Listening & Learning — A Devotional

Romans 2:5

Storing up guilt

Storing up guilt. Romans 2:5 Every day, God's goodness brings blessings to people. Every meal, every good night's sleep, every day lived in health and peace comes from God. People who think nothing of them and look down in judgment on those around them who are less fortunate than they are receiving the benefits of daily living. Earthly gifts are taken for granted and claimed for oneself without any thanks to God.

Habitual ingratitude builds up a hardness and an expectation toward God that is inclined to blame God for what goes wrong because of sin in one’s life. The impenitent person is not willing to repent of their own guilt nor take responsibility for the consequences of sin they bring upon themselves. There is no contriteness, no heart broken in thanksgiving for the grace and mercy of God. The people of Sodom ate, drank, bought and sold, planted and built without thought for God or repentance of sin right up to the day judgment fell on them.

The blessings of God through a lifetime that have been taken for granted accumulate the guilt of the self-righteous sinner. Evil works, and their results on the one who commits the evil deeds, plus the effect they have on others, store up guilt that will be faced on the day of the righteous judgment of God. God has been longsuffering and continues to give His blessings to unthankful people. Still, each blessing and act of His goodness received without repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ has the accumulated effect of "treasuring up" the righteous wrath of God.

There is a present judgment that accumulated sin brings upon people today. There is also the righteous wrath of God that will be revealed against accumulated guilt on the day of judgment in the future when the sentence will be pronounced on the guilty.