First, the Bad News

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness Romans 1:18

We have seen that Paul begins his presentation of the gospel by stating the problem which the gospel addresses. The problem is that the wrath of God is revealed against human sin.

We have also briefly considered some of the objections to the fact that God possesses wrath and seen that, far from being a comforting idea, the concept of an anger-free God is actually a deeply worrying one. If true, it means that the universe is ruled by a being who is indifferent to evil. This is hardly a comfort.

Now, let’s think about this “wrath�? that God has and see what Paul says about it in more detail.

Firstly, the word itself means intense and personal anger. God’s wrath is his strong displeasure over wrongdoing.

Secondly, Paul declares that God’s intense displeasure against sin is present and real in the here and now. It is “being revealed�?. Although there is a future dimension to God’s wrath in the age to come, this is not the focus Paul has in this passage. He is describing a present reality that can be observed in time and space. We shall see later in the chapter how this is visible.

Thirdly, God’s wrath is revealed against human sin in both of its main dimensions: godlessness describes sin that is primarily directed against God; wickedness describes sin that is against God but which also has a strong social dimension - being committed against other people.

Godlessness includes, but is not limited to, such sins as unbelief, idolatry, blasphemy, prayerlessness and lack of thanksgiving. These are sins that are routinely glossed over by self-righteous people who deny that they are “bad people�?. What they mean is that they do not regard themselves as commiting as many social sins as some people. God’s wrath, however, is revealed as much against lack of gratitude to God as it is against murder, though the obvious social consequences of the latter sin may be greater.

The category of wickedness includes, but is not limited to, such sins as murder, adultery, robbery, lying, dishonouring parents, injustice and racism. Although all such sins are ultimately against God, they also contain a strong element of wrong behaviour in relation to other human beings.

Here is the problem that the gospel solves. Paul has much more to say about the reality of human sin before he later presents the glorious answer to it. But in this opening statement, he summarises the problem succinctly:

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness Romans 1:18