Salvation and Wrath

Paul presents his gospel to the assemblies of Rome, a message for all men about God’s salvation and wrath.

In his Letter to the Romans, Paul describes the message of salvation that he proclaims among the nations. The “Gospel of God” is the “power of God for salvation” to all men who accept and believe it. Due to humanity’s sin, two forces are at work in the world - righteousness and wrath. Through His son, God has provided the solution to humanity’s desperate plight, one that is available to all men through the “faith of Jesus Christ.”

[Photo by Robert Wiedemann on Unsplash]

Both forces are unveiled whenever and wherever the Good News of God’s Kingdom is announced to men. Its proclamation produces “righteousness” and “wrath,” depending on how men and women respond to God’s offer of life and salvation.

• (Romans 1:16-19) – “For I am not ashamed of the good news, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, both to Jew first, and to Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is being revealed from faith for faith; even as it is written: But the righteous man from faith will live. For there is being revealed the wrath of God from heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who in unrighteousness possess the truth.”

In the preceding passage, Paul declares that the “righteousness of God is being revealed from faith for faith.” The Greek verb translated as “being revealed” is in the present tense, signifying continuous action, an ongoing process. As the Gospel is preached, either the “wrath” or the “righteousness” of God is manifested.

In the Gospel, the “righteousness of God” is unveiled. This is especially evident when Jews and Gentiles respond to the message of salvation with faith. There is a present aspect to His “righteousness.”

However, “wrath” is also “revealed” against those “who possess the truth in unrighteousness.” These two processes occur whenever the Gospel is proclaimed, and they affect the Jew or Gentile the same depending on each person's response. Ethnicity or nationality does not determine which result an individual will receive.

The “wrath upon ungodliness” is the negative counterpart to the “righteousness of God.” Anyone who embraces the Gospel is empowered to receive salvation since the Gospel message is the “power of God.” However, “wrath” falls on everyone who rejects God’s gracious offer.

Elsewhere, Paul links this “wrath” to the final judgment. In this passage, however, he describes it as a present aspect or process. The sins practiced by and delighted in by those who reject the Gospel demonstrate they are under God’s “wrath” even now. Their transgressions are part of the “wrath from Heaven” - (Romans 1:22-25).

SIN

God delivers rebellious humanity to the very sins for which it lusts, even though sinners “acknowledge the righteous sentence of God, that they who practice such things are worthy of death.” Ignorance is no excuse. Men and women know full well that they are violating the righteous demands of God.

Humanity wallows in its idolatrous sins because of the “wrath of God,” sins demonstrating that sinners are under “wrath.” This is the horrific situation of all men, both Jews and Gentiles, and this is demonstrated especially in mankind’s idolatry, worshipping anything and everything except the one God who created all things.

This unhappy condition is not due to Divine “predestination,” nor does it violate human free will. God gives sinful men exactly what they want, though every man and woman is free to choose a different way.

Sin is the Great Leveler. Jews and Gentiles alike fall short of the righteousness requirements of the Law, and therefore, both stand under the just “sentence of God.” Everyone is “without excuse” due to sin, and everyone stands or falls before God on the same basis.

Without Divine intervention, every man and woman is condemned, whether “within the law” or “apart from the law.” Without exception, the rebellious sinner will experience condemnation on the coming “Day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” That Day will be the consummation of a process already underway.

On that day, God “will render to each one according to his works.” In Chapter 2 of Romans, Paul stresses the future aspect of this “wrath.” Elsewhere in his letters, he links this “wrath” to the day when Jesus arrives “from heaven” to vindicate his saints but judge and condemn his enemies - (Romans 2:16, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).

Since believers have been “declared righteous through his blood,” they also “will be saved through him from the wrath.” The process of “salvation” is consummated in the future when Jesus raises his people from the dead - (Romans 8:21-23).

Likewise, sinners who refuse the offer of salvation now will suffer the everlasting consequences of their decision on the “Day of Wrath.”

“Death” is the universal consequence of sin for all men, “saved” or not. However, for everyone who believes the Gospel, condemnation for sin becomes a thing of the past, and right standing before God is a present reality. Though death still awaits us, we will be saved from “wrath.” We will not endure the “Day of Wrath”; instead, we will be raised from the dead and receive everlasting life. We are saved now by responding with faith to the “righteousness of God” that is “being revealed” in His Gospel.

However, for every man who continues to “possess the truth in unrighteousness” and to reject the “Gospel of God,” not only will he face death, but afterward, he will experience the “wrath of God” on what will be the ominous final day of his existence.

Thus, the Gospel proclaimed to the nations by the Apostle Paul is the “power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.”

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SEE ALSO:

• According to Holy Scriptures - (Paul introduces his ministry to the church in Rome and begins his exposition of the Gospel by identifying Christ’s qualifications to be the Messiah)

• The Gospel of God - (Paul presents his Gospel in Romans from humanity's plight due to sin to the resurrection of the dead and the New Creation)

• Jews and Gentiles - (The equality of Jews and Gentiles before an impartial and just God is pivotal to Paul’s Gospel. They stand or fall before Him on the same basis)

• Salut et Colère - (Paul présente son évangile aux assemblées de Rome, un message pour tous les hommes sur le salut et la colère de Dieu)

{Published originally on the Letters to the Church website}