“God’s Wrath, God’s Righteousness” (Romans 1:16-17) - Romans for Everyone II -

The Essence of Sin 
One time a group of the atheists ran advertisements on buses in London, saying, “Enjoy your life, for there is no God.” This statement presupposes that we cannot enjoy our lives freely if there is a God. The Bible clearly says that the essence of sin is godlessness. Romans 1:28 plainly tells the inconvenient truth that people don’t like to retain God in their knowledge (KJV). They make an attempt to get rid of God. But apparently, it is impossible. So then, they determine to live as if there is no God, as if one had succeeded in doing so. They pursue their own ways, instead of following God’s ways. So Paul, in this letter, particularly in his introduction – Romans 1-3, gives a true diagnosis of our condition in the sight of God before preaching the good news. Because otherwise, we will never respond to the gospel; we would not feel like we need the gospel. John Stott says, “We must never bypass the law and come straight to the gospel… No man has ever appreciated the gospel until the law has first revealed him to himself. It is only against the inky blackness of the night sky that the stars begin to appear, and it is only against the dark background of sin and judgment that the gospel shines forth.” That is exactly what Paul is trying to do in today’s scripture. Sin, judgement, God’s wrath… those themes are unpopular, but they are essential for us to see ourselves before God. They make the good news newsworthy. 

How Is the Gospel Offensive? 
Think about the time when you heard the gospel for the first time. Was it easily acceptable? Or were you offended? How were you? In today’s passage Paul says that he is not ashamed of the gospel. The word translated “ashamed” also means “offended.” When we take the gospel seriously to heart, it offends us. How is the gospel offensive? Regarding this important question, Tim Keller rightly answers in four different ways:[1]

1. The gospel is insulting to moral and religious people who think their decency gives them an advantage over less moral people, because it tells us that our salvation is free and undeserved. It tells us that we are all such spiritual failures that the only way to gain salvation is for it to be a complete gift. 
2. The gospel offends the modern cult of self-expression and the popular belief in the innate goodness of humanity, because it tells us that Jesus died for us. It tells us that we are so wicked that only the death of the Son of God could save us. 
3. The gospel offends the modern notion that any nice person anywhere can find God “in his own way,” because it tells us that trying to be good and spiritual isn’t enough, thereby insists that no “good” person will be saved, but only those who come to God through Jesus. 
4. The gospel offends people who want salvation to be an easy life; it also offends people who want their lives to be safe and comfortable, because it tells us that our salvation was accomplished by Jesus’ suffering and serving, and that following him means to suffer and serve with him. 

So how is the gospel offensive to you? The gospel will always cause offense. 1 Corinthians 1:22-23 says, “Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified (Good News!): a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” So we will always be tempted to be ashamed of, offended by the gospel. But we need to remember that the gospel of Christ is the power of God. We need to remember that it reveals God’s righteousness.

The Righteousness of God Revealed 

Romans 1:17 says, “For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed…” Here let us think about the meaning of the word “righteousness.” For instance, what does it mean to be “right” with your company, your government or another person? It is a positional word— it means to have a good or right standing, to have no debts or liabilities that you owe the other person or organization.[2] You are acceptable to the other party because your record is now clean. The other party has nothing against you. The gospel tells us how God makes us “right” in his sight. Not by our morality, not by our good works, not by our innate goodness, but only by the death of Christ, we are able to stand right before God. In this gospel the righteousness from God is revealed (NIV). And it is a “gift” that we receive when we believe the gospel. Many people believe they become righteous by faith through Jesus, but then they try to maintain it through their own self-seeking goodness – religious activities, good works, etc. But the Bible says that a righteousness from God is a righteousness that is “by faith from first to last” (NIV). We are saved by faith. We are transformed by faith. We are sanctified by faith from start to finish.

