Who Will Actually Suffer God’s Wrath?

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

The revelation of God’s wrath stands as a warning so that we can live in a manner that will not suffer His wrath.

Introduction

Can one live as a sinner and escape God’s wrath?  God has made a promise, and He is faithful to what He has promised.  To some, that promise will cause rejoicing, but to others, it ought to strike fear in their hearts.  I hope you will take a moment to join me for another serious Sunday School commentary.  This week’s Sunday School commentary will cover Romans 1:18-23.

Needed Revelation About God

Many today shy away from talking about God’s wrath, when, honestly, it is a subject that ought to be talked about as often as possible.  I feel that some of us won’t talk about God’s wrath because we don’t want to be the hellfire and brimstone type of Christian.  Some of us will also shy away from talking about God’s wrath because we desire to create an image of a warm and welcoming God.

I believe that we can, and should, both teach and preach about the God who loves, and the God who will pour out His wrath.  I say that because we must preach the truth: God is both a God of love and a God of wrath. 

As a pastor, I have come to realize that many people struggle with understanding how a loving God can be wrathful; the thought is that love and wrath are contrary to one another.  It is that struggle to understand that God can both be loving and wrathful that we must teach and preach about God wholly.

The Revelation of God’s Wrath

Paul, unlike those who will shy away from talking about God’s wrath, was very open and direct to those in Rome. 

Paul wrote, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them (Rom. 1:18-19).”

There are at least three points that Paul makes here about God’s wrath:  Who and what it is aimed at, why one suffers God’s wrath, and who can escape God’s wrath.  So, let’s tackle all three of these points so that we may have clarity about the wrath of God.

Wrath against ungodliness and unrighteousness

I first want to point to Paul stating God’s wrath being revealed against ungodliness and unrighteousness.  Let’s understand that godliness and righteousness, while you may try to say they are synonymous, they are not.  

Godliness, like holiness, focuses on the way in which one conducts oneself.  Godliness moves with great honor for the way of God, in a committed effort to follow God’s example.  However, there is a form of godliness that Christ warned of, in that some may wear sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves (Matt. 7:15).  To Timothy, Paul wrote that such a one has a form of godliness but denies its power (2 Tim. 3:5). 

Righteousness is perfection, being complete without sin.  As the one who sets the ordinances of all things, God is righteous because He determines what is or is not righteous.  Therefore, for one to truly become righteous, they can only do so in the eyes of God.  However, many claim to be righteous without faith in Christ and the Lord, but such righteousness is self-righteous and unrighteous.

To be clear, ungodliness and unrighteousness are sin.  Therefore, God’s wrath is directed to sin.

Romans 1:18-19 is a statement where I imagine Paul might have had God’s proclamation to Moses in mind.

In Exodus 34:6, as He passed before Moses, the Lord proclaimed to be merciful, gracious, patient, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, and forgiving wickedness, disobedience, and sin, generation after generation.  

This part of God’s proclamation is what we were taught and learned growing up.  This portion of God’s proclamation is most often taught and preached because it is very warm, welcoming, and much easier to hear that God will forgive us of our sins.  

However, if you take a look at Exodus 34:7, you will see that God also proclaimed that He will not clear the guilty by any means.  God proclaimed that He will visit the iniquity (wickedness/sin) of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children.  This part of God’s proclamation is not so easy to take in because God makes it clear that He will judge the sins of the sinner.

The problem that some have is that they don’t want to see themselves as being sinful.  Some of us view ourselves as being perfect, yet the Lord made it clear that all must repent.  Simply going to church, reading scripture, saying a prayer, and having a form of godliness is meaningless if there is no sincere faith.

God has always made it clear that He not only does not tolerate sin, but that He will not ignore sin!  Sin will not escape from God’s eyes!  

What the Lord so carefully added in His proclamation is that one must not only care about themselves, but they should also live in a manner where they are concerned with the example they set.  If your children, grandchildren, or whoever else follow in the example of sin that you set for them, then God will visit their iniquity as well!  

When God speaks of visiting the iniquity of the Father upon His children and their children, we must understand that God was not speaking about sin being hereditary.  Sin cannot be passed down the line as traits are passed through genealogy.  As we saw in the lesson, How God’s Way Defies Our Thoughts, the sinner is punished while the repentant sinner is saved.  

