God's wrath is against sin. His grace is toward sinners

Romans 1:18-32 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Unbelief and Its Consequences

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. ²¹ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²² Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. ²⁵ For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, ²⁷ and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

²⁸ And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, ³¹ without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; ³² and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

Yesterday we looked at Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25 which says:  There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death, and saw that obedience to God is important, even in the time of grace which we live in. In today’s text, Paul lays out the consequences, not only of disobedience, but of unbelief. Many people want to blame or question God regarding the things that go wrong. They say, how could a loving God allow bad things to happen? I’ll admit that I too sometimes wonder why things happen; why children in particular are allowed to suffer. I must admit that I can’t fully explain or understand, but this much I do believe, the time we know here on earth, whether a few years or a full life of eighty or one hundred years is but a twinkling in the scheme of eternity, and I believe God is a loving, gracious and compassionate God. I believe that in His justice, the glory of eternity with Him will far surpass the suffering those may have experienced in this life.

Some will say, how could a loving God send anyone to hell? Today’s text speaks to the truth regarding that question. Paul says:   The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.  Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions…    It is important to note that the wrath of God is against unrighteousness. It is against sin; not sinners. God has revealed Himself through creation. God does not cause people to choose disobedience and sin and God is not to be blamed for sin. James 1:13-15 says:  Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.  Those who choose sin are without excuse. They know that there is a God and they know what is right.  1 Corinthians 10:13  No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.  James 4:4-8 speaks of the way out of temptation:  You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.  Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.   The key to resisting temptation is drawing near and submitting to God. It is to resist the devil. It is to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts. God desires from us and for us; that we would have fellowship with Him. Jesus died to redeem us from sin. We must choose to resist the devil and draw near to God. The loving God who gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life; sends no one to hell. God gives us a free will; an ability to choose and He gives us over to the consequences of our own choice.

The text says:  … committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;  and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.  Many today say that if Jesus were here He would associate with, embrace and approve of those who live unrighteously. Some even say that He would prefer the company of sinners over the church. In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus Himself says:  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Unless the unchanging Christ changed His mind, He would not approve of sin today. Hebrews 4:15 says:  We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.  Jesus does sympathize with our weakness, but He does not approve of or embrace our sin. Jesus embraced the anguish of the cross so that we could be redeemed from sin. There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.   John 14:6 says:   “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”  God made a way for us. Every individual chooses the way they will go and so choosing their way, they also choose their own destiny.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for revealing Yourself through creation; for providing a way out of temptation and even for redeeming me from sin. I choose to draw near and submit to You. I choose Your way over the way of the world. Thank You for redeeming me from sin through the cross. May I never embrace what You died to free us from.   Amen.