The other side of Good News: The Wrath of God

The Wrath of God

Romans 1:18-24

Today we are going to go from midway through the 1^st chapter of Romans all the way to the end of the third chapter of Romans.

I would really encourage all of you to read through Romans yourself throughout the week to get the finer details of what Paul is saying, but I will state this. If you do not see chapters 1, 2, and 3 as one single unit, you will likely become confused.

I say that because if I were to bog down in one aspect of Romans 1 through 3, I would likely get confused. Not really, but there are some devices Paul uses in communicating with the Romans that if we were to look in isolation of some of those arguments, it would seem to say the opposite of what the final conclusion is.

So rather than do what I have seen some preachers do and go painstakingly through Romans verse by verse and even spend weeks or months on a single verse, I want us to look at it with the bottom line in view. What is the point.

Last week I preached on the Good News, the Gospel, which is God’s Only Son Provides Eternal Life. Eternal Life is not simply going to Heaven when you die. Eternal Life is knowing God intimately as the only true God. It’s having a relationship right now with Jesus Christ. Eternal Life is having God’s Holy Spirit in you, the God of the universe living through you. Christ in You, the Hope of all Glory.

In your bulletin, you will see an outline of chapters 1b through 3,

1. The Wrath of God and the immoral/unrighteous Romans 1:17-32

2. The Wrath of God and the moral/self-righteous    Romans 2:1-16

3. The Wrath of God and the religious/overly righteous              Romans 2:17-Romans 3:6

When I read the book of Romans, I’m reminded of a little story I read when I was a kid about a man telling a friend about his adventure of getting to fly in an airplane and his friend said well that’s good.

     That’s bad bc. the plane flew upside down and I fell out.

No, that’s good because I had a parachute.

   That’s bad because the parachute didn’t work.

no that’s good because down below I saw a haystack.

    That’s bad because I saw a pitchfork in the haystack

no that’s good because I missed the pitchfork.

     that’s bad because I also missed the haystack.

no that’s good because I landed in a lake right beside it.

     that’s bad because bad because I couldn’t swim.

no that’s good bc a man nearby jumped in to save me.

     That’s bad bc he was a lawyer and said I had to pay him

No, that’s good, bc he helped me sue the airlines and I got a million dollars

     You better believe that’s good.

What brings the wrath and judgment of God?

1.         Perversion of God’s Righteousness:

“suppress the truth” (v 18) and then later they “exchanged the truth of God into a lie…” (Romans 1:25a).

People exchanged the truth about God for a lie, embracing idolatry and false beliefs. When we distort the truth, we open the door to all kinds of immorality.

¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

2.         Progression of UnRighteousness:

God gave them over to their lusts and impurity. Sin begets more sin. Their idolatry led to shameless immorality and unnatural acts.

“God gave them up to uncleanness… dishonoring their own bodies” (Romans 1:24).

²⁴ Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, ²⁵ who exchanged the truth of God for the 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 vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷ Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

3.         Penalty of Rejection (26 items):

Humanity willingly forsook God, and He abandoned them.

Rejecting God leads to a complete moral breakdown.

²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ³¹ undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; ³² who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

    In summary, Romans 1:24-32 serves as a sobering reminder of the consequences of turning away from God. May we heed this warning and seek His truth and righteousness. To say that “I was born this way, so that makes it okay,” is not correct. We were born in sin.

    Paul was writing from Corinth in Greece where there were all types of immorality going on, temple prostitution, idolatry, rejection of virtually every one of the ten commandments. Pretty much like what we see today.

2. The Wrath of God and the moral/self-righteous    Romans 2:1-16

Paul recognized however within himself, that he too was a person who was born with a sin nature and he will get into that in chapter seven. He recognized as he was in Corinth that even though he knew what was the law (In other words, he reminds both sides of the church—that we are ALL sinners. We have the same problem—we are equally hopeless without Jesus.

In fact, of the three types of people he was speaking to, I think this category of the moral self-righteous people, Paul was speaking most to himself.

As your pastor, I have to caution myself in this area. I think bible study teachers, deacons, church leaders, all need to really consider this aspect more so than Romans 1 and more so than the end of Romans 2 and the first part of Romans 3.

Notice that the wrath of God is mentioned the most in this passage.  Read Romans 2, beginning in verse 5

But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6 who “will render to each one according to his deeds”: 7 eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; 8 but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, 9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; 10 but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11 For there is no partiality with God.

What Paul is saying here is to the Romans and also to GracePointe, don’t forget that you goody two-shoes people who don’t struggle with the immorality and the irreligious things listed in Romans 1, don’t be so self-righteous because you needs God’s grace too.

Some of the hardest people to convert to Christianity are those who are morally good because they don’t compare themselves to God, but rather to other people.

But the wrath of God comes to everyone who does not rely on salvation by faith through Jesus Christ.

There is no partiality with God. Wrath comes to everyone but also so does grace.

3. The Wrath of God and the religious/legalist/overly righteous            Romans 2:17-Romans 3:6

Thirdly, Paul knew he was writing to Jewish believers in Rome. He knew what he was like when Paul was a legalistic, hyper religious, overly righteous person.

It was the religious Jewish leaders that Jesus had the greatest problem with and the most harshest criticism of.

In fact, if you read the sermon on the mount and the beatitudes and even beyond that, Jesus was raising the bar from the Old Testament, not lowering it.

You think you are doing great because you haven’t murdered? Don’t murder with having anger in your heart. You never committed adultery? Don’t lust in your heart. ]

Paul writes to those Jewish and religious people who are so busy keeping the law and reminding them that they too will face the wrath of God.

We often don’t read Romans 3:23 in context. The context is not so much the immoral but rather the overly moral, the hyper religious, that they too need grace because they too are sinners.

21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all  who believe. For there is no difference (No difference in the irreligious, the religious and the hyperreligious); 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation (that means the sacrifice that brought sinner and savior together) by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Now I am going to jump over chapter 4 and come back to it next week just to give you an idea where we are going in the next few weeks. Before we leave the wrath of God, Paul brings it up again in chapter 5.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 

James Boice in his commentary about Romans chapters 1-4 concludes with the following true story from a time when Thomas Harris wrote a book of pop psychology called I’m Okay—You’re Okay.

Shortly after that book came out John Gerstner, Professor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, used that book as a jumping off place for the story from when he and his wife had been in Kashmir.

They were returning from a shopping expedition in a little boat that had just pulled up beside a larger junk near the shore. There was a bump, and some water splashed on them. The owner of the boat got very agitated, yelling and gesturing for them to get out. 

Gerstner told how said to his wife, “See how excitable this fellow is? We get a little water splashed on us, and you would think it was a catastrophe of the first order.” The driver got more and more agitated and Gerstner kept saying, “It’s okay…It’s okay.” 

Finally, the owner of the boat got so excited that he broke out of the dialect he had been using, which the Gerstners had been unable to understand, and shouted. “It no okay!!!” 

At this they got the message and quickly climbed onto the shore.  The owner then threw his grandchild up to them and climbed out himself.

When they turned around the boat was gone. The hull had been punctured in the collision and the undertow had quickly swallowed their boat. If the Gerstners had delayed a moment longer, they would have been swallowed up with it.

This is the message of these first chapters of Romans, “It no OK. Society no OK. I am NOT O.K. You are not O.K. Jew and Gentile—No one is O.K.” And the sooner we admit that we are NOT okay and turn to the One Who knows that we are not, but Who offers us a way of salvation anyway, the better off we will be.