People who turn from God are given up by God through a judicial descent into uncleanness, vile affections, and a reprobate mind.
Romans 1 does not picture God chasing after a rebellious world with immediate destruction. Instead, God actively gives them over to the sin they have chosen. Those who knew God but refused to honor Him became fools, exchanged His glory for idols, and then sank to lower levels of behavior. Les Feldick emphasizes that this is a judicial act, not mere cultural drift.
Romans 1:21-28 — This is the passage where Paul explains the sequential consequences of refusing to honor God, climaxing in the three 'gave them up' statements.
Paul begins with a sobering diagnosis: 'Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.' They had knowledge about God, but they refused to honor Him or thank Him, and their thinking became empty. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory of the uncorruptible God for images made like corruptible man, birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things. This idolatry set the stage for God's judgment. Paul then records three decisive acts of divine giving over. Because they chose uncleanness, God gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts. Because they changed the truth of God into a lie and served the creature more than the Creator, God gave them up unto vile affections. Finally, because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. The consequence of turning away from God is not random: it is a judicial slide downward into deeper sin and a darkened mind.
Les Feldick reads Romans 1 as the record of a judicial act of God, not merely a description of social decline. He emphasizes that when God gave men up, He moved in judgment and removed the restraints that normally hold sin back. He points to Pharaoh as an example of this kind of judicial hardening, showing that God's giving over is deliberate and active. Les also connects the start of this downward path to the Tower of Babel. He says the exchange of God's glory for images of birds, beasts, and creeping things began there, and spread into the idolatries of Egypt and the pagan world. For Les, idolatry has no moral code, so it naturally leads to the immorality described in Romans 1:24-28. Even in this darkness, Les stresses that the gospel is not absent. Where sin abounds, God's grace abounds more, and no one is too steeped in sin for God to save in a moment and make a trophy of His grace. The tragedy is that many walk that truth underfoot and do not want to be bothered.
God's judgment is active. When people exchange the truth of God for a lie and serve the creature rather than the Creator, God gives them up to uncleanness, then to vile affections, and finally to a reprobate mind. Les Feldick calls this a judicial act: God removes all restraints from those who refuse to retain Him in their knowledge, so they sink even deeper into sin.
Les Feldick traces the exchange of God's glory for idols back to the Tower of Babel. He says the roots of Oriental religions, idolatry, and paganism started there, and he applies this to Romans 1:23, where people changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into images made like corruptible man, birds, and beasts. He also notes that Egypt's many gods show the same pattern of man-made worship.
Les Feldick teaches that there is hope. He points back to the truth of Romans 5 and Romans 6: where sin abounded, God's grace can be greater. There is no person so steeped in sin that God cannot save them in an instant and make them a trophy of grace. The problem is that many who have turned away from God walk that truth underfoot and refuse to be bothered.
God's View Versus Society's View
Les contrasts modern society's acceptance of an 'alternate lifestyle' with the Bible's clear declaration that God hates sin.
The Judicial Act of a Reprobate Mind
Les explains that when people refuse to retain God in their knowledge, God moves judicially and gives them over to a reprobate mind, removing all restraints.
God Gives Them Up to Uncleanness
Because people fell into idolatry, God gave them up to uncleanness, and then to an even lower level of sin, showing a step-by-step judicial judgment.
Idolatry Leads to Immorality
Les shows that idolatry has no moral code, so when people reject God, their worship of idols naturally opens the door to sexual uncleanness.
Grace Still Greater Than Sin
Even in the downward spiral of Romans 1, Les stresses that God's grace is greater than any sin, but many trample that truth underfoot.
Professing to Be Wise, They Became Fools
Les says a fool, biblically, is someone who says no to what God says, and that is typical of people who turn away from God.
Given Up to Vile Affections
Because people changed the truth of God into a lie and served the creature, God gave them up to a yet lower level of lifestyle, described as vile affections.
The Tower of Babel Roots
Les finds the origin of man-made idolatry at the Tower of Babel, where people began exchanging God's glory for images made like corruptible man, birds, and beasts.
Romans 1:21: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
This verse identifies the starting point: people knew God but refused to glorify Him or give thanks.
Romans 1:22: Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
Paul shows that human wisdom becomes foolishness when it rejects the true God.
Romans 1:23: And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
This exchange of God's glory for idols is the evidence of a hardened, turning heart.
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 is the first of Paul's three 'gave them up' statements, showing God's judicial response to idolatry.
Romans 1:25: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
This verse explains the root problem: humanity loved the creature more than the Creator.
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:
The second 'gave them up' shows the descent to a lower level of lifestyle.
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 gives the specific outworking of the vile affections produced by rejection of God.
Romans 1:28: And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
The final 'gave them over' shows the ultimate judicial consequence: a mind no longer restrained by knowing God.
Romans 1 records that God gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts (verse 24), God gave them up unto vile affections (verse 26), and God gave them over to a reprobate mind (verse 28). In each case, the giving over was God's judicial response to mankind's rejection of Him.
Les Feldick describes this as God judicially causing mankind to go deeper into sin because of their unbelief and rebellion. In other words, God removes His restraints and allows those who reject Him to reap the full results of their choices.
The root is idolatry of the heart. People knew God but did not glorify Him as God or thank Him. They became vain in their imaginations, their foolish hearts were darkened, and they changed the truth of God into a lie.
Watch the Teaching: What the Bible Says About Sodom, Lot, and Judgment (Romans 1)