The Book of Romans:“When Truth is Traded”

 

The Book of Romans

Introduction:

Good morning, friends, and welcome to Eastern Shore Baptist Church!

If you’re visiting with us today, we’re truly honored by your presence. I recognize that you had many options of where to worship this morning, and your decision to be here is not something we take lightly. Your presence places a sacred responsibility on us—on our staff, on me as your pastor, and on our entire church family.

Our commitment is to handle God’s Word faithfully, to preach the full Gospel without compromise, and to do so with the authority it deserves. I want you to know that I will do my very best this morning to speak truthfully, clearly, and boldly from the Word of God.

If you are watching the broadcast this morning, we would also like to welcome you. 

Do you have a prayer request this morning? It doesn’t matter if you are a member or a visitor. It doesn’t matter if you are here in person or watching online. If you have a prayer request, text us your request at 251-222-8977. We have a member of our prayer teams manning the phone right now. You can send in a request about yourself, a family member, or a son or daughter. Let us know how we can pray for you. 

Now that all of that is out of the way. Let’s jump in. Today’s message is entitled “When Truth is Traded”. 

Today’s Message: 

“When Truth is Traded”

What truth am I talking about this morning?

Romans 1:18–31 gives us a heartbreaking but honest look at the answer.

The truth I’m talking about is God’s truth. Not just a set of moral principles, not just a list of dos and don’ts—this is the unchanging, undeniable, God-revealed truth about who He is, who we are, and what is right and good in His eyes. This is the truth that was given to us through creation, through conscience, and through His Word. Romans 1:19 says, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.” In other words, God didn’t hide the truth. He lit it up like the noonday sun!

But here’s the tragedy: mankind didn’t lose the truth—we left it. We traded it.

Romans 1:25 tells us exactly what happened: “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” That word “exchanged” is a marketplace word. It means we took something priceless—something eternal, something holy—and we handed it over for something cheap, temporary, and corrupt. We didn’t just ignore the truth; we replaced it. We sold it out.

It’s like trading a diamond for a dirt clod. Like giving up living water for a polluted puddle. Like walking out of the light to live in the dark.

And it wasn’t just a one-time mistake—it became a lifestyle. Romans 1 describes the downward spiral of a people who keep pushing God out of their minds, and the result is devastating: twisted thinking, darkened hearts, disordered desires, and destructive behavior.

Friends, this passage isn’t just about the world “out there”—it’s a warning for every heart in here. Because any time we choose our preferences over God’s precepts, our feelings over His facts, or culture over Scripture—we’re making the same tragic trade.

Do me a favor this morning, fill in the blanks under “Today’s Thought”. Without the work of the Gospel, man is wicked. We are objects of His wrath. Still, through Christ, we have a way to salvation. 

Did you get that?

Without the work of the Gospel, man is wicked. We are objects of His wrath. Still, through Christ, we have a way to salvation.

Today’s Thought:

Without The Work of The Gospel, Man is Wicked, Objects of His Wrath! 

Still, Through Christ, We Have A Way To Salvation!

I am going to tell you the temptation this morning. The temptation as we read Romans 1:18-30 is to remove ourselves from the equation of God’s cosmic justice. As Christians, we would all wave the flag for God to punish the evil doers. As Christians we would feel a sense of entitlement and judgement over this world because we are not evil, they are. We are not idol worshippers. We are not the sexually deviant? We are not doers of iniquity. 

Oh friends, remove Jesus from our lives and there is no depth that our sin could not plumb. There is no length that our sin would not need punishment. It is not because of our good deeds or self professed righteousness that stays God’s hand of judgement against us. Hardly. The only thing holding God back from destroying us as objects of His holy wrathfulness is His Son’s sacrifice on the cross. We call this substitutionary atonement. We were made right with God, not by our actions or goodness. We were made right, or justified, because of Jesus Christ. 

Listen to what Charles Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers proclaimed in his sermon “Jesus Came To Save Sinners”.

Today’s Quote:

“Jesus did not die for our righteousness, but He died for our sins. He did not come to save us because we were worth saving, but because we were utterly worthless, ruined, and undone. He did not come to earth out of any reason that was in us, but solely and only because of reasons which He took from the depths of His own divine love. In due time He died for those whom He describes not as godly but as ungodly, applying to them as hopeless an adjective as He could have selected.”

— Charles H. Spurgeon, “Jesus Came to Save Sinners”

Background and Context:

Before we go any further, I want to take a second and set up the scene. Let’s talk a bit about the background of our passage this morning. 

Romans is Paul’s masterpiece on the Gospel. In chapter 1, he begins by proclaiming the power of the Gospel—“I’m not ashamed,” he says in verse 16, “for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” That’s the mountaintop. But right after that, Paul takes us down into the valley to show us why we need saving in the first place.

