I. The Wrath Of God Is Revealed (Made Known) V. 18
A. The Wrath Of God
1. V. 17 speaks of the righteousness (rightness) of God: That which God is, does, gives.
2. In a contrasting fashion, Paul now speaks of the wrath of God, which is God’s righteous response to ungodliness and unrighteousness.
3. Wrath- orge- Trench- “a wrath of God who would not love good unless He hated evil, the two being inseparable, that He must do both or neither.”
a. It is not only logical that God would love good and hate evil, because of His nature, but it is philosophically impossible to “love good”, unless it can be contrasted to
something called “bad” which men dislike or hate.
b. People are very interested and drawn to a “God of love” who never judges.
c. Those same people will judge you as being unloving and wrong is you disagree.
d. “Good” cannot be defined as “good” unless it is compared to something called evil.
e. God’s wrath exists because He hates sin. He could not be good unless he hated sin.
f. Mark 3:1-6 shows Jesus’ righteous anger against sinful, merciless men.
B. Against Ungodliness- Lack of reverence toward God, impiety. Religious failure
C. Against Unrighteousness – Injustice against man. Moral failure.
D. Against Those Who Suppress The Truth In Unrighteousness
1. Suppress the truth– to “hold down” truth. They understand the truth, but suppress it.
2. It is a deliberate and willful opposition to the truth.
II. God Reveals His Wrath Vs. 19-21
A. God Has Revealed Himself To Humanity Vs. 19, 20
1. Manifest- apparent, evident, known. Shown it to them- to make visible, to manifest.
2. In them- in their hearts and consciences. (Supported in Romans 2:14, 15; Acts 14:17)
3. In creation- Deductive reasoning from observing creation and listening to the conscience leads man to know that there is a God who exists who deserves recognition
and thanksgiving.
4. Men have no excuse to claim that they didn’t know God existed
B. Man Ignores God, Though Man Knows God Exists V. 21a
1. Failure to glorify God leads to failure to thank God.
2. Why do people not acknowledge God? Because it means that you must rightly respond to God, which men do not want to do. People love darkness. (John 3:19)
III. What Happens When People Ignore God
A. Thinking And Perception Suffers Vs. 21a, 22
1. Futile—Unsuccessful in their reasoning regarding life. (Like King Solomon)
2. Foolish hearts were darkened– Without understanding re. moral choices
3. V. 22- They claimed mental excellence, but became morally sluggish and dull.
B. The Create A Substitute God (Absolute Authority) V. 23, 25
1. When man rejects God, man fills that vacuum with some other Absolute Authority.
2. Man rejects God who is incorruptible, and worships that which is corruptible.
a. When man rejects God, he always fills the void with something less than God.
b. It may be the worship of man, animals, or nature.
3. V. 25- These people reject God, embrace a lie, and serve something from creation.
a. They may serve idols, as is still done in many countries.
b. They may serve nature, which is done worldwide, including the U.S.A.
c. They may worship man, either one who claims to be God, or they may worship themselves as the Absolute Authority over their own life.
C. God Gives Them Up To Uncleanness Vs. 24-27
1. V. 24 Gave them up to uncleanness/lust- to give into the hands (power) of another.
a. When people want to be free from the power of God, God will give them up to the power of the passion that they crave.
b. God never violates man’s free will; He eventually gives man up to his passions
c. Not a permissive “giving over”, but a judicial action. They are delivered over.
d. Alford- “As sin begets sin, and darkness of mind, deeper darkness, grace gives place to judgment, and the diving wrath hardens men, and hurries them on to more fearful degrees of depravity”.
e. NOTE- When man exchanges the true God with one of his own imagination, the “replacement God” will justify that sinful behavior, and not condemn it.
f. You will heart that sentiment in statements like, “The Jesus/God that I know…”.
2. Vs. 26, 27- Gave them up to vile passions, to that which is against nature.
a. V. 24- God gave them over to unclean passions
b. Vs. 26, 27– God gave them over to acts which are contrary to nature
c. V. 27- Burned- to be inflamed with lust.
d. V. 27– Lust- Not the usual word, but one that means eager desire, appetite.
e. V. 27– and receiving in themselves- Whatever the penalty is, it is the natural outcome of their behavior. Paul writes that this was a just recompense.
D. God Gave Them Over To A Debased Mind Vs. 28-32
1. V. 28- Did not like– The opposite is “did like” which means to test something to prove that it is good and valuable (See Romans 12:2b
a. Man did not want to think about God, or consider God, for the purpose of approving of God, and surrendering to Him. Instead, they pushed Him out of
their minds, and disapproved of Him
b. Debased mind- Man disapproved of God in his mind, so God handed him over to having a debased mind that doesn’t function correctly regarding morality.
2. Vs. 29-32 Being filled- When a mind doesn’t want to retain thoughts of God for the purposed of following God, then they are given over to a debased mind, which is
increasingly unable to make healthy moral decisions.
a. New “normal condition” of this person-completely filled with unrighteousness.
b. V. 31– unloving- astorgos- without natural affection, i.e. love of parents for children, love of children for parents, love for a spouse, etc.
3. V. 32– This is a high form of rebellion: knowing that they are wrong and deserving of judgment, and encouraging others to do the same.
4. There is hope! 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. The Gospel is God’s Power to save.