Wrath Romans 1:18
Paul's purpose here, and through chapter 3 verse 20, is to describe for us the charges against man. Paul is going to tell us why we need to believe the Gospel of grace. (Alan Carr). He concludes his introduction so now in Rom 1:18- 3:20 the text seeks to describe the human sinful condition which is deserving of God’s wrath and needful of God’s righteousness. Paul in Rom 1:18-32, shows the sinful state of the Gentile apart from the law. In Rom 2:1-3:8 he shows the sinful condition of the Jews with the law. Finally, in Rom 3:9-10 he concludes that the Jews are no better than the Gentiles. They are all under sin; and thus under God’s just wrath, “there is none righteous no not one”. Paul piles Scripture upon Scripture in Rom 3:10-19 to support his point of universal sinfulness and guilt and rebellion against God in every human heart. He wraps up the section with this summary in Rom 3:19, "Now we know that whatever the Law [the Old Testament Word of God] says, it speaks to those who are under the Law [the Jewish people], so that every mouth [all the nations, all the Gentiles] may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God. If the Jews, with all their advantages of divine revelation, have not been righteous before God, but only sinful and guilty (3:9), how much less will the Gentiles be able to open their mouths and protest that they have been righteous before God. (Piper) In Rom 3:21 Paul returns to the theme of 1:17, "But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested." Paul divides the whole world into Gentiles and Jews; the former seeking righteousness by the dim light of nature; or the law written in their hearts; the latter by the works of the law, that is, by their external conformity to what the law of Moses exacted and required of them. (Burkitt)
Paul goes to great lengths to describe the human sinful condition and to place all humanity, Jew and Gentile, under the wrath of God, so the gospel will be more attractive. The greater the depravity the greater the deliverance. The gospel is of no interest to someone who sees no need for it, but expose to them the utter sinfulness of man and the wrath of God suspended over them because of their “ungodliness and unrighteousness” and the gospel of salvation in Christ is “good news”. The gospel will unfold as the soul’s refuge and home. (Moulde) That is why Paul begins his “gospel” presentation with the wrath of God so the righteousness of God will be sweeter.
The Connection of the Wrath of God with the Righteousness of God for
Here there is link between verse 17 and 18. In v 17 the righteousness of God is revealed. In vs 18 the wrath of God is revealed. He begins it by giving the reason that gospel and a gift of God's righteousness is necessary. It's necessary "because the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness." We need the gospel of Rom 1:16-17, we need the gift of God's righteousness, because God's wrath is right now being poured out on the whole world of ungodliness and unrighteousness. He deals with sin for the sake of the gospel. Understanding sin is the foundation that upholds the preciousness of the gospel, not vice versa. His main aim is not to lead us from gospel to sin, but from sin to gospel. In other words, the reason we need God to reveal HIS righteousness to us in the gospel and give it to us as a gift through faith is because we are unrighteous and resist the truth in unrighteousness and, therefore, God's wrath is against us. We need righteousness. We don't have it. God's wrath is being poured out on us in our unrighteousness. Is there any hope? Yes, the gospel is the power of God to save because in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. We can have a righteousness that is not our own, namely, God's. (Piper). The bad news is God hates. The good news is God loves. But you have to start with His hate. First the diagnosis, then the cure. “for” what that verse says is all men hold the truth unrighteously and are under the wrath of God. Therefore, they have no capacity to justify themselves. So justification has to be by faith, because all men, left to their own efforts, are under the wrath. The whole human race is damned to hell. We are all children of wrath under the judgment of God. Man is born condemned. All men are born into the world under the wrath. Thus, All men need to be “reborn” by the gospel.
The preaching of divine wrath serves as a black velvet backdrop that causes the diamond of God’s mercy to shine brighter than ten thousand suns. It is upon the dark canvas of divine wrath that the splendor of His saving grace most fully radiates. Preaching the wrath of God most brilliantly showcases His gracious mercy toward sinners. Because God is holy, He is separated from all sin and utterly opposed to every sinner. Because God is love, He delights in purity and must, of necessity, hate all that is unholy. Because God is righteous, He must punish the sin that violates His holiness. Christ suffered the wrath of God for all who would call upon Him. If there is no divine wrath, there is no need for the cross, much less for the salvation of lost souls. From what would sinners need to be saved? It is only when we recognize the reality of God’s wrath against those deserving of judgment that we find the cross to be such glorious news. (Lawson)
The Character of the Wrath of God the wrath of God
There are two words that are used for wrath. The first, Gk thumos". It is where we get our word thermos, thermonuclear, etc. It refers to a sudden explosion of anger. (Luke 4:28) It is also the most common word for wrath in the book of Revelation (Allan Carr). The other word is Gk orge".anger, the natural disposition. It literally means to become "red faced". It pictures someone who is holding his anger in while it builds up inside of him. It implies that there will come a time when the anger will come forth. It is intense anger. (Sproul). This term describing God's wrath can be illustrated by a new dam that has been constructed. Behind that dam the waters are being backed up until there is great pressure behind that dam. Then, one day, that dam bursts and all the fury of the water flow forth and destroy everything in its path. (Carr) God’s wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human anger so often is. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil (JI Packer). Wrath here means God’s hatred for sin. Sin is abhorrent to God. If you recognize the love of God, you must recognize hate also, All that is opposed to God is hateful to God. All that belongs to the realm of darkness an of sin and of Satan is abhorrent to God, and what wrath of God means is God’s view of sin, God’s hatred of sin, and God in his justice and righteousness dealing with and punishing sin. (Jones) God's wrath is always balanced, fair and perfectly just. You can be sure that when the wrath of God falls on a life, it was deserved and it was executed in perfect, divine justice