Beginning in verse 18, Paul starts pulling back the curtain on our rebellion. He shows us what happens when people reject the truth of God—not by accident, but on purpose. They suppress the truth. They ignore what God has made clear through creation. And instead of worshiping the Creator, they start worshiping created things.

People worship the sun, the moon, the stars. Our worship starts to devolve. At first we look to the heavens, but eventually our eyes lower. We stop worshipping the sun, the moon, and the stars. Instead we start worshipping man made gods. Gods made in our own image instead of the other way around. We begin to worship things that rust, that fade, that degrade. Things that die! In doing so, we die. Our souls suffer. 

Romans 1:18–30 is a spiritual autopsy. Paul is showing us how sin infects the heart, darkens the mind, and eventually flips everything upside down. This is what happens when truth is traded for a lie. This is what happens when man tries to live without God.

And church—Paul’s not pointing fingers at just one group. He’s building the case that all have sinned. This chapter lays the foundation for why every person desperately needs the grace of God and the righteousness that only comes through Jesus Christ.

So when we read these verses today, we’re not reading someone else’s mail. Paul is holding up a mirror to every heart that’s ever tried to go its own way—including ours.

Statement of Belief:

Friends, I want to remind you that…

“We believe the Bible to be inspired, God breathed, infallible, and authoritative. We believe the Bible is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training believer’s in righteousness. God’s Word gives life. It provides peace in trouble and protection in tribulation. It is alive, active, and cuts to the core of the human soul. Since there is no other book like it, let us stand to show our reverence and respect.”

Today’s Scripture:

Romans 1:18-32 ESV

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. [19] For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20] For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. [21] For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. [22] Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. [24] Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, [25] because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. [26] For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; [27] and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. [28] And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. [29] They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, [30] slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, [31] foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. [32] Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Pastor: This is the Word of the Lord!

Congregation: Praise His name. Praise His holy name. 

Rejection of God Is Characterized By…

I. Rebellion: The Suppression of Truth vs. 18-20

Let’s begin this morning by unpacking Paul’s powerful words to the Romans. The first sign of rejecting God is rebellion—and that rebellion begins when truth is suppressed. We see this clearly in verses 18–20. Paul says that God has unmistakably revealed Himself—His eternal power, His divine nature, and His creative brilliance—through everything He has made. Creation is a billboard pointing to the Creator.

And yet, humanity willfully turns away. We close our eyes to what is clearly seen so we can live without God’s authority and pretend He doesn’t exist.

In other words: humanity doesn’t lack evidence of God—we suppress it. The truth isn’t hidden; it’s ignored.

Let’s dive into what Paul is saying in verses 18 through 20: the rejection of God begins with rebellion—and that rebellion shows up when the truth is suppressed.

Now listen—God hasn’t hidden Himself. He’s not playing hide and seek with humanity. His fingerprints are all over creation. The heavens don’t whisper His glory—they declare it! You can’t look at this world honestly and miss the evidence. The problem isn’t a lack of information. It’s a lack of acknowledgement.

Paul says in verse 20, “For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”

Let’s think about that.

You wouldn’t look at the Sistine Chapel and say, “What a remarkable accident of spilled paint and time.” You wouldn’t stare at the Statue of David and think, “I bet a rock just rolled downhill and shaped itself.” You wouldn’t drive past a skyscraper and think, “I guess a tornado hit Home Depot.” No! Logic demands a builder, a sculptor, a designer.

And yet—people look at the human body, the solar system, the symmetry of nature, and somehow conclude, “Well… it just sort of happened.” Friend, that’s not science. That’s suppression.

Let’s talk about just a few examples of this fine-tuning:

•The tilt of the earth is exactly 23.5 degrees. Any more or less, and we’d either freeze to death or burn up. That tilt creates our seasons and makes life possible. That’s not an accident. That’s intentional.

•The distance of the earth from the sun? Just right. If we were just a little closer, we’d be toast. A little farther, and we’d be an ice cube. But here we are—in the Goldilocks zone—not too hot, not too cold. Just right.

•The human eye is a masterpiece. It can distinguish over 10 million colors, auto-focus in milliseconds, and self-clean. And somehow, we’re told that this evolved from a light-sensitive cell over millions of years? That’s not biology—that’s blind faith!

Psalm 14:1 puts it bluntly: “Fools say to themselves, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt. They do disgusting things. There is no one who does good things.”

You know what that tells me? It doesn’t take a genius to believe in God—it takes a fool to reject Him. You’ve got to work hard to suppress the truth that obvious.

