God’s Wrath Revealed Against Unrighteousness – Romans 1:18

PRAY

God’s wrath has been grossly misrepresented in popular thinking, which has led to even some biblical scholarship downplaying God’s wrath in relationship to sin and especially as part of the reason Christ died (namely, the propitiation of God’s wrath). This tendency is unwarranted and unhelpful. Everything God reveals he reveals for a reason, and everything he reveals is a reflection of his holiness.

When we understand God’s wrath in the flow of these verses and Paul’s argument in Romans, which is supported in all of Scripture, we should perceive God’s goodness behind his wrath, and the necessity of his anger being revealed against sin, so that we will respond to the gospel.

Although we’re camping out in verse 18 today, let’s read a couple verses before it and after it, to keep our perspective always that Scriptural statements are made in a context.

Romans 1:16–20 ESV

¹⁶ 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. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” ¹⁸ 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.

Paul is evidently also not ashamed of the reality of God’s wrath. And that is because…

The revelation of God’s wrath is good and necessary for right response to the gospel.

In the context of this letter, Paul makes it abundantly clear that understanding our sin and the righteous wrath of God are a necessary part of gospel proclamation. Even if we should argue that the good news itself is most precisely Jesus Christ and being made right with God through faith in him, one has no reason for saving faith in Jesus, no need for his righteousness applied to their behalf, if they do not understand their sin and its just consequences.

“God loves you and has a plan for your life” is true but insufficient. In fact, we might even say that it is untrue if it is only a partial truth that hides or mischaracterizes other essential truth. - Only sinners can be saved. Those who think they are righteous will not be saved. After Jesus called Matthew (Levi) to be his disciple, the self-righteous religious leaders had a strong negative reaction to Jesus eating (fellowshipping) with tax collectors and sinners. This is how Jesus responded: Matt 9:12-13 (also Luke 5:27-32 and Mark 2:13-17).

Matthew 9:12–13 ESV

¹² But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Little did the self-righteous understand that they were the precise target of this teaching.

What about you? Through the truth of his word, are you responding to God’s gracious revelation that you are incurably sick in your sin, that God’s righteous wrath is revealed against your sin, but that God himself offers complete healing through faith in the righteousness of Jesus applied to your behalf, and by whom you can have peace with God and permanent standing in his grace? (cf. Rom 5:1-2)

Every one of us must understand our condition, our need, in order to respond in faith to Jesus as the remedy. It is also true as a believer that our appreciation for the severity of our plight because of sin, and our gratitude for Christ will deepen still further as we grow in Christian faith.

From Romans 1:18 specifically, then, let’s consider three straightforward but essential aspects of understanding God’s wrath. [List]

God’s wrath is  righteous  anger.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven” is deliberately parallel to what Paul has just said in v. 17, that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel. Last week we explained that the gospel upholds and defends the God’s righteousness in every aspect: the righteousness of his character, the righteousness of his activity, the righteous life of Christ in perfect obedience to the will of God and without sin, the complete righteous payment of Christ, and the righteousness of Christ imputed to those who repent and believe the gospel, by which they are justified (declared righteous by God.)

So although verse 18 generates a turning point in Paul’s argument, where he is going back to show the reason we NEED Christ’s righteous sacrifice and righteousness on our behalf, the revelation of God’s wrath absolutely flows in Paul’s thought from the foundational righteousness of God’s character and always righteous activity.

But we need to admit that we have a hard time thinking of anger as righteous. Because of our sin (which, ironically, is at the center of Paul’s discussion), we have difficulty picturing anger as being something good. Our anger usually vents itself in an outburst, that results from selfishness and overreaction and lack of self-control (none of which are good, or holy).

God’s anger is not arbitrary, nor is it debased selfishness, nor is it an out-of-control overreaction. God’s wrath is good. God’s wrath is a natural (and righteous) outworking of his holy character in response to our unrighteousness.

God’s anger reveals truth from heaven about God’s holy character.

Even the mention of “from heaven” is meant to draw our attention to this truth. God’s anger is not an emotional, uncontrolled outburst. It is based on his holy, exalted character. (God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (1 Jn 1:5) - ‘God is light’ is yes, perfect knowledge, perfect truth, but it is also perfect righteousness. God is not in the dark, nor is there darkness whatsoever in his nature, his character.)

I want to ask you to ponder, to ask you to face up to the theological and anthropological importance of the necessary truth of God’s holiness undergirding God’s wrath.

For God to be something more than a mere tyrant, he must be inherently holy. He is other, he is unique, yes, but his holiness is good. He is righteous. If we must obey him only because he is the greatest being in existence, with the greatest power and authority, then he is nothing more than the greatest of all the gods of Greek mythology. No, to be a God worthy of worship, he must be holy, he must be good, he must be righteous… just as he reveals himself in these Holy Scriptures. God is sovereignly good and not a capricious, all powerful tyrant. God’s demands and commands are not arbitrary but spring from his goodness. And that is precisely how God has revealed himself in his holy word, and in the person and work of his Son, Jesus the Christ, which is the gospel—the good news—that Paul heralds.

