The Wrath of God
Passage: Romans 1:18-23
Think about hearing this letter read for the very first time. Paul has told them how much he thanks God for their faith, he tells them how much he longs to come to them and how eager he is to preach the Gospel to them. Then he tells them about this Gospel and how the righteousness of God has been revealed and the best news of all, the righteous shall live by faith.
What are we expecting to hear next? More about this good news? Maybe Paul will flatter us with more gracious words. Maybe Paul will tell us how great we are doing in such a hard city to live in. Maybe he will tell us more about this good news of the Gospel, how much God loves us, how much God has done for us and how the Gospel will make us and our lives better and how God has a wonderful plan for our lives.
That’s how we think evangelism should be, right. Let me tell you all about Jesus and how wonderful He is and what He has done for us and how He can make our life better. All we want to hear about is dessert.
With vs. 18 we come to the body of the letter, the meat of Paul’s teaching. In order for the good news to be good news we have to know the bad news first, and not just the bad news, but how bad the bad news really is. Until we understand this, our view of the Gospel and of Jesus and God is going to be, well, like it is in much of America and in much of the American Evangelical Church. Weak, anemic, watered down, lukewarm, truth without power.
Paul will have none of that. Paul hasn’t suffered beatings, flogging, imprisonment, torture, shipwrecks, hunger and thirst, hatred and animosity, mocking and humiliation for a sweet, nice, precious Gospel. No one would suffer and be willing to die for that kind of Gospel.
Starting with verse 18 and for the next 64 verses Paul is going to humble us with our sin, our unrighteousness and ungodliness, our rebelliousness and the utter foolishness of our hearts and darkened minds. He is going to show that all men are in sin and under the just wrath of God. We have no righteousness of our own and if we are going to be saved it will have to be by a righteousness provided by God through faith in Jesus and His righteousness.
The world at the time of Romans was divided into two groups of people, Jews and Greeks, or Jews and Gentiles or pagans.
Paul starts with the Gentiles/Greeks. The rest of chapter one will focus on the spiritual condition of the Gentile world, the pagans, and their relationship with God, without the Gospel and saving grace.
Then chapter 2 to 3:8 will focus on the Jewish world without the Gospel. In a sense that is us Christians, the religious folks, the people who think we have Jesus, and we are all good, like the Jews having the Law.
Then 3:9-20 will give a summary universal application, the universal sinfulness and guilt and rebellion against God in every human heart.
He will destroy our pride, our independence, our autonomy all the way to Romans 3:21, until we cry “uncle,” until we submit and cry for mercy, until we see that we are all without excuse and hope except in Jesus.
Finally in 3:21 64 verses from here, Paul will return to the theme of the greatness of the gift of the Gospel in the righteousness of God freely given through faith in Jesus to all who believe.
Before we get there we have to face the reality of the seriousness of sin in our world and in our own hearts. Some might wish we skip over this or go over it quickly. Let me encourage us to persevere for three reasons.