God’s Wrath vs God’s Righteousness

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, [g] in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Prayer:

John 3:16

Romans you will discover the revelation of God’s judging and saving righteousness in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We will learn that God judges' sin and at the same time manifest his saving mercy.

Tale of the Tape

God’s Wrath vs God’s Righteousness

• God's wrath is not a reckless rage, an uncontrollable anger, a senseless fury, or an unjust vengeance. The wrath of God is a precise and controlled response to the belittling of his holiness. Everyone who perishes under the wrath of God in eternity will not be because God lost his temper with them and mistreated them.

• Righteousness is the quality or state of being morally correct and justifiable. It can be considered synonymous with "rightness" or being "upright".

• A person is righteous coram deo, that is, he is in a right relationship with God, when he simply receives the imputed obedience of Christ and the forgiveness of sins through faith. ... A human person is not righteous in God's eyes because of his choice or commitment, his good works or his piety, his emotions or intellect. He is righteous because of the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus.

  Here the argumentation of the Epistle begins, the first position to be established being that all mankind without exception is guilty of sin before God, and therefore unable of itself to put in a plea of righteousness.

  18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

  God’s Wrath vs God’s Righteousness Team Wrath -vs- Team Righteousness

Suppresses the truth | Incite or encourage the truth Many excuses | No excuses
Serve creatures | Serve the creator
Pursue passions | Pursue obedience
Death | Life

1. Suppresses the truth | Incite or encourage the truth (Vs. 18) 2. Many excuses | No excuses (Vs. 20)
3. Serve creatures | Serve the creator (Vs. 26)
4. Pursue passions | Pursue obedience (Vs.27-31)

5. Death | Life (Vs.32)
How do we see God loving through wrathful at the same time?

That is because the cross of Christ is simultaneously a display of God's wrath towards sinners and his love for sinners. Jesus stands in our place and God pours out his intense anger on his Son in our place. ... Martin Luther summed it all up with the idea that we see God's love through his wrath.

How do we see God's love?

God's love is shown by justifying us (or declaring us innocent) by grace through faith in Christ. Christ is treated as if he were the sinner, and the sinner is treated as if he were the righteous one. God now sees us through Christ's righteousness instead of through our sin.

“19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”