Romans 2

Chapter 2. God’s Picture of SinRom_1:18-32Back of the rainbow is the storm cloud. The story of redemption comes out of the dark tragedy of sin. There are two revelations in this chapter. One is “a righteousness from God is revealed… that is by faith from first to last” (Romans 1:17), as we have seen in the previous chapter. The other is “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (Romans 1:18). This is a lurid flame from heaven, like a thunderbolt out of the midnight sky, revealing in its fiery blaze a most frightful picture of ghastliness and horror. It is God’s picture of sin. The Judgment of God Respecting Sin “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men” (Romans 1:18). This is God’s standpoint against sin. It is not a matter of sentiment at all. It is not a misfortune, a disease, a peculiar development of the cranium, but it is a matter of law, right and principle. Sin is the transgression of God’s eternal law, a deviation from that which is and ever must be right and an act and state which God is bound to condemn and punish by every attribute of His being and every interest of the universe which He governs. It is as necessary for God to hate sin as it is for Him to love righteousness. God can forgive sins, but He never can forgive or tolerate sin. There is but one thing for Him to do with it and that is to destroy it. This is a matter that is already settled, and must be forever settled, by the very nature of God. The wrath of God is already revealed from heaven, the judgment is passed, and the sinner is condemned already. The word “wrath” expresses much more than a mere judicial sentence. It denotes the intense personal hatred of God’s whole being against sin. God not only condemns it and deals with it as a Judge, but He abhors it with all His holy attributes, and must as certainly strike it wherever it comes in contact with Him, as the flame consumes the tinder, or as the lightning smites the interposing obstacle. God can love the person of the sinner, even while He hates unutterably the sin He perceives in him. But if we are not separated from sin, we must be the objects of His eternal wrath; for evil cannot dwell in His sight, and iniquity cannot be tolerated by His holiness. God’s Twofold Indictment Against Sinful Men “All the godlessness and wickedness of men” (Romans 1:18). Sin is here classified into two departments. Godlessness represents the sin which has reference to God and wickedness that which relates to our fellow man. There are two directions in which God’s measuring line sweeps. One is horizontal and takes in the circle of this world, the other is vertical and takes in the sweep of the heavens. The horizontal line is a short one. The whole diameter of our globe is but 8,000 miles, and at no spot can our circle reach more than 4,000 miles from where we stand. But if we sweep the line up to the perpendicular and reach up to the heavens, you can go millions and billions of miles before you reach the farthest dimensions of creation; and how far you must go to reach the utmost dimensions of God, no human thought can span. Ah! That is the higher measurement of right and wrong. The duty we owe to God is like the vertical dimension, infinitely vaster than all we owe to our fellow man. You may be a loving father, a gentle mother, an honest businessman, a loyal citizen, an upright neighbor, a devoted friend. There may be no flaw in your human record, there may be no criticism upon your character and relationship to your fellow man. But God? How do you stand with Him? Have you filled up all that mighty circle that spans the heavens? Have you loved “the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5), with everything that is within you? Is even the love of wife and child part of the greater love of God? Or has your life been one of mere morality and practical godlessness? The great majority of men are utterly separated from God. Our normal life is entire dependence upon God; but man has become detached from his center and is living a self-centered life, in which God is not in all his thoughts and has nothing whatever to do with his motives, aims and principles. It is this practical neglect of God which constitutes godlessness, and makes man a god unto himself, and an impious rebel against the authority of heaven. Under these two classifications all forms of sin are included, and under this twofold indictment all the world stands guilty before God. The Aggravations of Sin The apostle next points out the deeper, darker shadows of sin as they are aggravated by a number of considerations.

1. The Abuse of Light The first aggravation mentioned is that they “suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Romans 1:18). It is far worse to sin against light than in ignorance, and God here charges all men with having sufficient light to aggravate their guilt, for He adds, “since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20). That is to say, even those who do not have the Bible and know nothing of divine revelation, have sufficient light from reason and natural conscience to render them responsible. God’s eternal power and Godhead are manifested by the things which are made of the material creation. “How do you know there is a God?” was asked of an Arab on the desert. “Because I have seen His footprints. How do I know that a camel passed my tent last night? Because I have seen his footprints in the sand, and I can tell you which way he went, and his size, and even the color of his hair, by the hairs that have dropped along the way. “How do I know there is a God? I see His footprints in the skies, the desert sand and the desert oasis, in every flower, and tree, and in my own body and soul. I know Him by His footprints.” God has written on every human conscience and consciousness enough of His mighty name to make them accountable at His judgment seat, and given sufficient conception of right and wrong to make them guilty when they disobey the instincts of conscience. And they have disobeyed. The testimony of missionaries in all lands is that they have never found a human soul without this instinct of a guilty conscience, and a sense of wrong, and without some idea of worship, some conception of God and some method of propitiating the invisible powers for conscious will. This light, while it might have been a guide to the truth, is an aggravation of their sin. How much more the clearer light and the higher truth of God’s Word have been given to those who have received the divine revelation! This was the greater sin of the Jew. This is the still higher responsibility of the Christian, and this will be the knell of uttermost despair in the prisons of the lost: “Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not.”
