The Anger of God – Romans 1:18

The Anger of God — Romans 1:18

The Apostle Paul writes this letter to the Christians in Rome to explain the Gospel from God’s perspective.

Also, Paul wants all people (Jew/Gentile, Educated/Non-educated, Rich/Poor, Religious/Irreligious) to know that the Gospel is equally available to them.  To prove that, he must prove that they are all equally in need of it.  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.  And the apostle Paul knows that it makes no sense to tell us the good news unless we have fully appreciated the bad news.

And so, from Romans 1:18 through Romans 3, the apostle Paul is going to make sure that we understand the bad news.  Before he ever gets to elaborating on the glorious truths which he has hinted at in the first seventeen verses of Romans in which he has outlined for us in Romans 1:16-17, he’s going to spend a good long time to make sure we appreciate just what God is saving us from.

So let’s learn why God is angry.  What does this anger say about God?  Who is he angry at?  And how can we find peace with God.

I.  God’s Anger is Revealing. Romans 1:18a — For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven…

A.  Definition of Wrath

• God’s Wrath is Righteous:  Some people claim that if God is Good/Love/Righteous then He cannot be wrathful and angry.  But this is wrong on many levels.  First of all, Paul said in vs.16-17 that the Gospel reveals the righteousness of God.  Vs. 18 reveals that God’s wrath is part of God’s righteousness; it is part of the Gospel.  Don’t assume anger is always wrong.  Second, Paul himself indicates in Ephesians 4:26 (Be angry and do not sin) that it is possible for us to be angry and not to sin = a righteous indignation = if possible for us MUCH MORE possible… necessary for God.  Third, with regard to this idea that wrath is incompatible with the idea of divine love, I’d say it the other way around. Anger, righteous indignation is a function of goodness. Goodness is necessary to true love. Therefore, in order to truly love, you must be capable of righteous indignation against that which is a violation of it. Let me put that another way. A god who cannot be angry is a god who cannot love. In fact, if you cannot be angry against wrong, you are a person who cannot love.  To say that God does not care about that kind of behavior is to say that God is amoral.  And you know, I think if somebody came up to you today and told you that you are amoral, you wouldn’t take it as a compliment.
  
• God’s Wrath is not Unrighteous Anger: We often mistake God as being like us: when we get angry it is usually a loss of self-control or an irrational and capricious outburst of anger. We lose our tempers and do things we wish we didn’t do. We are filled with vanity, animosity, malice and revenge.  God’s anger is nothing like that. It is not an emotional outburst or uncontrolled fury. His wrath is justified and targeted and appropriate.  Thus God’s wrath reveals (glorifies) the character of God.  To Know God = know what he loves AND what he is angry against.

B.  Time of Wrath

Romans 1:18a – For the wrath of God is revealed … = denotes present tense.  God’s wrath and anger can been seen right now.  We shall see what it looks like in next week’s sermon.  But let’s think about this for today: God’s wrath is RIGHT NOW.

Even now God’s anger/wrath is present in the lives of sinners.  Don’t have to wait for condemnation.  Sinner, God’s judgment is already a resident in your life.  It knows your address; it knows your name; it’s plotting your demise.  God’s wrath hasn’t overlooked any sin.  God is angry towards sinners even today.  You will begin to see it in next week’s sermon: death infects everything.

But let me be quick to mention the good news:

C.  Duration of Wrath = The wrath/anger of God can be curtailed in your life.  When we speak of salvation this is exactly what we are talking about: the Bible reveals that God’s wrath/anger towards you can be curtailed; it can be stopped; it can be redirected.  I will show you how in a moment.

II.  God’s Anger is Justified. Romans 1:18 — …against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. God is angry against…

C.  People Suppress the Truth — Romans 1:18d – who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth

All people know that there is a God and that he should be worshipped: vs. 19-32

• 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. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.  24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a 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 dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Notice that Paul doesn’t question anyone’s intelligence or moral compass.  In fact, he affirms that all people know what is good and right.  Some people like to say that all people are good; but that is not what the Bible is saying.  It is saying that all people know what is good, but they choose wrong.  All people know the truth, but they work very hard not to allow it to have any impact on their thinking, their living, their believing, their worshiping.

The Greek word for “suppress” means “to press down with force against something that is exercising a counterforce.”  Picture a giant steel spring, which takes the full weight of your body to hold down.  If you let go for a second, it will shoot straight up. God’s truth is being suppressed, held down with all of our might.  The word was used in ancient times for what it meant to be locked away, incarcerated, against your will.  Paul is saying that the truth of God is pushed down, repressed, hindered, stifled in our minds and in our lives.

It sounds almost like a textbook on psychology. Modern psychologists say that this is what people do with memories of painful and traumatic experiences.  We push them out of the painful areas of our minds and push them into the deepest recesses and chambers of our minds.  And we have pushed God back, as far back in our minds as we can.  We don’t want to think about Him.  We don’t want to think about what He thinks about what we are doing.  And we ignore Him, and deny Him, and act as if He doesn’t exist.  And this angers God.  This provokes His fury… and rightly so.  He will not be ignored or mocked.

Now as promised earlier I want to return to the point that God’s wrath doesn’t have to be forever upon you. It can be stopped.  You can have peace with God.

There is no reason to necessarily assume that the “giving over” is permanent.

There is ample biblical evidence to suggest that often times the goal of God’s wrath is therapeutic (cf. Judges). In other words, God gives people over so that they will experience the ruin of their sin and call out to him for salvation.

In the Gospels, it often seems that those who lived the worst kind of lives were the first to come to Christ (cf. John 4), while those who appeared to live moral lives were not interested in his offer of salvation.

III.  God’s Anger Was Absorbed by Christ for Those who Believe. Romans 5:1 — Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

When Paul finishes with his extensive proof that all people are objects of God’s wrath – and rightfully so, Paul will then spend the rest of Romans explaining how that that wrath upon us can be removed and replaced with Peace!

How? (by faith in Jesus Christ as Lord of your life)

Why? (because Jesus has done two very important things for you)

• He lived for you.
• He died for you.

So What? (by trusting in Jesus he takes your death and gives you His life = and thereby you are justified before God and can enjoy His peace rather than His wrath)