Romans 1:18-23

Coram Deo Reformed Baptist Church

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:02

Let's begin. Romans chapter 1, starting in verse 18.

00:09

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

00:19

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

00:25

For His invisible attributes, namely His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.

00:38

So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor

00:44

Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

00:54

Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal

00:59

God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

01:21

Last week we went through verses 16 and 17. How we should never be ashamed of the gospel.

01:33

How righteousness is imputed to us, and how believers live by faith.

01:40

This week we will go through 18 through 23, and the reality of God's wrath and the reason for it.

01:47

Next week we will cover what His wrath in the present age looks like.

02:02

Paul in these verses is expanding and explaining the statements he has previously made.

02:17

Now we are taking these in a bit more of a chunk than we normally do, so that we get the full context of what he's saying for better understanding.

02:30

And we can tell that these build upon each other and are connected by his repeated use of the word for.

02:36

So in 18 through 20,

02:43

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

02:50

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely

02:57

His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, and the things that have been made.

03:05

So they are without excuse. Most people think of wrath as a singular outburst of anger.

03:20

However, Paul is referring to the general attitude that God has to sin and those who commit it, and the action that He takes against them.

03:37

Paul is also saying that the wrath of God, while being kindled in the day of judgment, is also currently a reality today.

03:49

It is being revealed, meaning that we can perceive it currently.

03:57

And we will see that Paul explains this idea more thoroughly throughout the rest of the chapter.

04:05

So what truth are the ungodly suppressing, and how are they doing it?

04:12

Well, we know that God is the truth. He is truth itself.

04:18

He is that from which all truth comes, which in part is why we can trust

04:25

Him with our salvation, and all that He says in Scripture.

04:32

He cannot lie. He is the source, as I said, from which all truth comes.

04:38

It is blatantly evident in our world that there is a God. The fact that there is a creation means that there is a creator, just as the existence of a painting naturally dictates that there is a painter.

04:55

And we confess as much in our confession, the 1689.

05:02

Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God as to leave men inexcusable, yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will which is necessary for salvation.

05:28

And let us not also forget the Westminster from which the 1689 comes.

05:35

Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God as to leave men inexcusable, yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and of His will which is necessary unto salvation.

05:56

The general revelation of creation is enough evidence to cause us to be guilty.

06:11

We know that He exists. It's blatantly obvious. But general revelation isn't enough to tell us how we ought to be saved, how we will be saved, how we can be saved.

06:28

In the Baptist Catechism, in questions two and three, it says ought everyone to believe there is a

06:35

God and how may we know there is a God? The answer to so, so how do they suppress the truth of God?

06:55

Paul continues in verse 21. For although they knew

07:02

God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened.

07:12

We suppress the truth with lies and other sins or unrighteousness.

07:23

The more we suppress the truth with sin, the more apt we are to sin all the more.

07:33

The more natural man does not want to honor or recognize

07:40

God and just sovereignty and even members of the body struggle with complete sovereignty.

07:50

So we push down the truth. We suppress it. We cover it up with things that affirm us in our sin.

08:00

We are guilty of this, all of us, even those in the body.

08:07

If you've ever watched a Living Waters video, it's blatantly obvious that people in these videos that he talks to do this.

08:18

You can see it. The goalpost moves from here to there and back and forward, all over the place.

08:27

Everything that they can do to suppress it and convince themselves that it's not true.

08:35

Another small example is the way that we compare ourselves to others to justify behavior.

08:47

The evangelist says to the person, you are evil and need

08:56

Christ. And the person says, no, no, no, no.

09:04

Hitler was evil. Stalin was evil. Serial killers are evil.

09:12

Not me. I'm a good person. I'm a soccer mom or an overworked, underpaid dad.

09:23

Just getting by, just getting through life. Pay my taxes. I don't do bad things.

09:29

I don't break the law. Not a bad person. But the truth is that everyone is indeed a lawbreaker.

09:52

And while I'm on that point, has anyone noticed how obsessed our culture is, many cultures, humans are in general, with learning about these people?

10:12

The ones that the world says is evil. There are countless websites and streaming platforms that have a number of movies and TV shows and things that you can watch that depict nothing but people doing evil things.

10:40

So that the people who watch them can sit there and subconsciously say, that's what evil looks like.

10:54

People will fill their heads with massive amounts of content to convince themselves that they're good people.

11:03

They don't do those things that they see on the TV. But the fact is, is that if you've ever told a lie, you're a liar.

11:25

If you've ever stolen something, you're a thief. And if you've ever hated someone, you're a murderer.

11:34

If you've ever lusted, you're an adulterer. And if you've ever said anything before God, made it more important than Him, you're an idolater.

11:49

If you've ever taken His name in vain, you're a blast femur. You're a lawbreaker.

11:59

Even if you've only ever done one of those things. If you've only ever told one lie, you're a lawbreaker.

12:17

But it starts well before our adulthood and our ability to understand and watch things like that and our ability to read things like that.

12:28

Nowadays, it starts before school. One of the first things that our children are exposed to is dinosaurs.

