The Wrath of God is necessary to the gospel

What is meant by the Wrath of God?

The Wrath of God is real and active (Rom 1:18a)

Explanation: Paul brings up a new and disturbing topic in verse 18: the wrath of God. He has just stated the power of the Gospel for salvation and he has declared his intentions to proclaim the Gospel. What’s up with this shift in topic? Why is Paul going hard negative?

Paul discusses the Wrath of God because it is a necessary component of the Gospel. The Gospel is Good News because it is what saves individuals from the bad news. The bad news is that sin has consequences and one such consequence is that sin places a person under the righteous wrath of a Holy God

Illustrate; toss a life preserver in the middle of a room with people sitting in chairs and tell them to grab hold so they can be saved. They will look at you like you are an idiot! Throw that same life preserver to a person in the deep end of a pool with a leg cramp who is going down for the third time and he or she is going to grab hold!

Argument: The very word salvation implies that people are being saved from something or someone. In biblical language, a person who surrenders to Christ is being saved (delivered) from the wrath of a Holy God.

“For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thess 1:9-10)

King James Version Chapter 5

9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary Wrath, Wrath of God

God’s wrath is real, severe, and personal. The idea that God is not angry with sinners belongs neither to the OT nor to the NT. God is a personal moral being who is unalterably opposed to evil and takes personal actions against it. Wrath is the punitive righteousness of God by which He maintains His moral order, which demands justice and retribution for injustice

Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology Wrath of God

God is holy; he totally and completely distances himself from sin, evil, corruption, and the resultant filth and guilt. He maintains his purity and rejects, fights against, and destroys that which would offend, attack, or undo his holiness and love. Hence, God’s anger and wrath must always be seen in relation to his maintaining and defending his attributes of love and holiness, as well as his righteousness and justice. The emotion or passion that moves God to this maintaining and defending is expressed by the terms “displeasure,” “indignation,” “anger,” and “wrath.” A consequence of his wrath is vengeance, punishment, and death.

The Wrath of God currently resides upon unbelievers (Rom 1:18b)

Explanation: Paul informs his readers concerning the objects of the Wrath of God. He tells them that God’s wrath resides (present tense) upon the ungodly. He further informs that these individuals are not innocent victims of a mean-spirited God; instead, these individuals are those who are suppressing (or holding down) the truth of God. Paul is informing his readers that unbelievers are aware of their actions of unrighteousness. Lost people may not be fully aware of the extent of their rebellion, but they are innately aware of the God they are ignoring and disrespecting.

Argument: Much is said of the Love of God in today’s society. Some believers even have the mistaken idea that the Old Testament has a angry God, but the New Testament has a happy God. Yes, it is true that Paul is basing his teaching on the Old Testament, but the truth is that God is the same in both testaments. He has not changed in His love, grace, or His settled disposition against sin. He is forever consistent in His approach to dealing with mankind.

Let’s not forget that Jesus is God in the flesh; He is the God-Man, and it is inconceivable that God the Son has a different view of sin than God the Father. In fact, Jesus is the One who taught much about the wrath of God, and how a person can be delivered from it. Many believers (and unbelievers for that matter) are familiar with John 3:16. How many know the content of John 3:18. Jesus is the One talking, and He informs us that “he that believeth not is condemned already” (John 3:18).

The apostle John records this teaching and at the end of chapter three he includes the words of John the Baptist. The Baptizer declares, “he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36)

The reality for lost people is unsettling, but we need to share this truth. Those outside of Christ have the wrath of God upon them now in the present tense. This truth should bring us to ask, “Why are unbelievers currently experiencing the wrath of God? (in a limited fashion, but they are experiencing now, and will face the full wrath in the future)

The wrath of God is upon lost people because they are in Rebellion against Him (Rom 1:19-21)

Explanation: Paul shares the reason why God remains a just God when He places unbelievers under His wrath. The reason is because lost people knowingly rebel against the reality of the Creator God. God reveals Himself to all people (no exceptions) through creation itself. The created order reveals the Creator.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, And night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, Where their voice is not heard.” (Psalm 19:1–3, KJV 1900)

Argument: God gives mankind two separate types of revelation, the first is natural revelation and the second is special revelation. Natural revelation refers to God’s revealing of Himself through the created order. Creation itself shows us that a powerful Creator God exists. Our universe did not just happen. Atheism requires an advanced amount of arrogance and a firm decision to disbelieve in a Creator, regardless of the evidence. Atheism is not the natural state of man.

Special revelation is God revealing Himself through the Scriptures. His Holy word reveals the deplorable condition of man enslaved in the power of sin, and it also reveals the Savior. It is only through the Word of God that individuals can discover the incredible love that God has for lost people. It is through the Word that we discover that God the Son absorbed the wrath of God on the Cross. It is through the Word that we are exposed to the only hope we have been given, and His Name is Jesus!

NOTE: General Revelation has the power of Condemnation, but not Salvation. It requires the special revelation of Jesus as the God-Man making a substitutionary death and an individual’s faith in His finished work for Salvation. This brings up the question, “What about those who have never heard?”

Commenting upon v. 19, Dr MacArthur states that Paul’s point “is that all people, regardless of their relative opportunities to know God’s Word and hear His gospel, have internal, God-given evidence of His existence and nature, but are universally inclined to resist and assault that evidence. No matter how little spiritual light he may have, God guarantees that any person who sincerely seeks Him will find Him.” (MacArthur NT Commentary, Romans 1-8, p. 67)

Dr. MacArthur then cites Jeremiah 29:13 which states, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Then MacArthur adds the next sentence: “But men are not naturally inclined to seek God.”

Application: This is why the proclamation of the Gospel is so vital. Kingdom Servants must be engaged in sharing the Gospel with the lost. We must be willing to tell others of the ONLY Savior

The Wrath of God is upon lost people because they disrespect His glory by worshiping the creation instead of the Creator (Rom 1:22-23)

Explanation: Paul continues to expand on this thought by giving the reason that lost people refuse to acknowledge God as who He is. Paul states that the reason the wrath of God abides on the lost is because they are robbing God of His glory. Lost people rob God of His glory by worshiping something less than God. Even though humans know enough about God to seek Him, they instead willingly choose to set their affections on other lesser things.

Illustrate: Evolution is actually a form of worship. Science is deified, scientists are the high priests, and naturalism is the worldview. It takes a great amount of faith to believe that something is the result of nothing, especially when there is no scientific evidence to support the theory

Argument: Humans are created in the image of God and therefore have a natural tendency to worship. “He has set Eternity in their hearts” (Ecc 3:11). Studies of primitive people groups discovered that they had developed some form of worship. The Inca, Aztec, Greeks, and the Canaanites all had expressions of worship. The reality is that Atheism is not a natural condition for mankind.

The problem is that the majority of humanity is worshiping something other than the God of the Bible. Paul accuses them of breaking the first and second commandments when he states they have “changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man” (Romans 1:23)

Application: We who have the Word and the knowledge of the Messiah are obligated to take this Truth to the nations. This is why we witness to the Jews, the Muslims, and the Buddhists. The idea that “all paths lead to God” is a lie from the pit of Hell and we must stand against it. We must never waver in the task of taking the Gospel to the unreached. We CAN pray and we CAN give and we CAN Go. Are you personally involved in this glorious task?