The Complement To The Gospel

THE COMPLEMENT TO THE GOSPEL—Romans. 1:18-23

With the advent of the Gospel of Christ, the wrath of God took on special significance.

The wrath of God takes on special significance in the light of the Gospel of Christ.

The light of the Gospel of Christ brings new significance to the wrath of God.

3 complements of special significance to the Gospel of Christ.

1—The Gospel of Christ confronts one with a...

Complementary REVELATION(:18a)

—Explanation:(:18a)

:1—“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness & unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”

The other side of the coin from the Gospel & the reason for the Gospel.

—Wrath, on the other hand, is borne on the wings of “heaven” itself, being brought to bear, not by the church(although warnings of judgment do come by means of such), but by God’s direct sphere of influence & destrcutive power.

—God’s wrath “is” in steady process of being “revealed” just as His righteousness in the Gospel is in steady process of being revealed. Yet it is revealed by very different means....

“Revealed from heaven”

*God’s Moral Order(—John MacArthur, Jr.—):

1)‘Direct intervention’—

—Israel usurped/disfranchised/ dispossessed the Canaanite peoples.

—God’s repelling attacks of vast armies.

2)‘Moral cause & effect’—

—Murder demands reciprocation/production of laws to combat it.

—Graft(unfair gain) demands reciprocation/ production of laws to combat it.

—Stealing demands reciprocation/production of laws to combat it.

“Wrath”—????—Anger, tha natural dispositiion, temper, character; Movement or agitation of the soul, impulse, desire, any violent emotion, but especially anger; Anger, wrath, indignation; Anger exhibited in punishment, hense used for punishment itself.

“Revealed”—??????????—To uncover, lay open what has been veiled or covered up; To make known, make manifest, disclose what before was unknown. An internal disclosure, to the thinking believer, & abiding.

“Heaven”—???????—The vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it; The region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal & consummately perfect where God dwells & other heavenly beings.

—Argumentation:

*Jn. 3:36—“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; & he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

Jn. 9:39—“And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, & that those who see may be made blind.””

Heb. 10:26-29—“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, & fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, & insulted the Spirit of grace?”

—Illustration:

Driving/Rules of the road—Based on mustual respect(living by grace)/Outside respect is Florida Hwy. Patrol/Complementary REVELATION

—Application:

?Has the Gospel of Christ confronted you with its Complementary REVELATION?

?You confronted with the Wrath of God?

2—The Gospel of Christ presents one with a...

Complementary REACTION(:18b)

—Explanation:(:18b)

:1—“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness & unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,”

—Seeing as God’s wrath “is revealed from heaven” it is thus obviously focused upon something in particular....

...That something being “all ungodliness & unrighteousness” which touts its source as originating “of men.”

—This also lets us know that the righteousness spoken of in :17 includes godliness, the opposite of which(“ungodliness”) God’s wrath is “against.”

“Against”—???—Upon, on, at, by, before; Of position, on, at, by, over, against; To, over, on, at, across, against.

“Ungodliness”—???????—Want of reverence towards God, impiety, ungodliness. Positive & active irreligion, a condition of direct opposition to God.

“Unrighteousness”—??????—Injustice, of a judge; Unrighteousness of heart & life; A deed violating law & justice, act of unrighteousness.

—Argumentation:

Rom. 5:5-6—“...the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”

Rom. 6:13—“And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, & your members as instruments of righteousness to God.”

2Thes. 2:6-12—“And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth & destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, & lying wonders, & with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”