12:44

One of the first things. What child doesn't love dinosaurs?

12:59

Dinosaurs, by the way, it doesn't even register consciously with most people.

13:07

The idea that dinosaurs were a living thing that was around millions and millions of years ago countermands what

13:27

Scripture says. That in seven 24 -hour days,

13:34

God created the heavens and the earth. And it was good. God calls it good. That means perfect.

13:40

That means no death, no predation. So from a very young age, the world says the

13:53

Bible is not true. And yet, we have churches today that promote that idea.

14:04

That Adam and Eve aren't real. That six -day creation isn't real.

14:12

Well, if Genesis isn't real, then neither is

14:17

Christ. There's no need for a Savior if no one brought sin into the world.

14:31

The indoctrination of deceit starts very early.

14:41

But I digress. As I said before, the simple fact of the matter is is that people like Hitler and Stalin and the soccer mom and the dad, the grocer and the cobbler are all lawbreakers.

15:02

You and me and Paul and those the world has deemed as evil are equally in need of a

15:12

Savior. In verse 22, Paul says,

15:19

Claiming to be wise, they became fools. I find it interesting here that Paul says, Claiming to be wise, they became fools.

15:26

I find it interesting for a few reasons. One, because it seems a little bit of a poke at the

15:33

Greeks. Because we see elsewhere in Scripture that the Greeks are stated as loving wisdom and intellect.

15:41

It's what they value. I also find it interesting because we don't do that in the

15:50

West today. I mentioned evolution before as an example.

16:01

Rather, I apologize, because we do that as well today. I mentioned evolution before as an example.

16:11

People now scoff at those who trust what the Bible says about how it was created and about the flood and so on.

16:21

Although there is a ton of evidence that points to this view being correct, but they think that they are wise to believe that everything came from nothing.

16:39

If that doesn't sound foolish, then I don't know what does. Verse 23.

16:52

And exchange the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

16:59

It's interesting that Greeks who thought themselves so wise worshipped stone statues.

17:10

They created tiny little people out of wood and clay and stone and worshipped them.

17:25

And yet, there have only ever been two gods that people worshipped.

17:34

All of the gods from the Greek mythology and from Roman mythology and from Norse mythology and all of these idols and gods that man created and there have only ever been two things that were worshipped.

17:52

God and ourselves. Those are the only two things.

18:00

However many false gods you can name, they were all created by men so that they could worship themselves, so that they could claim that these beings who were more powerful were just like them.

18:17

They had the same flaws to justify what they were doing.

18:31

And in a really pointless and foolish bid to cover up this fact, they would pretend and convince themselves that the god they worshipped was a flying snake or a bird or a human figure with an eagle's head or whatever kind of form you want it to take.

18:57

People seem to be a bit more honest today, really.

19:05

They obviously openly worshipped themselves. Vanity, greed, selfishness are easily seen.

19:19

And where the ancients may have said they did horrible things to honor their god, now people simply say,

19:30

I did it for me. Whether they are masqueraded as a statue or they are honest, or named after themselves, all of these are false gods.

20:06

Our initial bout of this, of trying to cover up sin with more sin, begins in the garden.

20:22

In Genesis 2, verse 5, it says,

20:36

For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

20:45

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food... My apologies.

20:52

This is chapter 3. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

21:17

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew they were naked.

21:25

There is nothing new under the sun. Even though sinful man tries to cover up, lie about, and deny the existence of God in thought, speech, and deed, creation shouts of His existence, and He has given us the full counsel of His Word.

21:53

There is nothing that they can do about it, but still they try.

21:58

While the world does everything it can to deny God, at the same time they hate

22:05

Him more than anything else because they know that they cannot get rid of Him.

22:19

Most don't want to admit they are sinners, and most don't want to admit they need a

22:25

Savior. People who are slaves to sin are going to suppress the truth because they are sinners.

22:34

After all, most people love their sin and don't want to give it up or be told that it's wrong or be confronted with it.

22:55

This is why the gospel is offensive. Some justify their sins by comparing themselves to others to prove they are good.

23:09

Others justify their sin by reasoning that they did it for them.

23:17

What they did was for their good. And there are even some who may admit they believe in sin and that they have sinned in this life, but they believe that they can earn their own way into heaven, earn their own salvation.

23:36

Why? Because they want the glory.

23:44

They don't want God or His sovereign will. They don't want to give

23:49

Him the glory. I can go on with many more ways that people suppress the truth, but the point is that no one can escape the reality that there is a

24:04

God. The proof of Him is everywhere. And if we appeal to theories and secular wisdom as a way to suppress the fact, then we are fools.

24:19

And if we suppress the fact that we aren't evil because we compare ourselves to this person or that person and we say,

24:29

I'm not that bad, then we are also fools. And if we think we can earn our way into heaven to be in the presence of the most holy, perfect, and just being while being sinful humans, we are fools.

24:50

We can do nothing. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

24:58

No man can come unto the Father except through Him.

25:08

And if we or anyone else is suppressing the truth in any way, in each instance we are worshiping ourselves and stealing glory from God.