And church, let me say it plain: humanity hasn’t just ignored the evidence—we’ve actively traded it in. Which leads to point number two…

Rejection of God Is Characterized By…

I. Rebellion: The Suppression of Truth vs. 18-20

II. Replacement: The Substitution of God vs. 21–25

Fill in this second point for me this morning. Rejection of God is characterized by replacement. We have substituted God, our Creator, for other created things and creatures. Instead of glorifying God, people exchanged His truth for lies.

We didn’t just push God to the sidelines—we gave His glory away. Again we replaced the Creator with creation. We started worshiping golden calves, marble statues, career goals, sports teams, celebrities, and even ourselves. Humanity didn’t stop worshiping—we just redirected it.

And that’s the great tragedy. We went from glory to garbage, from worshiping God to worshiping gods of our own making. And the moment we traded truth for a lie, everything else started to fall apart.

Again, go back to specifically verses 22 through 25. 

[22] Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. [24] Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, [25] because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!

Claiming to be wise! 

Wise! 

Isn’t interesting that the people who were worshipping objects that they themselves made, they worshipped birds, animals, and insects, they all considered themselves so super duper smart. 

They fancied themselves so intelligent. 

Brilliant in their own minds. 

That word “wise” is an interesting word. The Greek word for “wise” is “sophos”. This is the root word for our English words “sophomore” or “philosophy”. When these folks looked in the mirror they literally saw someone who was skilled, learned, cultured, and clever. Another definition that I found in my Greek and Hebrew Lexicon was someone with deep moral insight! 

The people who worshipped man made objects, birds, animals, and insects purported to have deep moral insight. 

But here’s the irony: these people claim to be sophos, full of wisdom, advanced in thought, brilliant in mind—but because they’ve rejected the truth of God, they’ve become what Paul literally calls μωραίνω (mōrainō)—fools. It’s where we get our English word moron.

These folks weren’t just foolish—they were arrogantly foolish.

And friends, let me tell you—we’re living it all over again. History is on repeat, and Romans 1 reads like the front page of today’s news.

We live in a world where up is down, right is left, and wrong is celebrated as right. We are so busy “redefining” everything that truth has lost all meaning. A man can be a woman. A baby isn’t a baby. It’s “wise” to terminate life. It’s “moral” to abort a child. It’s “loving” to endorse sin and “hateful” to stand on Scripture. Our generation is so depraved, so indecent, so lurid—and yet we parade around as if we are the most devout, pious, and moral society in human history.

That’s not progress—that’s perversion.

Satan has done exactly what he’s always done: he’s taken what is evil and made it look ethical. He’s taken what is immoral and dressed it up to look moral. It’s like wrapping poison in pretty paper. Looks good. Tastes sweet. Kills quick.

And don’t just take my word for it. Listen to Jeremiah 2:11–13 (CEV):

“Has any nation ever exchanged its gods for new ones, even though they aren’t real? My people have exchanged me, the source of living water, for dead idols. My people have dug their own wells, broken wells that cannot hold water.”

God says, “Other nations don’t even trade out their fake gods. But my people—they’ve traded Me in.” And for what? Broken cisterns. Empty promises. Leaky wells that can’t satisfy.

Church, our generation has done the same. We’ve traded living water for cultural Kool-Aid. We’ve bowed at the altar of self, convenience, fame, and political correctness—and now we’re dying of thirst.

We think we’re brilliant. We’ve got degrees on the wall, devices in our hands, and hashtags to prove how enlightened we are. But God looks at it all and says, “Morons.” Claiming to be wise, they became fools.

We are so arrogant as a people. And what’s worse—we don’t even blush anymore (see Jeremiah 6:15). We don’t even feel shame.

And Paul says—this is what happens when you replace the truth of God for a lie. You don’t just lose truth—you lose sense. You lose morality. You lose identity. You lose reality itself.

But listen to me: the longer you suppress the truth, and the more you replace God with anything else, the closer you get to ruin.

And that brings us to our third point…

Rejection of God Is Characterized By…

I. Rebellion: The Suppression of Truth vs. 18-20

II. Replacement: The Substitution of God vs. 21–25

III. Ruin: The Slavery of Sin 26-32

Rejection of God is characterized by ruin. Sin has totally and completely enslaved us. The rejection of God leads to unchecked moral decay, where sin is not only practiced but praised.

So, let’s follow the logic of Paul here. At the start of our worship, we have God. Then we trade God for the sun, the moon, and the stars. Our eyes dip. We went from the Creator of the Universe to the heavenly realms. Then our eyes dipped again. Once more, our head peers lower. We then trade the heavenly realms to lower, more based things. We find no more meaning in the sun, the moon, and the stars to worshipping idols made of rocks, made of wood. We worshipped lowly birds, furry mammals, and the lowest of them all, insects and reptiles that crawl in the dirt. 

