Yes — Romans 1:26-27 explicitly describes homosexual relationships as 'vile affections' and 'against nature.'
The passage says God gave people up to these affections because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie. Women changed the natural use into that which is against nature, and men left the natural use of the woman and burned in lust one toward another. Les Feldick says this is plain English and cannot be explained away.
Romans 1:26-27 — Directly answers the question by naming same-sex relationships as 'vile affections' and 'against nature.'
In Romans 1:24-27, Paul describes a moral downward spiral. Because people 'changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator' (Romans 1:25), God gave them up: first 'to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts' (Romans 1:24), then to 'vile affections' (Romans 1:26). Verse 26 says 'even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature.' Verse 27 says 'likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.' In this passage, same-sex relationships are explicitly identified as being 'against nature' and as part of God's judgment on a people who refused to acknowledge Him.
Les Feldick treats Romans 1:26-27 as the New Testament's clearest passage on homosexuality. He says the language is 'plain English' and 'there's no way you can explain this away.' He emphasizes a progression: verse 25 describes what he calls normal heterosexual immorality, and then verse 26 describes God giving people over to 'vile affections,' which Les says means homosexualism — a still lower level. He also highlights that verse 26 mentions women first, tying it to his observation that Satan started with the woman in the Garden and that in Israel's history the women were the ones burning incense to other gods in Jeremiah 44. For Les, idolatry is the root that rots a culture's moral fabric, and he sees the roots of this paganism going back to the Tower of Babel. He also applies the passage to modern society, saying Paul 'might as well have been writing to us in 1991,' and explains that this is a sovereign God judicially giving people up to a lower level when they refuse to honor Him.
Romans 1:26 begins with the women. Les Feldick observes that Satan started with the woman in the Garden, and in Jeremiah 44 it was Israel's wives who burned incense to other gods and refused to hear Jeremiah's word. He stresses this is not a put-down of women but a fact of human history that shows how idolatry and refusal to listen to God's Word can lead to the sins described in Romans 1.
Scripture says the descent begins when people worship the creature rather than the Creator (Romans 1:25). Les teaches that idolatry is the first step: when mankind replaces the true God with a man-made god, their moral fabric begins to rot. He traces the roots of this paganism and idolatry back to the Tower of Babel. The same-sex relationships of Romans 1:26-27 are presented as one of the lower levels to which God gave them up.
Les says Paul's letter to the Gentiles 'might as well have been writing to us' — he originally made the point in 1991 — because the same pattern of idolatry and moral decay is visible in our own society. He also reminds his listeners that even in this Age of Grace, where sin abounds, grace abounds much more.
Women and Idolatry
Les connects the 'women first' emphasis in Romans 1 to Satan starting with Eve and to Israelite wives burning incense to other gods in Jeremiah 44—showing idolatry and refusal to hear God can lead to the sins described.
Plain-English Reading of Romans 1:26-27
Les reads the passage as literal, plain English describing women and men in same-sex relations, and insists there is no way to explain it away.
A Step Downward
Les shows Romans 1 moves from heterosexual immorality to a lower level—homosexual behavior—when God gives people over to vile affections.
God's Judicial Handover
Les explains that 'God gave them up' is a sovereign, judicial act: those who insist on a lower level are allowed to descend.
What 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Really Says About Who Goes to Heaven
It was so rampant, and it didn't stop there. Their immorality went to the very depth, and we're seeing it happening in our own country today. I guess maybe that's why this letter is now becoming more appropriate, because even our society is getting closer and closer to that of Corinth. Now verse 16. What? verse 16. "...and do you know that he that is joined," that is sexually, "...
Timely Application
Les says Paul's opening indictment could be written to our modern society, and where sin abounds, grace abounds more.
Idolatry's Moral Rot
Les identifies idolatry as the first step; once people replace the true God with man-made gods, their moral fabric rots.
Tower of Babel Roots
Les locates the beginning of this pagan idolatry, which sets the stage for Romans 1, at the Tower of Babel.
Romans 1:24: Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
This provides the preceding step: God gave them up to uncleanness before the passage moves to same-sex behavior.
Romans 1:26: For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
This verse names the same-sex behavior explicitly, calling it 'vile affections' and 'against nature.'
Romans 1:27: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
This verse describes men engaging in same-sex acts and says they receive in themselves the due penalty for their error.
Yes. The text says women changed the natural use into that which is against nature, and men left the natural use of the woman and burned in lust one toward another. Les Feldick says it is plain English and cannot be explained away.
Les teaches this is a judicial act: when people insist on a lower level of morality, God steps back and lets them go one level lower. In Romans 1 the descent begins with idolatry and leads to the same-sex behavior described in verses 26-27.
Yes, verse 26 begins with women. Les uses this to note that Satan started with the woman in the Garden and that in Jeremiah 44 the women of Israel were the ones burning incense to other gods.
Watch the Teaching: What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality — Romans 1