitation: the same gospel that exposes unrighteousness also offers forgiveness and renewal.

Adapted from the Liberated Life Bible Commentary: Romans.

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