We traded God for dirt. The lower our worship went, the more our depravity increased. We got down into the dirt with our gods. Look, I’ll prove it to you again. Verses 26-31.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; [27] and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. [28] And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. [29] They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, [30] slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, [31] foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Let me just pause for a moment and say something from the heart:

What I’m about to say is not hard because I’m afraid to speak the truth. It’s not hard because I lack conviction. It’s hard because I know how deeply this hits home for many of you.

So many of us have family members—sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, cousins, lifelong friends—who have embraced a lifestyle that runs contrary to God’s Word. Many of you are broken-hearted parents who have prayed, wept, and wrestled. You’ve watched your children walk away from what you raised them to believe. And it hurts. I want you to know: I see you. God sees you. And your grief is valid.

But I must be faithful to God’s Word.

Paul does not tiptoe around this in Romans 1. He calls it what it is. Verse 26 says, “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.” And then he gives specific examples: women with women… men with men… consumed with lust… committing shameless acts… receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Church, we must be clear—homosexuality, lesbianism, transgender ideology—these are not alternate lifestyles. They are distortions of God’s good design.

They are not morally neutral—they are evil.

They are not creative expressions of love—they are counterfeit affections that lead to confusion, destruction, and spiritual death.

They do not produce life. They deny it.

They do not reflect God’s order. They rebel against it.

They do not bring freedom. They bring ruin.

And yet the world holds them up like a trophy. Rainbow flags are flown from the rooftops. Pride parades march down the streets. We dedicate entire months—like June—to celebrating what God calls sin. The world calls it brave. God calls it bondage.

But before we go pointing fingers at others, we need to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

Because Paul doesn’t stop with homosexuality. He doesn’t stop with what’s culturally shocking. Look again at verses 29–31. Paul lists out the sins that are far more common in the church:

“They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice… they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, boastful, disobedient to parents…”

Let’s be real:

•That’s sexual sin like adultery and fornication.

•That’s pornography and lustful thoughts.

•That’s hatred, bitterness, arrogance, greed, pride, and disrespect for authority.

In other words, if you think you’re exempt—you’re not.

Paul is building the case that apart from Christ, all of us are guilty. And all of us are in danger of the same ruin.

Galatians 6:7–8 (CEB) warns us:

“Make no mistake, God is not mocked. A person will harvest what they plant. Those who plant only for their own benefit will harvest devastation from their selfishness. But those who plant for the benefit of the Spirit will harvest eternal life from the Spirit.”

You can’t mock God and expect to escape the consequences. If you plant sin—you’ll reap sorrow. That’s not hate. That’s holiness.

But here’s the good news—ruin is not the end of the story.

Yes, sin enslaves. Yes, sin destroys. But grace still saves.

Paul doesn’t leave us condemned. He points us to Christ.

Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 6:23 reminds us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

1 John 1:9 promises us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

No matter what you’ve done—

No matter where you’ve been—

No matter how broken your past may be—

There is hope in Jesus.

You can be forgiven.

You can be set free.

You can be made new.

All it takes is repentance. That’s not just feeling bad about your sin—it’s turning from it. It’s surrendering to Jesus. It’s receiving His mercy, His righteousness, His Spirit—and walking in newness of life.

That is the hope of the Gospel.

And so I say to you this morning…

Thanks Be To The Lord! We Have Hope!

Closing Prayer:

Gracious Father,

We come before You this morning humbled by the truth of Your Word. Thank You for loving us enough to speak hard truths to our hearts—truths that confront our sin, expose our rebellion, and call us back to You. Lord, we confess that as a people, as a nation, and even as individuals, we have too often traded Your truth for lies. We’ve exchanged Your glory for garbage, Your design for distortion, and Your holiness for hollow idols.

But even in our ruin, You are rich in mercy.

God, for every parent here whose heart is breaking over a prodigal child—for every person struggling to hold on to truth in a world that calls evil good—would You bring peace, comfort, and the reminder that You see them, You know them, and You are not done writing their story.

For those who feel the weight of their own sin this morning, let them know that Your grace is greater. Let them know that no chain is too strong, no pit too deep, no sin too dark that the blood of Jesus cannot cleanse, heal, and restore.

Father, we pray for courage. Give us boldness to stand for truth with compassion. Let us never compromise Your Word, but may we also never forget the love and mercy that saved wretches like us. Help us to speak truth in love, to live holy lives in a broken world, and to shine as lights in the darkness.

We thank You for Jesus—our Savior, our Substitute, our Hope. It is only by His righteousness that we are made right. It is only through His sacrifice that we are forgiven.

And so with grateful hearts we declare this together:

Thanks be to the Lord! We have hope!

In the powerful name of Jesus Christ we pray,

Amen.