Sin against God and His Wrath

After laying the foundation for his letter to the Romans, Paul now turns to describe the wrath of God on mankind for wrongs committed against Him. In verses 18 to 32 Paul narrates the universal wrongs and sins committed by mankind against God’s revealed truth.

What is Truth? Pilate very casually raised this question with Jesus during His trial. John 18:38. Not that Pilate expected any answer! It was just a philosophical question for him in which intellectuals of his day indulged in and debated.

Most people are not sure of this concept Truth, especially Hindus, atheists and those who believe in some universal truth, some super intelligence without a name out there. If pressed for an answer they would say that they are still searching for the Truth and that they are the Seekers.

Jesus very clearly says that ‘I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life.’ John 14:6. That clarity and assurance and confidence comes because He is the Truth, truth that descended from the Father, God of this Universe.

When people refuse to believe this and go in search of their own, they are not only groping in the dark, but also start to make gods of their own and begin to worship these gods whom they have created. Truth thus gets twisted and they run after false gods of their own making and imagination.

This is the major sin that humanity commits against the True God and God’s wrath is kindled against mankind because of this rebellion against Him. Sin or rebellion against God becomes the cause which incites the wrath or anger of God against them. Simply put, sin is the cause and wrath is the effect, a simple law of cause and effect in a moral universe.

In verse 18, Paul observes that the wrath of God is revealed against all godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. This applies to all mankind, both the Jew and the Gentiles, the Christians and the Pagans and in today’s parlance, the believers and the unbelievers.

It is those who suppress the Truth of God and twist it to suit their convenience and also lead others into such darkness, that Paul is mentioning here. God has revealed the Truth about Himself through His Creation and through His Son, Jesus Christ. Yet, human mind refuses to grasp this truth and decides to run after its own imagination.  

In the next few verses, Paul points out that God has made plain the things that are to be known about Him through His creation. No one can give an excuse that they did not know about the One True God. It is written all over the creation. God’s invisible qualities like His eternal power, His divine nature have been made so plain for anyone who cares to observe and understand.

The atheist and the unbelievers of the other religions like Hinduism or Jainism or Buddhism, who deny God and seek the explanation of the power of God, which has been displayed in His creation, in some ‘universal mind’ or ‘supernatural force’ are evidently refusing to accept the truth of God, who created this Universe.

Islam also errs in that though it believes in God the Creator, it does not believe the other revelation of God, made in His Son, Jesus Christ. Thus, they too deny God.

When humankind goes away from God despite God’s revelation in His creation, they are without excuse for their wanton behaviour. The sin that this attitude created is that mankind exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to resemble man or woman or birds or beasts. Verse 21-23. They thought they were wise but in reality, they were foolish to the core with darkened minds.

In Paul’s time, it was Greek philosophy that debated the sublime qualities of the Divine, but what Paul saw in Athens and other Greek cities was pure idolatry. While addressing the Athenians at Areopagus, Paul mentions about the existence of an altar made to an unknown god. He was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. Acts 17:16, 23.

Similarly, today for all the high-flown philosophy of Advaita, touted overseas by the gurus and sannyasins of Hinduism, India is ridden with idols of all shapes and sizes covering the land. The caste system and the intensity of injustice of Karma theory are mostly unknown to those abroad, who have willingly swallowed what these swamiji's peddle abroad and come up with their own version of Hinduism and Advaita philosophy in the form of New Age teachings.

These are outright rebellion against God, the Creator of this Universe. In the next few verses, v. 24 – 27, 29-31, Paul brings out the results of such a rebellion. God gave them over to their sinful desires. Having made man and woman with a free will and a rational mind to make decisions, God will not interfere in the depraved thinking of humankind. He lets them wallow in it and bear the consequences.

The vilest sin was to exchange the truth of God for a lie, and worshipping created things than the Creator. If God of the Bible, whom Jesus called His Father is the Truth, then worshipping anyone else or anything else becomes a lie. The sin of unbelievers is that they make an idol to take the place of the living God and give the glory that is due to God alone to these creations of human mind and human hand.

The vices listed in the following verses of 26 to 31 could be classified as sexual sins and anti-social sins. Contemporary literature to Paul’s letters describe Roman society being full of these evils. The most demeaning of sexual sins are unnatural sex. Women having sexual relationship with animals is forbidden in Leviticus 18:23, for it is perversion in God’s eyes.

The next sexual sin would be men lusting for other men, which is homosexuality, and this again is prohibited in Bible, Leviticus 18:22. It is equivalent to defiling oneself. But does it ring a bell?

In today’s world, homosexuality has become so common and commended that governments are rising to protect their interests and allowing them legally to be married and adopt children. In USA, the regular pastors serving in the churches have been asked to solemnize these marriages or face penalty. It is a world turned upside down, really.

A practice condemned in the Bible as abomination to the Lord God, has become a State sponsored reality today. Can you hear Satan clapping his hands in pure glee? No wonder, all over the world, people of God are prophesying that end of the world is nearer than anyone could have thought of.

The anti-social behaviour mentioned by Paul in verses 29-31 are envy, murder strife, deceit, and malice. Gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastfulness. When the renowned Physicist of today’s world, Japanese American Michio Kaku, boasts about human achievement and the capacity of man to find immortality within a few decades, does he not reflect this arrogance against God?

People are senseless, faithless, heartless and ruthless, Paul concludes the list of depravity. Humans are indulging in these sinful acts, not without knowing the consequences, but fully knowing that they are defying a living God and projecting the will of human beings above that of God. Sin brings its own retribution. What we sow we reap. Galatians 6:7. God cannot be mocked.

Even when Jesus Christ, the ultimate expression of God, has come down to earth and died for our sins, if we persist in our sins, rejecting the offer of forgiveness of a kind and loving God, then what follows is retribution, divine judgment and the wrath of God. This cannot be wished away.

So, let’s be watchful and not fall into any of these categories, but watch and pray, wait and seek the face of the Lord in this turbulent world. God give us the strength to fight against these depravities that soil the minds of human beings.