Romans 1:18 teaches us that the wrath of God is quite real. The word wrath means God’s holy aversion to all that is evil. It is not something sudden but a consistent state of God’s attitude toward unrighteousness. God is angry with two classes of men the ungodly and the unrighteous. The ungodly are people who fail to love and obey God. These are people who do not live as God lives. There are many who members of churches who are ungodly (Jude 1:4) These are people who do not work at developing a godly nature nor honor God by their words and their actions. (1 John 2:3-6).
The ungodly are those who do what they want when they want, who may give lip-service to God, but who ignore Him in their day to day lives. The unrighteous are those who fail to love others. While ungodliness describes man’s attitude in relationship to God, unrighteousness has to do with our relationship with our fellow man. An unrighteous man acts against men by cheating, stealing, lying, being abusive, enslaving men and taking advantage of them. These men hold the truth in unrighteousness. The word “hold” means to hold down, suppress, repress, stifle, hinder. Men know the truth from three sources: from nature (Romans 1:20); from reason and conscience (Romans 1:18; 2:15); from Scripture (John 5:39; 2 Timothy 3:16). Yet despite having access to the truth, they ignore, and even push the truth aside, doing all they can to avoid and get rid of it. Why?
Because they want to live as they wish and not as God says. Scripture says: they “hold the truth in unrighteousness” that is, they know the truth while they go about living in unrighteousness. They are without excuse (2 Thessalonians 2:10). Satan will use every kind of wicked deception to fool those who are on their way to destruction because they refuse to believe the truth that would save them.
Romans 1:19-20, The wrath of God comes because men reject the truth that is within them; that is, they reject their consciences, thoughts and reasoning about God. (Romans 2:15) in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.
Men can know enough to be led to God. They have a sense of God, but they suppress the sense, trying to get rid of it. Man chooses to take the truth that is within him and suppress it. This is the first reason why God reveals and shows His wrath. Men can see more than a Supreme Being behind the creation of the universe. They can see “the invisible things” of God. This means at least two things.
1. Man can see the “eternal power,” the Supreme Intelligence and Force (or Energy), of God.
2. Man can look at the creation of the earth and outer space, of plants and animals, of man and woman; We have studied and harnessed creations purpose and laws.
When man looks at all of this with an honest spirit, he sees clearly that the world was made by a Creator. Moreover as man considers God’s creation with an honest spirit, he will clearly see that God cares and provides for what He has created. The result is that Man is without excuse or defense in his rejection of God.
(Acts 14:17) and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” (Psalm 19:1)
