All the Way to Their Bitter End
Romans 1:18
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” -Romans 1:18
Having introduced himself and his purpose for writing this letter—it’s all about the gospel of Jesus—Paul immediately turns to show man’s need of God’s righteousness before showing what it is and how it works in the human experience.
Why does mankind need the righteousness of God? Because every last one is under the “wrath of God,” who is “implacably and vigorously opposed to every evil.” God does not overlook one single sin. He is not passive concerning the transgression of his law; and therefore every single one of us must give an account of himself to God one day (Cf. Romans 14:12 and Hebrews 4:13).
And how is the wrath of God revealed? In some ways, we can see it in the suffering and pain that are the inherent consequence of sin. Ironically, the refusal to see this dynamic by much of the secular world is a sad consequence of secularism itself. Modern man now fails to equate much of the world’s pain and suffering—even much of our own individual pain and suffering—as being a consequence of our sin, as being the wrath of God revealed from heaven. For many to make such a connection would be absurd, or would make God a monster in their eyes.
But, it is more likely that Paul means here the cross of Christ. Calvary is the revelation of the wrath of God, the just dying for the unjust because the wages of sin is death in a moral universe.
And this wrath is not the arbitrary and capricious feelings of God. Rather, is the objective outpouring of justice on the ungodliness and uprightness of men, men who in and by way of their unrighteousness, suppress the truth. Man is not ignorant of his responsibilities to God which is why atheists often tend to be angry at someone they claim not to believe exists.
Atheists, agnostics, and idolators are all unrighteous men who know the truth but choose to suppress it by embracing and promoting their unrighteousness all the way to their bitter end.
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