THE study in Romans last week was of the Gospel of Christ and its power to save men from sin. Verses 16, 17. Immediately following the statements of the apostle concerning the nature of the Gospel, he adds:
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them. For the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived thru the things that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse: because that, knowing God, they glorified Him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened." Rom. 1:18-21. A.R.V.
By reading the foregoing verses in connection with the two verses that immediately precede them it will be seen that God gives the Gospel to save men. He has made abundant provision that no one need remain in sin, which is simply the Bible term for all forms of wrong-doing. "All unrighteousness is sin." 1 John 5:17. Then, since the Gospel provides for man's salvation, it follows as a logical conclusion that "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness." Or, as another translation gives it, who "hold down" the truth in unrighteousness.
Since the Lord has provided a remedy for sin, and since sin that is not renounced and completely cleansed away by the Gospel always has and always will work misery and distress in the world, then it is only perfectly natural and logical that the "wrath of God" should be "revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." And observe that it is not men that God directs His wrath against, but it is the "ungodliness and unrighteousness" of men. Those who yield to the terms of the Gospel permit the Lord to do what He is seeking all the time to do, and that is to separate the man from his sins, that He may direct His wrath against the sin alone and destroy that, and at the same time save the man from his sins. But for those who cling to their sins, it becomes necessary for the Lord in order to strike the sin to strike the sinner also.
There must come a time, then, according to this text, as is abundantly sustained by numerous other scriptures, when the Lord will be required to strike sin with the destroying power of His wrath. But the wrath of God that is thus directed against "all ungodliness" is not the sinful, spiteful, revengeful wrath that is exhibited by mankind. "Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" Eze. 33:11. Our God finds His pleasure in saving men, and not in destroying them; and so it is that when He finally comes to the necessity of destroying the ungodly He will find no pleasure in it; the destruction of the persistently wicked is the most merciful thing that God can do.
The unrighteous man will not be able to say in the judgment that he did not know any better. Read again these words: "Because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them. For the invisible things of Him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived thru the things that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity." That which is known of God is "manifest in them." The marvelous creative handiwork shown in the man himself can not help leading the mind to the great fact that such a complete piece of living mechanism could not have come into existence without an intelligent Creator back of it. The benighted heathen who has any thinking faculties worthy of the name must stop to think of himself, of how intricate is his organism, and of how perfectly each part of his body performs its respective duties. The human body thus formed and thus performing all its living, intelligent acts could not have just happened to come about in such a way. It could not thus happen into existence.
So, then, the invisible God is "clearly seen." He is "perceived thru the things that are made, even His everlasting power and divinity." Then, let it be observed that God does not confine a knowledge of Himself to His written word,—to the Bible. God reveals Himself in the works that He has created as well as in the words that He has written. And the one who will recognize Him in the things that He has made can just as readily recognize Him in the words of His Book. The two corroborate each other so fully that there is no difficulty upon this point.
The apostle then proceeds to draw another important conclusion in the verses quoted at the beginning of this article. He says, "Because that, knowing God, they glorified Him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened." The only thing that can keep any individual from plunging deeper and deeper into the degradations of sin is the power and influence that God is constantly exerting upon him. And it should be clear to any mind that all who resist this influence that the Lord is exerting to lift men upward in righteousness, must inevitably sink lower and lower in vices and sins. This is a spiritual truth that is as clear as any of the laws of physical science.
Having thus deliberately, in the face of the evidence that God has given, chosen to take the downward course by shutting God out of the knowledge, then the "senseless" heart is "darkened," and having thus shut themselves out in the dark the apostle proceeds to tell of their career in the following:
"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God gave them up in the lust of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves: for that 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 cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lusts one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due." Rom. 1:22-27. A.R.V.
Every well-informed person knows that there are now, and ever have been since the races of sinful men populated this earth, whole sections of the world where just such debasing vices as are described in the foregoing verses are practised. And not only is this true, but it is also true that where many of these heathenish vices are and have been practised there has been thrown over these shameful iniquities a sort of genteel cloak of so-called civilized respectability. Indeed, such vices as the apostle describes in the foregoing verses are not found among the barbarous tribes of the wild forests of uncivilized lands; but rather have they been found in those times and places where men have departed from God and have still held to an outward veneer that passed in their own minds at least as a high form of civilization and refinement.
There is a very interesting period in the world's history that is one of the most striking examples of this departure from God. It is described in the last verses of chapter one of Romans, but it will have to be left till next week to present the study upon it.