2. The Conceit of Human Wisdom “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:21-22). It is an awful fact that the ages of highest culture have always been the times of deepest moral degradation in the history of the world. When Greece and Rome were at their best in art and literature, every form of vice and crime demoralized society, and the shameful records are still seen in the uncovered frescoes of Pompeii and the unholy art and literature of classic times. Dr. Dollinger has stated that, until the time of Christ, ancient literature does not once condemn the unnatural crimes which are mentioned in this chapter of Romans and which were prevalent in those lands and ages. The same is true of the golden age of Italian art, and among Oriental countries today. Japan, while the most advanced in civilization, is deeply steeped in immorality and shameless wickedness. Mere culture, without Christ, only increases man’s power for evil and his independence of God, and when man tries to be wise without God, God always makes him a fool; for God’s purpose is that no man shall be independent of Him, or able to be wise or strong, apart from Jesus Christ whom He has given to be wisdom and strength for man. God’s plan for man is dependence upon Himself, and man’s independence is practical atheism. Today, men are trying to discard the Bible. But French infidelity led to the French Revolution; and the modern school of Pantheism, Positivism, Christian Science and the occult arts of Satan will bring a repetition of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, the worship of Venus and Astarte, the licentiousness of the Borgias and the court of Louis of France.
3. Idolatry The next step is the degrading of God into an image of man by idolatry: “and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles” (Romans 1:23). Here we see the downward progression. The first step is “images made to look like mortal man,” and ancient statuary was always made to represent God in the form of human types with all the lusts and passions of “mortal man.” But it did not stop there. “The Descent of Man” is a good deal deeper than Darwin has developed the process. The whole animal creation next comes in order in the downward progression of idolatry. First, the higher forms of bird life are called into requisition as types of deity, as we see in the sculptures of ancient Egypt and the superstitious auguries of Rome, through the flight of birds. Next, the images sink to the grosser forms of “four-footed beasts” (Romans 1:23)—the sacred bull, the holy cow and almost all the forms of animal life are reproduced in the idolatrous symbols of almost all false religions, especially those of Egypt, Assyria and India. But it soon reaches the lowest depths; and the dragon, the serpent and all the countless forms of creeping things and noisome reptiles become the representatives of the glorious deity, until finally, the extreme is reached, and the worship of God becomes simply the worship of the devil. Almost all Oriental religions develop into demon-worship in the end. The creature, instead of becoming the steppingstone to the Creator, becomes a substitute for Him: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen” (Romans 1:25). It is impossible to give to anyone who has not seen it an adequate conception of the degradation of idolatry. The first impression which one receives is the utter lack of interest and attractiveness about it. Everything looks so poor, so cheap, so depressing, so common and so utterly lacking in interest. The mummeries of paganism will go on with the laughing and chattering of women and children, and all sorts of tricks and contrivances to even cheat their gods. Many of their rites are filthy and disgusting, and the finest temples in Benares are but stables for cows and cages for monkeys, and the sacred brutes walk about in their uncleanness and are worshiped, while all around them are the most obscene objects consecrated to religious worship. If ever God made anything advertise its own folly, it is heathenism. It bears upon its very face the stamp of its devilishness and stupidity, and if any man or woman wants to read “The Light of Asia,” with the most thorough appreciation of its absurdity, let them go to Benares, where this system had its birth, and read the extravagant pictures of Mr. Arnold amid the filth and obscenity of this foulest city of the world, and see what Buddhism has done for the world and what it is able to promise for the future.