Just so, God’s wrath is essential to God’s true righteousness. God’s anger against sin is good because it is a natural outworking of his holiness. And the revelation of his wrath is necessary so that we understand our sin and respond to his grace in the gospel.

So too, then, Paul wants to make certain we understand that…

God’s wrath is revealed in  response  to wickedness.

God’s anger is not for nothing. It is God’s righteous response to wickedness. God cannot be perfectly righteous and just and have no reaction to sin. Paul says God’s wrath is revealed from heaven… “against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” - or godlessness and wickedness

Although this word ungodliness can broadly mean living without regard to religious belief or practice, it’s foundation is a lack of reverence for and devotion to the one true God. Ungodliness is not worshipping God. You can have other gods but remain godless because there is only one true God. It is him, and him alone, we must worship.

It is godlessness that leads to unrighteousness, to wickedness. Wickedness is the thinking and behaviors that don’t conform to the moral standard of God’s character and his law.  - Ungodliness is to lack reverence and devotion to God, and unrighteousness is a lack of conformity to God’s holy character and holy law. It is our godlessness leading to further wickedness that is the cause of God’s wrath.

And Paul says that God’s wrath is being revealed. Not only that we can think of times from the Bible that God has poured out a measure of his wrath, but that there is ongoing evidence even now of God’s wrath. We tend to think of God’s wrath in the days of Noah, poured out in a great flood that took everyone except Noah and his family, who alone feared God. We think of Sodom and Gomorrah, when God poured out his wrath in hail and fire, rescuing only Lot and his family (his wife’s disobedience in the process turned her to a pillar of salt.)

What we don’t typically think of is God’s wrath being revealed at the present time the way that Paul will describe it in the verses ahead, especially 24-32, where three times we hear that due to their idolatry (not acknowledging God), he gave them up to their wicked passions, leading to the reprehensible immoral decline of society. So here in this context, that in particular is revelation of God’s wrath. In his righteous anger, he gives sinners what they want, leading to a depraved community of human behavior that is horrible for all of us. (It doesn’t take much imagination to apply this to the moral decline we have seen in various civilizations throughout history and in our present society. But more on that when we come to that section of text.)

For now, in verse 18, it is also not as though God’s wrath against sin is ultimately reserved for only extreme cases.

God’s anger is impartial; it is against all men because all sin.

The Greek word for men is the word for person used in the plural, meaning humanity, and from which we get our word anthropology. God’s wrath is comprehensive, it applies to all men because all sin.

In 1:19-32, Paul presents a case against the godless pagan (which leans toward the Gentiles, or the contemporary atheist, if you will), for deliberately ignoring the clear evidence of their Creator, and instead exalting idols of our own making. It is that idolatry which leads to shameless immorality, to “all manner of unrighteousness” (vv. 29ff).

But next, in 2:1-3:8, Paul shows that the religious, outwardly moral person (like the Jew who have God’s law)… the religious person is tempted to judge these others who are immoral and presume safety in their pseudo law-keeping, but Paul warns that God’s justice is a perfect and impartial justice (2:6-11). Therefore, his anger still burns against our sin (even if we are very religious) because inwardly we are idolatrous and self-righteous, breaking his perfect law, even if in less obvious ways (but God sees the heart, which is the central issue).

Paul finishes with putting us all in our place, “that all, both Jews and Greeks are under sin.” (3:9) “No one is righteous,” not even one (3:10). “every mouth [is] silenced and the whole world held accountable to God” (3:19) “Therefore no flesh will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law” (3:20). “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (3:23).

Again, although vv. 19-32 largely targets the Gentile world, the remaining argument from ch. 2 through 3:20 actually targets Jews, who from their religious perch of having the law are inclined to judge others who practice such things, but from their idolatrous hearts are doing the very same things. Do not think that being “religious” removes the righteous wrath of God from your head. In fact, the longest part of this overall section is Paul’s indictment of the Jew, who is in fact closest to the revelation of God’s righteousness through the law, and yet have failed to keep it. From every side and in every case, the evidence of man’s sinfulness is overwhelming.

God’s anger is righteous, God’s anger is in response to sin, and God’s anger is warranted.

Though he restrains it, God’s wrath is  warranted .

Follow the logic: God is truly holy and always just. When we understand the Bible, and what God reveals about himself, one thing we must never say is that God isn’t fair, he isn’t just. The fact is that God is perfectly just, and it’s that with which we have a problem. In his holiness (his righteousness), he justly burns with anger at our wickedness that doesn’t reverence him or conform to his righteousness.

Therefore, we must understand that God’s judgment is just, that his wrath is warranted. If not, we have no need of salvation. And if we have no need of salvation, we have no need for Jesus, and no need for God at all.