In Ezekiel 18:19-22, the Lord made it clear that the son who repents from and turns to God will not perish.  God made it clear that the soul that sin is the only soul that will perish.  God can be both a loving God and a wrathful God because His way is to do what is just (that which is fair).  

It would not be fair for one to live faithfully and receive God’s reward while someone else chose to live wickedly, without repenting, and receive the same reward.  That makes no sense!  God will never give up on the repentant sinner!  God will never aim His wrath at one who has chosen to live by faith!

Wrath against blasphemers

When we look back at Romans 1:18, the second thing I want to point out is that Paul brings clarity to who the sinner is that God’s wrath is pointed at.  Notice that Paul spoke only of those who suppress the truth.  Then in Romans 1:19, Paul makes mention that the truth has been manifested to such a one, which implies that this person lives as a blatant denier of the Lord.

The person that Paul speaks of is the same kind of person that John wrote of in 1 John 2:22-23.  John wrote that those who deny the Son also deny the Father, and the denier is antichrist.  The idea of suppressing the truth about the Lord ought to be impossible for one ot do, but many have bought into such a denial and minister it to others.

The reason why it ought to be so difficult to deny the Lord, Paul wrote, is that since creation, God’s invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.  Paul would tell you that deep down on the inside, you ought to feel that God is real, considering that God breathed the breath of life into mankind.

Moreover, since Paul mentioned the creation itself, if one needed proof of God’s existence, Paul is saying one should take a step outside and look around themselves in every direction.  The rising and setting sun is proof of the Lord.  Moreover, the stars at night glorify the Lord as well.

The hands of God are present all over this creation!  There is thought behind this creation, an architect and Creator who took time creating all of it.  I want you to take a look around and understand that none of this is random.  The more and more we study and think we know about God’s creation, the more and more questions arise that don’t satisfy our souls.

Those who would dare suppress the obvious truth, Paul pointed out, will do so with an understanding that they’re living in denial of the Lord (Rom. 1:21-22).  In their denial, they will put forth great effort to appear to be the wisest, but will fail to realize they have become spiritual fools.  

There are truly some very wise people who are wise in the wisdom of worldliness and science, but are absolute fools spiritually.  In their works, Paul spoke of how they move to change the image of the incorruptible God to being nothing but a fable, a myth, or a legend.

To be clear, the sin that Paul speaks of facing God’s wrath is poured out upon is the unpardonable sin.  Jesus stated that anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man (Christ) will be forgiven, should they repent.  However, Jesus stated that whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, moving against the work of salvation, will not be forgiven.  Blasphemy will meet the Lord’s unrelenting wrath!

God’s Wrath Is Real

Now, if you believe talk about God’s wrath to be nothing but talk, you will want to think again.  The wrath of God has already been felt in this world on a few occasions, which proves that God is serious when it comes to pouring out His wrath upon sin.

God’s wrath was poured out on Christ when He hung on the cross, becoming our propitiation, the atonement offering for our sins.  In Matthew 27:46, the suffering of God’s wrath can be felt when Christ cried out to the Father, as He felt the Lord forsaking Him.  To be clear, God turns away from the sinner–one whose way is committed to sin.  Jesus became sin for us and suffered God’s wrath in doing so.

In the days of Noah, Genesis 6:5-7 shows that when God saw that mankind’s every thought and intent was wicked, He was sorry that He had made mankind.  The Lord was set to destroy mankind from the face of the earth.  If not for Noah and his family, mankind would have been completely lost when God flooded the earth.

In another example, in Genesis 18:20-21, God’s wrath came upon Sodom and Gomorrah because the outcry of its sin was so great.  Genesis 19:24-25 speaks of how the Lord’s wrath was poured out upon those cities and the plains.  God rained down brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, wiping those cities off the face of the earth!

If you’re one who takes God’s wrath for granted, do not do that–God’s wrath is real!  God is faithful to what He has promised!  In John 3:16, God promised that whoever believes in His only begotten Son will not perish, but will have everlasting life.  However, in John 3:18, the Lord promised that those who do not believe are already condemned.  

The promise of God is nothing to play around with.  Because the Lord is serious about His vows, we must also take His vows incredibly seriously.