The Wrath of God Revealed

In the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed. Then, in the very next verse Paul says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven…” (v. 17). The wrath of God is totally different from human anger. It does not mean that God loses his temper. The alternative to ‘wrath’ is not ‘love’ but ‘neutrality’ in the moral conflict. And God is not neutral. John Stott rightly says, “God’s wrath is his holy hostility to evil, his refusal to condone it or come to terms with it, his just judgment upon it.”[3]

Then, how is God’s wrath revealed? God’s wrath is revealed quietly and invisibly. God’s wrath ‘operates not by his intervention but precisely by his not intervening, by letting men and women go their own way.”[4] God abandons stubborn sinners to their wilful self-centeredness. In Romans 1 Paul repeats three times how God’s wrath is revealed. Verse 24 says, “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity…” Verse 26 says, “For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions.” And again verse 28 says, “… God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” This is the revelation of God’s wrath from heaven. In Numbers 22 Balak, king of Moab, sent his messengers to Balaam. Balak asked Balaam to curse the Israelites for his people. God clearly said to Balaam, “You shall not go with them. You shall not curse the people, for they are blessed.” But once again Balak sent more honorable people with more money. Balaam asked God again, “Can I go with them?” God said, “Rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” Apparently God was not pleased. In fact, God gave him up to his greed and unrighteousness. On the way the angel of the Lord was standing with his drawn sword in his hand and almost tried to kill him, saying, “Behold, I have come out to oppose you because your way is perverse before me” (v. 32). God intervened one more time. But unfortunately, Balaam didn’t turn away. He kept going on his way. And eventually, he perished in his rebellion (cf. Jude 1:11).

In Romans 1:18 Paul says, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (NIV). Then he describes all kinds of godlessness in the following verses. He describes in detail against what God’s wrath is revealed. In particular, verses 26-27 are a crucial text in the contemporary debate about homosexuality. Some churches love and welcome homosexual people, but they downplay or deny the clear teaching of Scripture on homosexuality. We might call this the “liberal” approach. Other churches take what the Bible says on homosexuality very seriously, but in a very self-righteous way. They see homosexuality as the sin that matters most. We might call this as a “conservative” approach.[5] Paul isn’t doing either. Paul is not saying: “It doesn’t matter what you do; God doesn’t mind as long as you’re happy.” But he is also not saying: “I don’t want to love you because you are beyond the gospel.” Yes, the Bible says that homosexuality is a sin. In verses 26-27 “unnatural relations” is literally “against nature” – para phusin. This means that homosexuality is a violation of the created nature God gave us – not “my nature”, or “what seems natural to me,” but God’s created order (Gen 1:27; 2:24).

“You’ve Only Got Six Months to Live!”

Homosexuality is a sin, but not the worst sin. In Romans 1 we see all kinds of godlessness. Homosexuality is one of them. We also find greed, sexual immorality, hate, envy, quarreling, gossips, slanderers, arrogant, disobedient to parents, faithless, heartless, ruthless. None of these are more or less serious than the others. And the Bible says that those who practice such things deserve to die (v. 32). So when you read Romans 1, if you think ‘How wicked they are, and thank God for I am not like them,’ you have missed the point. Here Paul is saying, “You are the one who deserve to die. You are the one who is under God’s coming wrath” (cf. 2:1). When the doctor tells you that you've only got six months to live, how would you respond to that? In 2 Kings 20 the Lord said to King Hezekiah, “Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, remember me.” He wept bitterly. And God did heal his disease. Our response should be the same. “Lord, have mercy on me. I am a sinner. Lord, deliver me from self-righteousness, judgmental spirit, false peace and happiness, and heartless and powerless Christian life!” My prayer is that the Lord may open our eyes to grasp the gospel and to understand, as Paul did, that we are the worst sinner (1 Tim 1:15), so that we will always humbly and joyfully love God with all our hearts and love our neighbors with all our strength. Amen.

[1] Timothy Keller, Romans 1-7 For You: For reading, for feeding, for leading (The Good Book Company. 2014), Kindle Locations 217-227 of 2850.
[2] Ibid., 253-256.
[3] John Stott, The Message of Romans: God's Good News for the World (InterVarsity Press: Downers Grove, 1994), Kindle Locations 1177-1181 of 8863
[4] Ibid., 1243.
[5] Timothy Keller, 435-440.