Rather than think it is unwarranted, we should instead be exceedingly grateful that God is restraining his wrath. Rom 2:4

Romans 2:4 ESV

⁴ Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

The kindness of God’s patient forbearance is meant to lead you to repentance, knowing that you deserve wrath.

Remember Jonah and Nineveh? At God’s command (and after no small measure of convincing him to obey), Jonah warned the Ninevites of God’s impending wrath, and they believed God’s power and that he would be justified to destroy them. They deserved it. So they repented and God relented of his wrath. Ironically, in spite of God’s kindness to discipline Jonah so that he would obey, it was Jonah who remained hardhearted.

In Rom 1:18, Paul indicates that God’s wrath is warranted against our wickedness because… “who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” Why would that deserve God’s wrath, his just judgment?

All sin is against God, suppressing the truth of his holiness and worth.

Again, there will be much more on this to come in the verses and chapters ahead. But the pagan suppresses the truth about God by denying his existence, thereby denying our accountability to him, leading to idolatry instead of worshipping God. The religiously self-righteous, although having the appearance of worship and honoring God… they suppress the truth about the true worth and holiness of God because in their hearts they are still idolatrous and wicked. Even and especially, presuming one’s own righteousness is supremely wicked in the sight of a God who actually is righteous, who is holy. (So those who ignore God are without excuse and those who have the law are in fact condemned by the law.)

Circling back to the big picture for today, then, we might call this part of Paul’s argument…

Conclusion:

The forgotten goodness and necessity of God’s wrath being revealed

Some have called wrath the forgotten attribute, but that is not precisely correct and might perpetuate confusion. Wrath is not an attribute, really, because if there were no sin, there would be no wrath from God. Rather, God’s wrath arises from such attributes as his perfect justice and love. Yes it is good for God to be just; it is loving for God to not let sin go unchecked and without response, because sin always harms us.

Downplaying God’s wrath is actually idolatrous because we do so precisely because of wrong thinking that makes God into our image, rather than the reverse. By so doing we are not worshipping God, but worshipping our own thoughts about God. Such is how every false god and false notion about God is invented.

Admittedly, the fact that God is righteous (in his character) and does righteously (in his activity) is not necessarily viewed by us as good news when we recognize our unrighteousness. But that is why there is bad news associated with our sinful state. God’s wrath is kindled and revealed against our unrighteousness. But do not confuse the result of God’s wrath as evidence that God’s righteous character and righteous activity and righteous requirement is in any way a bad thing. These are a natural outworking of the perfection of his character, which is necessary and good. - Otherwise, he is not God. He is like us, but only with more power. If you follow this to its logical conclusion, he is a capricious tyrant, not a holy God, worthy of worship.

But the reverse is true! God is a holy God who is worthy of worship, including in his righteous wrath against sin, for that is confirmation that his justice is truly just. God’s wrath is good. The wrath of the Triune God is good because it arises from the righteousness of his being. That’s a God to whom we desire to be in right relationship. That’s a God who is worthy of exaltation and admiration, and who is worthy of adoration and service. We worship God because he is righteous in all of his attributes, and righteous in all his actions, even and especially his wrath against sin.

For Paul the revelation of God’s wrath is good and necessary for right response to the gospel. … Because God’s anger is righteous, revealing truth from heaven about God’s holy character, and because his wrath is impartially directed at all wickedness, and bc it is justified, it is warranted, and we prove it daily by our sin.

So…

How should we be responding to God’s wrath?

Understanding God’s wrath by itself won’t save you, but it does cause you to realize your situation. Instead of thinking you are safely on solid ground, you look around and see that you are in deep, harsh waters, and you are drowning. When you realize that, you start looking for rescue… which Paul will tell us is the salvation provided from God through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

Is fearing God, even fearing his wrath, a good thing? Most certainly it is. We repent and turn to God for life when we realize our sin is killing us and incurring God’s everlasting judgment. It isn’t the whole story, but self-preservation is a step along the way. Once we are safely in the ark of Christ, together with his church, we begin to see more and more clearly, by the Spirit he has given us, that God has offered us himself, and we learn to desire him more and more.

So too, as a believer, is fearing God’s discipline the entire goal? No, we are to see God as better than our sin. But fearing his discipline is a tool that turns our eyes in the right direction, to adoration for God himself, that even his discipline is a demonstration of his love, leading us to value his holiness and worth.

And Christian, doesn’t the righteous wrath of God draw you back to why he is worthy of worship? Doesn’t it renew the depth of his grace to you, for which you live of life of gratitude in Christ Jesus?

And doesn’t God’s wrath against sin remind you of the hateful wickedness of sin, and motivate you again to lean into abiding in Jesus and learning from his Spirit to love what is righteous and burn with righteous anger against what is contrary to God’s holy character and evil in his sight?

As with all God’s truth, let us embrace with gratitude God’s wrath against our unrighteousness, for it is consistent with his holy character and completely justified. And it is the reason for God’s provision in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be received by faith. And for it God alone deserves all the glory for his grace… and his goodness.

PRAY 

———