Day of Wrath
Both the unrighteous and the self-righteous are subject to the judgment of God at the return of Christ…
By Rev. Matthew Carr
ers. There were the standard, excit- ing games and jokes and laughter and lights and music that have come to characterize those types of student ministry events. Then a speaker named Paul Washer approached the lectern and began to speak passionately: “What you need to know is that salvation is by faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ. And faith alone in Je- sus Christ is preceded and followed by repentance: a turning away from sin; a hatred for the things God hates and a love for the things God loves; a growing holiness and a desire… not to be like the world, and not to be like the great majority of American Chris- tians, but to be like Jesus Christ!” The audience exploded into cheers
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and applause, when Washer inter- rupted them: “I don’t know why you’re clap-
ping. I’m talking about you.” The Apostle Paul does something
similar in Romans 2:1-16. In Ro- mans 1, Paul declares that he is not ashamed of the Gospel, which is the very power of God for salvation to 4
n 2002, a youth evangelism con- ference in Montgomery, AL was attended by over 5,000 teenag-
everyone who believes. (1:16) And we, the audience, say, “Amen!” He then writes that the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness – against those who suppress the truth, exchanging the glory of God for idols and the truth about God for a lie; those who give up their hearts and their bodies to lust and disor- dered sexuality (1:18-27). Among those who see the unrighteousness all around us, the applause begins to grow as Paul names the offenders: those who are full of covetousness, malice, envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness, gossip, slander, hate, insolence, haughtiness, pride, inno- vative evil, disobedience to parents – those who are foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless, and give ap- proval to all manner of evil (1:28- 32). Now we are on our feet cheer- ing Paul’s words and God’s justice against those who despise the Lord and deny His truth and disobey His Word. We fill the room with thunder- ous applause. And then in Romans 2:1, it’s as if
Paul says, “Why are you clapping? I’m talking about you.”
“Therefore you have no excuse, O
man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.” Our Synod Emphasis for this year
is “Preparing the Church for the Return of Christ Jesus.” What Paul teaches in Romans 2:1-16 is that Jesus will return and bring the judgment of God with him. This “day of wrath” (2:5) and judgment will not only be for the unrighteous who have re- jected God, but also for the self-righ- teous – those who hypocritically set themselves above other “sinners.” In the words of John Stott, Paul
addresses both “the world of shame- less immorality” and the world of “self-conscious moralism.” Both the unrighteous and the self-righteous know that God is the Creator of the world and everything in it, because God has revealed it to them through creation, through special revela- tion, or both. Both the unrighteous and the
self-righteous know that
this Creator is the rightful judge of humanity (1:32; 2:2). And both the unrighteous and the self-righteous are guilty of doing what they know
The Associate Reformed Presbyterian
Synod Emphasis
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