ROMANS 1:18 THE WRATH OF GOD
The last of the "Four 'Fors'" is God's holy, just wrath against all that is contrary and opposes His nature and His will. This is not a look down through the years to a future day of judgment, but a present handing over of rebellious people to go further in their rebellion against God. These are lost people who "the Son of Man who came to seek and to save." These are people who are condemned by their own sin of choosing darkness over light; ideas over evidence; imaginations over evidence; idols over God and religion over salvation.
God's wrath is not irrational bursts of anger. It is not a petulant reaction to the sins people commit that are common to human beings. This is the on-going working of His righteous wrath that is being carried out in the world today. It is being revealed as a judicial handing over of those who turn away from Him and His revealed will to the consequences of their actions. He lets people go their own way and do their own thing. He abandons the wicked to their sins and results of their own sins.
Ungodliness is a direct disregard of God. To the Jews this would be clarified to them in the first commandment. To the Greeks it would go against the inborn nature of man that knows there is One higher than mere men. The unrighteousness of men is a reference to the wickedness of conduct in life. "Men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." But those to whom the wrath of God is revealed go even further. They suppress the truth. They seek to restrain it and hold it down. They know what the truth produces when it is at liberty to be presented. It exposes evil. It makes guilt for sin prick the conscience. It does not allow sin to go on unchallenged. In order to live an unrighteous life, truth has to be defeated. The power of the Gospel is that it exposes sin right away. Then it presents the remedy for sin. God Himself, with universal authority, reveals His wrath today against wickedness.
To many it seems unlike the God they profess to know - Is unfair to release His wrath against wickedness and sin. They have a sentimental side they seek to show - Whenever they get around to talking about Him. But when it comes to the wicked practices of life - They seldom show any restraint. As long as they can turn off and keep out the light - They continue sinning and make no complaint.
Then comes the consequences of sin they cannot avoid - And on God they seek to lay the blame. Their life-style and choices makes null and void - The claims they make in God's holy name. Prayers of demand they make in God's face - Insisting He listens to them. Their rejection of truth and the Gospel of grace - Means they must pay the wages of sin.
The disrespect they had for God still has a hold - On rebellious and arrogant people. No matter how many times they have been told - They still consider God their equal. The unrighteousness of life they continue to pursue Will bring a payday some day. When the life of self-centeredness is through - Their mouths are shut with nothing to say.
Truth to God is precious, we are told it to buy - And never put it up for sale. It is revealed in its clearness, we easily know why, And what its message entails. It is personified in a Person; Jesus is the Truth - The statements correspond with the facts. Above all of men's thoughts truth is of greatest worth. By the truth of His Word is how God acts.
"Father in heaven, may this day be characterized by the teaching and practice of Thy truth. May the Gospel be spoken in such a way as to bring blessing to those who hear it. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen."