Romans 1:18-32
“For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their
unrighteousness suppress the truth.” (Romans 1:18 ESV)
When we think of the wrath of God,
we think of great natural catastrophes, earthquakes, fires and storms. Certainly the raging of a storm or the
violence of an earthquake are terrifying in their scope and force.
However, this conception of the
wrath of God is not what we see in chapter one of Romans. Romans chapter one paints a picture of God's
wrath that is different from our natural perception of what wrath looks
like. This picture of God's wrath is
given to us to help us understand why we need God's righteousness as revealed
in the gospel. It helps us understand
why we need salvation in the first place.
In order to help us understand, Romans 1:18-32 starts out by showing us
whom God's wrath is directed against and why God's wrath is directed against
them. It also shows us what that wrath
looks like, but in this article we will only consider the who and why,
reserving the "what is looks like" for its own article.
Romans 1 starts out with a
wonderful declaration of the good news, the gospel. Romans 1:16 is a powerful verse as it says:
“For I
am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16 ESV)
The power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes is good news.
Salvation is a gift. Romans 6:23
tells us, “...the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God revealed His love by giving His only begotten Son so that whoever believes
in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16). However, as good
as this good news is, there is a reason why it is necessary for God to provide
salvation. This is why the Apostle Paul
writes what he does in Romans 1:18 and following.
Salvation is necessary because the
wrath of God is being revealed.
The sense of the phrase “the wrath
of God is revealed” (ESV) is that it is being revealed. It is presently being revealed. To reveal in this case means it is being
uncovered or made clear. This uncovering
and unveiling was happening at the time Paul was writing and it continues to
this day. We can also understand from
this that this unveiling of God's wrath has been a continual process since the
fall and the Garden of Eden.
Romans 1:18 says that this wrath
is directed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Men in this context is referring to all of
humanity. In other words, no one is
excluded. This also means that you and I
are included. We all are unrighteous and
ungodly. We live in an ungodly,
unrighteous world, and as part of this world we all have sinned. The conclusion
Paul is working toward is expressed in Romans 3:10 is:
When we talk about the wrath of
God, we are tempted to think of the many evils in the world around us and think
of how right the wrath of God is to be directed against those things of which
we disapprove. We all are tempted to see
ourselves as superior to others.
However, Paul is not writing to make us aware of what other people are
doing. He is writing to wake us up to
our own unrighteousness and ungodliness.
We must apply these words to ourselves and avoid the temptation to apply
these words to other people. Romans 2:1 points this out when it says:
“Therefore
you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment
on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same
things.” (Romans 2:1 ESV)
Again, let me remind us that when
the text says, “You have no excuse, O man...”, it is referring to
everyone. It could say, “O person.” Ladies, I apologize for referring to you as
“O man,” but that is just the way people used to talk. The author’s purpose is not to single out a
certain group of people, rather he is pointing out the human condition. In other words, what he is saying is true of
every person, and all of humanity.
Salvation is necessary because
everyone is under God’s wrath without exception. The “power of God to salvation” (the Gospel)
is needed by everyone.
When Romans 1:18 says, “For the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth,” it
gives the reason why God’s wrath is revealed.
His wrath is against ungodliness
and unrighteousness, and it is against these because by their unrighteousness
they suppress the truth.
So, what truth do they
suppress? The truth they suppress is the
truth about God. Verse 19 starts out, “
For what can be known about God is plain to them.” Therefore, we see that the
truth we are talking about concerns what can be known about God. Verse 20
expands on this by saying that His role as creator is denied. Then verse 20 speaks of the fact that they
take it a step further and refuse to honor Him as God. It goes even further in saying that they
replace God with idols. This is the very
definition of ungodliness. They remove
God from His creation, and then replace Him with idols.
Please notice with me that Romans
1:18 does not say they suppress the truth by their ungodliness. It is their unrighteousness that suppresses
the truth. Their ungodliness is the
result of the suppression of the truth.
Ungodliness can be defined as being without God. The problem of suppressing the truth by
unrighteousness is seen in the absence of God in our lives.
Jesus said, "I am the way,
and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me." (John 14:6, ESV) In this
statement, He declares Himself to be the truth.
Without God, there is no truth.
If we reject God, we can say with Pilate, "What is truth?" For
example, if we are the result of random chance and accident shaping us over
time, how can we trust our intellects as these also are the results of chance
and circumstances? The argument
presented here would take its own book to develop fully, but the point is that
apart from God we can have no confidence in what truth is.
In Romans 1:18-32, the truth about
God is said to be clear. Verse 19 says,
“For what can be known about God is plain to them.” The problem with believing in God is not a
problem of logic or intellect. It is a
problem of the heart.
From the time of the Garden of
Eden to the present, this has shown itself to be true. In Genesis 3, when the man and the woman ate
the fruit, they knew that they were naked and hid from God, sowing fig leaves
together to hide their shame. Since that
time, we all hide from the truth, suppress the truth, lie and equivocate to
avoid the truth. Because of this we
deceive ourselves. The problem of
believing in God has never been a problem of evidence, logic or reason. It has always been and always will be a
problem of the heart and of the will.
Because of our refusal to accept
the truth, we are subject to ever worsening deceit. The Holy Spirt, working through the Church,
holds back the evil and continues to proclaim the truth. 2 Thessalonians warns of a day when this
restraint is removed, when deceit will have its way. Then it says:
“For
the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it
will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be
revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring
to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by
the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all
wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the
truth and so be saved.” (2 Thessalonians 2:7-10, ESV)
The perishing will suffer ever
worse deception as they refuse to love the truth. This is also the truth pointed out by Jesus
in John 3:19 and following where he says:
“And
this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the
darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who
does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his
works should be exposed.” (John 3:19-20 ESV)
This is the natural result of
unrighteousness, and we all have the same problem. Our unrighteousness results in
ungodliness. The results of ungodliness
are expressed in verse 21 of Romans 1 as:
For
although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him...
This is the “why” of the wrath of
God, ungodliness that results in not honoring Him as God and in a lack of
gratitude.
The picture painted in Romans 1:18-32 is one of
a willing, rebellious and obstinate refusal to acknowledge that which is
obvious, the power and presence of God in all that He has created.
It is this rebellion that makes the “power of
God to Salvation” necessary. God unveils
or reveals His wrath to lead us to repentance.
Jesus is coming again, and when He does it will be a day of wrath for
those who are perishing. However, God
holds back because He desires everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3: says:
The Lord
is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient
toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach
repentance. (2 Peter 3:9, ESV)
The good news is good because there is bad
news. The bad news is that the wrath of
God is as certain as the good news. By
faith, anyone can ask God to be saved, and He will save that person who trusts
in Jesus.
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