By David Brown 

II. God’s Wrath is Revealed by a Series of Exchanges.

Read Romans 1:23-26

Let’s take a look at some repetition and its emphasis that Paul is making in these verses.  And this literary device was used to place an emphasis in the passage. So, while these exchanges are all different they all represent a rejection of God and lead to the same consequence in our lives and that is that God gives us over to our sinful ways.

Repetition & Emphasis
* They exchanged the glory of God for images (v23).
* They exchanged the truth of God for a lie (v25).
* They exchanged natural functions for unnatural (v26).

So, while all of the exchanges may be different they all reflect a rejection of God and His will. And they all lead to the exact same consequence.

The Consequence of Sin
* God gave them over (paredoken)(v24).
* God gave them over (paredoken)(v26).
* God gave them over (paredoken)(v28).

The bottom line here is that God’s wrath upon those who reject Him often takes the form of letting people suffer the consequences of getting what they want. – C. Marvin Pate

Dr. David Brown (PhD, New Orleans) is pastor of Roseland Park Baptist Church in Picayune, Mississippi. You can follow him on Twitter @daviddwb