YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE (ROMANS 1:18-23)
A family received an important recall notice that says:
“The Creator of mankind is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the central component of the heart. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units, code named Adam and Eve, that has resulted in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been technically termed, ‘Subsequent Internal Non-Morality,’ or S-I-N.
Symptoms include: loss of direction, foul vocal emissions, selfish behavior, depression, fear and aggression.
The manufacturer, who is not at fault, is nevertheless providing a repair service, free of charge, to correct this SIN defect. The number to call is P-R-A-Y-E-R. Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN by pressing R-E-P-E-N-T-A-N-C-E. Next, download J-E-S-U-S into the heart.
Warning: If you continue to operate your human unit without correction, you void the manufacturer’s warranty. This is because you expose the human unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list. For free emergency service, call on J-E-S-U-S.
DANGER: The human units not receiving this recall action will eventually be scrapped in the furnace.
The wrath of God is not a subject for fainthearted and progressive minded modern man. It is not central to the gospel but it is inseparable from the gospel. The Greek word for “wrath” occurs 12 times in Romans and 36 times altogether in the New Testament. Jesus’ wrath was mentioned merely three times but the display was significant. Once, His “wrath,” translated as “distressed,” was directed at the Pharisees who were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath day (Mark 3:5). Another time, He revealed that whoever rejects the Son would experience God’s wrath (John 3:36). On the last occasion, he warned of a dreadful day in the future accompanied by great distress and wrath (Luke 21:23)
The wrath of God, however, is central to the writing and theology of Paul, who uses two thirds of the Greek word “wrath” in the Bible, or 21 of the 31 times the word. For Paul, the wrath of God is not a future event, but a present reality. He said, “The wrath of God IS being revealed from heaven” (v 18). However, he distinguished the “wrath of God” from “the day of God’s wrath” (Rom 2:5), the future great day of the LORD that the prophet Zephaniah colorfully referred to, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness, a day of trumpet and battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers (Zeph 1:14-16). This double time fulfillment – present and future - of God’s wrath is consistently taught in Paul’s writing; so much so that readers will have to note its tense. Even so, Paul insisted that God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thess 5:9). Wrath, therefore, is a present reality of a future event due to the consequence of sin and the choice we make. Wrath is more than anger; it is rage, fury and indignation at man’s sin of unbelief and stubbornness in rejecting the gospel.
Why is future wrath revealed in present time or hastened to this point? Whom is His wrath directed upon? What is God so angry about?
The End is Sure
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness (Rom 1:18)
A criminal appeared before a court. He readily recognized that the judge was a defense attorney that he had on previous trials. His joy, however, was turned to sorrow when he heard the judge say to him, “When I was your defense attorney, I defended you, but now I am no more an attorney. Now my work is to render justice. I shall listen to the witness and then I shall make a right judgment according to my oath as a judge.”
The end is sure for ignorant, sinful man, and Paul is not referring to an isolated act of sin, but man’s catalogue of sins – hence, the word “all godlessness and wickedness.” The two words “godlessness” and “wickedness” are never mentioned together in the same breath except on this occasion and in this verse. In fact, the single charge of either “godlessness” or “wickedness” by itself was serious enough. The joint mention of these two words emphasizes the summation, the magnitude and the gravity of man’s sins.
Judgment came in Noah’s time upon the same kind of people for this very reason.
The word “wickedness” in verse 18 also describes the people God’s judgment rained down upon in the days of Noah, according to 1 Peter 2:5. To no one’s surprise, Genesis 6:5 says, “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time” and Genesis 8:21 says that “every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.” As in the days of old, man today is up to his neck and wicked to the core in sin. Man is spiteful to His Creator and wicked to his fellow man. So God is not arbitrary or subjective in the revelation of his wrath, from the Greek “apocalupto” for the word “revealed.” He is not uninformed, unfounded or unreasonable in His judgment.
What did the ungodly and unrighteous people do? God’s wrath is directed on all the godliness and wickedness of men who knowingly suppresses the truth of God’s existence (v 18). What is this word “suppress”? The Greek word is derived from two Greek words “kata” or against, and “echo” or “having.” The word has been translated as “suppress” in NIV, RSV and NASB. Much like the atheists and liberals, these people not only resist or reject the truth, but they are also opposed to people having or knowing the truth and against people who have and who keep the truth. They cannot stand Christians who champion Jesus as “the way and the truth and the life.” This kind of talk is characterized as intolerant, fanatical and even hateful nowadays.
The Evidence is Sufficient
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made (Rom 1:18-19)
A college professor, an avowed Atheist, was teaching his class.
He shocked several of his students when he flatly stated that there is no God, the expression “One Nation Under God”, was unconstitutional, and further, he was going to prove there is no God.
Addressing the ceiling he shouted: “God, if you are real, then I want you to knock me off this platform. I’ll give you 15 minutes!” The lecture room fell silent. You could have heard a pin fall. Ten minutes went by. Again he taunted God, saying, “Here I am, God. I’m still waiting.”
His countdown got down to the last couple of minutes when a Marine just released from active duty and newly registered in the class walked up to the professor, hit him full force in the face, and sent him tail over teacup from his lofty platform. The professor was out cold! At first the students were shocked and babbled in confusion.
The young Marine took a seat in the front row and sat silent. The class fell silent...waiting. Eventually, the professor came to, shaken. He looked at the young Marine in the front row. When he regained his senses and could speak he yelled, “What’s the matter with you? Why did you do that?” “God was busy with something else. He sent me.”