The Consistency of God’s Wrath is revealed
Notice here the wrath of God is revealed, not will be revealed. It is present tense. It is already and continually in view. It is not just something that will happen in the future is currently revealed. The wrath of God is constantly in view. We can see it around us all the time, but are often unaware of what it is. (Carr). The same word is used her as in v. 17 Gk apokalupto it is a manifestation or a disclosure. Here Paul is saying that it is revealed now and is continually being revealed and will be continually revealed as long as the condition which provokes it exists. (Michael Ratliff), So how is it revealed from heaven? Genesis is the first account of it’s manifestation. When Adam sinned he was placed under a curse. The curse expresses the manifestation of the wrath of God (Gen 3:16-19) which continues today. Two primary things continually reveal the wrath of God. First, Futility of man’s existence. In Gen 3:17-19 the ground was cursed so the wrath of God revealed by pain in work, there were problems at work (thorns and thistles), and struggle and sorry through work (by the sweat of your face). (Rom 8: ). All will struggle. Life is hard. Second, the Finality of Life. In Gen 3:19 life itself was cursed, to dust you will return, so God’s wrath was manifest and is manifest by death being the punishment and penalty for sin. (Rom 5:12-20, 6:23). Death is seen as a judgment and a condemnation, that is, as an expression of God's wrath against sin (Piper). All will die. Life ends. These two things are universal, all struggle to survive and all will succumb to death, thus God’s wrath is universal.
The Cause of the Wrath of God. against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Here Paul seeks to show how the wrath of God is against all men since it is against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. We all are in some capacity ungodly and unrighteous. The two terms encompass all the possible sins of men, all the arenas in which sin operates.
First, ungodliness. Gk asebeian it means neglect of the worship and honor due to him. It refers to the fact that people had failed to honor the true God, and had paid to idols the homage which was due to him. Multitudes also in every age refuse to honor him, and neglect his worship . . . God’s wrath is revealed against the neglect of God (Barnes) This refers to man's relationship to the Lord. Because men are the enemies of God, Rom. 8:7; Rom. 5:10, they are the focus of His anger and are therefore the "children of wrath", Eph. 2:3. The reason why is that the absence of a genuine relationship with God will result in some form of false religion. With the lost person will worship another god, or they will set themselves up as their own God. Either activity angers the true God and brings His wrath into their lives. (Mac Arthur) Some have suggested that this word comprehends all the sins against the 1st four of the Ten Commandments related to our relationship with God (Ex 20. The wrath of God is upon all men because we do not love the Lord with all our heart soul and mind (Duet 6: Matt 22
Second, unrighteousness. Gk adikian The term is contrast to the righteousness of God (v.17) This word primarily focuses on the results of ungodliness in the life of the unbeliever. It basically refers to man's relationship with his fellow man. Because man's relationship to God is wrong, his relationship to his fellow man is also wrong. We treat others the way we do because we treat God the way we do! As this chapter unfolds, Paul will reveal sins that are against God and sins that are against man. What all these sins have in common is that they are all the product of a life that does not have a right relationship with the Lord! (Mac Arthur)
The essence of sin is godlessness. It is the attempt to get rid of God, and since that is impossible, it is the determination to live as though one has succeeded in doing so. Of course the opposite, the converse, is true that the essence of real goodness is godliness, to love God with all our being and to obey him with joy. (Stott) Some have suggested that this word comprehends all the sins against the 2nd 6 of the Ten Commandments related to our relationship with mankind (Ex 20. The wrath of God is upon all men because we do not love our neighbor as our self (Duet 6 , Matt 22 ).
The Cure for God’s Wrath
The good news for those in Jesus is that when Jesus was hanging on the cross, God directed all His built up anger against sin past, present and future and poured that anger out into the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, those of us who are saved by grace have found a place of shelter from the awesome wrath of God, Rom. 5:9
the gospel makes no sense without two things. Sin and God’s wrath. Apart from sin, the gospel makes no sense. If I have no sin to be saved from, the message of salvation is utterly unintelligible. It’s irrelevant. If I don’t need saving, the message of salvation may sound nice, but it’s not relevant, it’s not significant. Apart from God’s wrath against sin, the gospel makes no sense because the gospel is the story of God’s amazing, loving, gracious, redemption of us from his own wrath because of our sin. Paul is going to make sure that we understand the bad news. Before he ever gets to elaborating on the glorious truths. He’s going to spend a good long time to make sure we appreciate just what God is saving us from. God’s righteous wrath is revealed against sin, against all sin, against all sinners. Why is Paul saying this? Because he wants us to understand that the gospel is necessary. Paul is doing in this whole section is explaining why we need a righteousness that is by faith alone. Why we need the good news of the gospel, and why the good news is so good. (Ligon Duncan)