Romans 1:24

Wherefore (dio). Paul's inexorable logic. See it also in verse Colossians 26 with the same verb and in verse Colossians 28 kai like "and so." God gave them up (paredwken autou o qeo). First aorist active indicative of paradidwmi, old and common verb to hand over (beside, para) to one's power as in Matthew 4:12 . These people had already wilfully deserted God who merely left them to their own self-determination and self-destruction, part of the price of man's moral freedom. Paul refers to this stage and state of man in Acts 17:30 by "overlooked" (uperidwn). The withdrawal of God's restraint sent men deeper down. Three times Paul uses paredwken here (verses Acts 24 26 28 ), not three stages in the giving over, but a repetition of the same withdrawal. The words sound to us like clods on the coffin as God leaves men to work their own wicked will. That their bodies should be dishonoured (tou atimazesqai ta swmata autwn). Contemplated result expressed by tou (genitive article) and the passive infinitive atimazesqai (from atimo, a privative and timo, dishonoured) with the accusative of general reference. Christians had a new sense of dignity for the body ( 1 Thessalonians 4:4 ; 1 Corinthians 6:13 ). Heathenism left its stamp on the bodies of men and women.