It is the start of a downward moral collapse in which God gives people up to uncleanness and shameful desires.
Scripture says that when people exchange the true God for idols, God gives them up to the lusts of their own hearts, resulting in sexual uncleanness, dishonored bodies, and eventually more vile affections. Les Feldick explains that idolatry has no moral code, so the slide from idolatry to immorality is an inevitable part of the same downward track.
Romans 1:23-24 — This passage directly shows the exchange of the true God for images and the immediate divine response of giving people up to uncleanness.
In Romans 1, Paul describes the exchange that brings judgment. People changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, birds, fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves. Paul then shows that they changed the truth of God into a lie and served the creature more than the Creator, and because of that, God gave them up to even more shameful behavior, described as vile affections. The Scripture presents this not as a series of separate sins, but as a single downward course that follows the rejection of the true God.
Les Feldick traces the start of this downward course to the Tower of Babel, where Satan’s influence moved people to go after other gods and paganism took over the whole human race. He emphasizes that when people turned their back on the true God, God gave them up—and Les calls that an act. From the idolatry of Romans 1:23, Les says, you come directly to the immorality of Romans 1:24, because idolatry has no moral code. He points out that ancient Greek and Roman temples were glorified houses of prostitution, so the immorality was built into the pagan system. Les also stresses that the descent continues into lower levels of behavior; God gave people up to even worse things after they rejected the truth. He applies the same pattern to modern times, warning that materialism can be an idol just as much as a wooden or stone image, and he cites the decline of Great Britain as a national example of how far a society can fall.
Les makes the connection explicit: from the idolatry of verse 23 you come to the immorality of verse 24. He explains that idolatry has no moral code, so it leaves nothing to restrain the desires of the heart. In the old pagan world, temples to gods like Diana were glorified houses of prostitution, forcing young women into sexual immorality in the name of religion.
Les locates the introduction of man-made gods at the Tower of Babel. Satan’s influence came in, and people went after other gods. From that point, paganism permeated the entire human race, and the Bible gives no indication that anyone except perhaps Noah retained knowledge of the one true God.
Yes, according to Les. He warns that the idol of materialism is sneaking into American culture faster than we can shake a finger at it. Things can take God’s place just as quickly as a wooden or stone image, so modern idolatry does not have to be a physical statue.
Les says the phrase God gave them up is an act, not a passive result. When people exchange God for idols, He gives them up to uncleanness and to even worse behavior. The sequence in Romans 1 shows the deliberate judgment of God, and Les emphasizes that this is the long downward course of the human race.
Great Britain's Decline After Turning From God
Les uses the British Empire's rise in missions and biblical scholarship to show that even great nations are not exempt from the downward track when they abandon the true God.
God's Act of Giving Them Up
Les explains that when people exchange the true God for idols, 'God gave them up' is a deliberate act of judgment, not a passive result.
Idolatry Has No Moral Code
Les shows how the idolatry of verse 23 directly produces the uncleanness of verse 24, and he notes that idolatrous pagan religions were built on immorality.
Societies Need Religious Values
Les cites a secular observer's claim that a society cannot last without the control of religious values, reinforcing the social consequence of abandoning the true God.
Descending to Lower Levels
Les underlines that after exchanging God's truth for a lie, God gives people over to 'vile affections'—an even lower level of lifestyle.
The Tower of Babel and Paganism's Start
Les traces the introduction of man-made gods to the Tower of Babel, where paganism spread across the whole human race.
Materialism as a Modern Idol
Les warns that the idol of materialism can take God's place in modern society just as wooden or stone images did in ancient times.
Pagan Temples and Gross Immorality
Les describes pagan temples such as the temple of Diana as glorified houses of prostitution, showing that idolatry and gross immorality were inseparable in practice.
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 verse identifies the first exchange that sets the whole downward course in motion: the glory of the true God is replaced by images of creatures.
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 direct consequence named in the question: God gives people up to the uncleanness their own hearts desire.
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.
Paul repeats the exchange and makes it clear that serving the creature rather than the Creator is the de facto worship of man-made gods.
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 shows that the consequence deepens: after rejecting God, people are given over to even worse behavior, what Les calls a lower level of lifestyle.
No. According to Romans 1, God gives people up to the uncleanness they have already chosen by exchanging His glory for idols. Les describes this as God's deliberate act of judgment: people turn away from Him, so He releases them to the desires of their own hearts.
Les explains that in the old Greek and Roman world, pagan temples like the one to Diana were glorified houses of prostitution. The pagan priests forced young women into prostitution in the name of religion, showing how idolatry leads directly to gross immorality.
Yes. Les warns that materialism is a modern idol. Things can become an idol just as fast as a wooden or stone image, so the test is whether something takes the place of the true God in our lives.
The first step is replacing the true God with man-made gods. Paul shows this exchange in Romans 1:23, and Les says that from the idolatry of verse 23 you come to the immorality of verse 24.
Watch the Teaching: Why God "Gave Them Up" — Romans 1 & the Wrath to Come