The Book of Romans
Part 3: The Revelation of God’s Wrath

Scripture: Romans 1:18-20.

1. God’s Wrath is Consequence of His Attributes
A. His Holiness

Habakkuk 1:13a (ESV)
13a You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong…

Isaiah 6:1-5 (ESV)
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

B. His Righteousness and Justice

Deuteronomy 32:4 (ESV)
4 “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and upright is he.”

Psalm 89:14 (ESV)
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before you.

C. Even His Love

John 3:16 (ESV)
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:17-18 (ESV)
17  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

John 3:19-21 (ESV)
19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

John 3:36 (ESV)
36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

 
Psalm 11:5 (ESV)
5 The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

Psalm 33:5 (ESV)
5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.

Isaiah 42:8 (ESV)
8 I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

1 John 3:1a (ESV)
1a See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

2. God’s Wrath is Against All Against All Ungodliness and Unrighteousness

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (ESV)
1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

Micah 6:8 (ESV)
8 He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

A. We Cannot Feel Better Because Others Are Worse

James 2:10 (ESV)
10 For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

B. We Cannot Feel Better Because Others Are Just as Bad

Exodus 23:2a (ESV)
2a You shall not fall in with the many to do evil…

Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)
13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

C. All Ungodliness and Unrighteousness

Ecclesiastes 7:20
20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

3. God’s Wrath is Against All Who Suppress the Truth

A. There is the Truth and There is the Lie

John 8:44 (ESV)
44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

B. Jesus is the Truth

John 14:6 (ESV)
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

C. The Suppression of the Truth is Active

Psalm 14:1 (ESV)
1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.

4. We are Without Excuse