The Greek word for “plain” is “phaneros,” the equivalent of manifest or apparent. The evidence of God’s existence is not a secret because God himself has made the point of making it plain, manifest and obvious to man. This word is the same word for light shining in and exposure of darkness (Eph 5:13-14).
Every artist has a grand masterpiece, a written signature or a distinctive style. But what is God’s? The creation of the world was God’s magnum opus, master design or the blueprint of the ages. The splendor, symmetry and success of the created world are the dream of every artist, builder, mathematician, scientist and researcher. No painting, sculpture or work of art can ever match the wonder of God’s masterpiece – the universe. No artist paints on a bigger canvas, no one pays greater attention to detail and no one is more original and creative.
The invisible God had chosen to make visible His invisible existence and eternal power and divine nature through the wonders of creation. His invisible power is recognizable by the visible order, His eternal power understandable by the external evidence and His divine nature observable by the natural world. The existence of every plant, insect and creature argues for God’s existence. The constellations in the sky, the colors of the world and the complexity of organisms make the case for a Creator. One need not speculate His existence – just observe the work of His hands. One can puzzle, but there is no guesswork involved. Sadly, man looks at the creation, the greatest piece of work ever, but did not give the Creator his due; instead, he alludes it to an explosion billions of years ago or to the evolution of the species.
The word “clearly seen” (v 20) is just one Greek word – “kat-horao.” This is the only time the Greek word is used in the Bible even though the shorter version “horao” is used 59 times in the Bible. “Horao” means perceive or behold, so “kathorao” - with the additional “kata” or “through” – means seen fully or clearly, even though no one can see completely. The evidence is incontestable, indescribable and irreversible.
The word “understood” is from the Greek word “noeo,” from which the word “nouetic” is derived, or the exercise the mind by observing the facts, i.e. to comprehend or heed. It takes a genuine seeker, not a genius mind, to believe in God’s existence. General revelation and natural law make the case for the Creator, and the case against unbelievers is a slam dunk, an open and shut case. In fact, the world makes its own case, because we live in it, we look at it and we depend on it.
The Excuses are Suspect
so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. (Rom 1:20-23)
Well-known Broadway producer Jed Harris once became convinced he was losing his hearing. He visited a specialist, who pulled out a gold watch and asked “Can you hear this ticking?” “Of course,” Harris replied. The specialist walked to the door and asked the question again. Harris concentrated and said, “Yes, I can hear it clearly.” Then the doctor walked into the next room and repeated the question a third time. A third time Harris said he could hear the ticking. “Mr. Harris,” the doctor concluded, “there is nothing wrong with your hearing. You just don’t listen.” (Today in the Word, June 9, 1992)
God’s frustration with man’s refusal to listen is more severe than the worst of any parent-child communication breakdown or men-women inability to relate to one another.
The phrase “without excuse” (v 20) is simply one word in Greek – an-apologetos or indefensible or inexcusable. “A(n)” is a negation, as in “atheist” - no god, and “apologetos” is defense, as in apologetics - the defense of the Christian faith
Paul progressed from the words “seen” and “understood” in verse 20 to the present word “know” (v 21). Paul expressed the two-fold duty of man: to glorify Him and give thanks. The irony of man’s declared independence from God was that his thinking was futile, not fruitful or free. His heart was darkened, not sharper or brighter. The word for “futile” is vain or empty. This word occurs just once in the New Testament but the same root word is translated as “worthless” (Acts 14: 15, James 1:26), “useless” (Titus 3:9) or “empty” (1 Peter 1:18) in other NIV passages.
The word thinking “dialogismos” (v 21), from which the English word “dialogue” is derived, implies internal consideration or external debate. It is translated as “thoughts” (Mark 7:21), “argument” (Luke 9:46), “disputing” (Rom 14:1, 1 Tim 2:8), “arguing” (Phil 2:14) elsewhere.
It is bad enough for the heart or “kardia” to be foolish; now the foolish heart is also darkened. The word “foolish” occurs only five times in the Bible. It does not mean stupid, mindless or dim. This is the only time translated as such; elsewhere it is translated with the idea of “dull of hearing” (Matt 15:16, Mark 7:18), “making no sense” (Rom 1:31) and “absence of understanding” (Rom 10:19). How dark? As “dark” as the sun in the last days (Matt 24:29, Mark 13:24, Rev 9:2). When the sun is darkened or stopped shining, the world is as black as the night.
Foolish man exchanged the source for the resource. The Greek verb “claim” or “phasko” is merely used four times in the Bible, three times translated as “claiming” (Acts 24:9, 25:19, Rom 1:22) and once as “asserting” (Acts 24:9). People will continue to promote their “sophos” (v 22), worldly wisdom or expert testimony up to the end times. Revelation 2:2 attested to a group of people who, likewise, “claim” to be apostles but are not.
Verse 23 says man will “change” or “make different” the glory of the immortal God “to resemble” – one Greek word “homoioma” - the image of mortal man, birds, animals and reptiles. Not only did they not glorify God, they dumb down His glory.
Conclusion: God’s wrath is directed against sin, unbelief and immorality. Will God one day judge you for your refusal to believe, rejection of truth and resistance to Him? Besides the most occurrences of the word “wrath” in Romans, the second most occurrence of the book is in Revelation, when it will be consumed. On that day wrath is more specific (Rev. 6:16, 6:17, 11:18, 14:10, 16:19, 19:15). Won’t you run from the fierce wrath that will come from the Lamb (Rev 6:16) and God Almighty (Rev 19:15) by turning to His offer of love and salvation right now? Friend, are you hardening your heart and delaying in decision? The Bible says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” (Heb 4:7)
Victor Yap
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