Sexual Sequence

I don't know why, but I never noticed this before.

In Romans 1, Paul declares that the gospel is "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Rom 1:16) because "in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith" (Rom 1:17). Then he proceeds to show how God is righteous in His wrath against "all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom 1:18). God, he says, has made Himself known and we suppress that truth. We know God, but we don't honor Him as God or give thanks (Rom 1:21). The result is futile thinking and foolish hearts. "Therefore," Paul writes, "God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them" (Rom 1:24). See that? Did you catch the sequence? 1) We suppress the truth about God, making us foolish. 2) We are given over to lusts. The first consequence of failing to honor God is ... sexual immorality. The second consequence is "degrading passions" (Rom 1:26) that give rise to perverted sexual immorality -- abandoning "the natural function" (Rom 1:26-27). I never noticed that sequence before ... that the very first outcome of becoming futile in thinking and foolish of heart is sexual immorality.

Perhaps that's why Scripture hits that topic so hard. Maybe that's why there are few sins so clearly and repeatedly warned against as that one. Sexual immorality is a sin, but this suggests that failing to honor God makes us stupid, and this is the first sign of the futile and foolish heart. And what does that say about self-identified Christians who are embracing the prevalent sexual immorality of our day?