4. Immorality Then there is the degradation of their own bodies and the lusts of uncleanness and unnatural vices (Romans 1:24, Romans 1:26-27). They begin by degrading God, and they end by degrading themselves: “Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another…. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts….” (Romans 1:24, Romans 1:26), etc. The instincts of modesty require us to veil the whole of this hideous picture, but the demands of truth compel us to emphasize it, especially in the days in which we live. How true it was of ancient heathenism, let their own literature tell, and let the unveiled paintings that have been brought forth from the excavations of Pompeii confirm the hideous record! But it was not in ancient Greece and Rome only that these things existed. Mrs. Bishop has told us something of the awful degradation of morals in Eastern lands; and every authority in India will confirm the statement that unnatural vice is almost universal, and the scenes of Sodom and Gomorrah are the rule, rather than the exception. But even in our own civilized land, these things, we are sorry to say, are not unknown. Thoughtful men are dismayed at the condition of many of our schools, and the seeming impossibility of allowing any children, even of the same sex, to associate too intimately together. It would seem as if natural vice had become too tame for the heated passions of our time, and that Satan had to flavor his foul dishes with the spice of unnatural lust, and even beastly degradation, in order to satisfy the prurient and hideous tastes of our polluted age. Wickedness ripens in our day in a very few months, and boys and girls have lived through the whole category of Sodom and Pompeii, before they have reached maturity. Nay, we have known of even grosser crimes and more bestial depths, even in the light of our own New York City, until it has not seemed that it would be strange if some of our cities should disappear in a blaze of flame or be engulfed in a yawning earthquake in a moment. The effect of this is soon apparent. “Men… received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion” (Romans 1:27). This is the sad story of the wrecked constitution, the ruined manhood, the blighted womanhood, the great proportion, perhaps, of the cases of insanity which strew the shores of human life on every side, and whose sad story eternity alone will fully reveal.
5. Atheism Next there is the rejection of God altogether by willful unbelief and atheism (Romans 1:28). When men love sin, they soon find that it is an extremely awkward thing to retain their faith in God. They must either give Him up or put Him into their own likeness. And so the logical effect of wickedness is infidelity: “they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God” (Romans 1:28). God was too holy to sanction their crimes, and so they dispensed with Him. Infidelity does not spring from lack of light, usually, but from a bad heart and a bad life. If you are a skeptic it is because the wish is father to the thought, and you desire to be free from the restraint of His sovereign will and holy authority. When the prodigal wanted to have his own way, he got as far from his father as possible. If you are an infidel, depend upon it, it is because in heart you are a bad man. Of course you will not believe this, but you will find it out before you get through. The Psalmist has given us a picture of the atheist. “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalms 14:1). He said it in his heart first, and then he tried to learn it in his head. But wait a moment. Listen! “They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good…. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalms 14:1, Psalms 14:3). There is no alternative. How could such a man believe in God? It would be a logical inconsistency, and for his own peace of mind, he bursts away from the restraints and fetters of a religious conscience and a divine law. But there is an awful retribution for this.
6. Judicial Blindness The next step is terrible: “he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done” (Romans 1:28). They chose the devil, and God gave them all the devil they wanted. They desired sin, and God let them have their fill of sin, and so they became baptized with the spirit of Satan, possessed with the love of vileness, and absolute incarnations of evil spirits. There is such a thing as being possessed of the devil, and there is such a thing as being possessed of God. Men can get so under the influence of Satanic passion that it will control them like an irresistible law, and they may even think that it is good and divine. He has thrown this evil spell over men and women in all ages. They thought they loved the unholy when they were simply worshiping Satan in all the orgies of a devilish sensualism. Men can become so controlled by Satanic influence, that they cannot resist profanity, blasphemy and every sin. This is what was meant by the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 10:1). God did not do it until he had refused to be guided by God; but when he made his choice, God let him have it to the full. This is the awful threatening that we find about the last days—“For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:11). Oh, let us beware how we reject the light, because the penalty of refusing it is told in the vision of the darkness in which we stumble, and know not why we stumble! This is perhaps the most terrible of all God’s retributions—the blighting of the soul’s life and vision, and the giving of men over in their minds and hearts to the power of evil.
7. Wickedness Now comes the fruition of wickedness in their daily life (Romans 1:29-31). We have four classifications: The sins of the heart: covetousness, maliciousness, envy, malignity, hatred of God, spite, pride, ingenuity in inventing evil, ignorance, implacability and merciless cruelty. The sins of the home: disobedience to parents, without natural affection. The sins of the tongue: whisperers, backbiters and boasters. The sins of the life: unrighteousness, fornication, murder, deceit and covenantbreakers. Oh, what a harvest of wickedness, and how easy to find its prolific weeds on every wayside, and in almost every garden! Finally, the last and darkest touch in the picture is the deliberate willfulness with which men will proceed in this, when they know its wickedness and the final judgment of God upon it. The climax of this awful revelation of sin is in the closing verse: “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:32). This, too, is true. Men reach such a depth of evil, that even if they knew the next breath would be their last, they would use it to curse the Holy Spirit. They even think it brave to hold to their lips the drink that will paralyze their life and put them in a drunkard’s grave, and they will not hesitate to drink it. Yes, they delight in evil, they have chosen their course, and, like Judas, they shall go to their own place (Acts 1:25). Their wickedness has become intentional, their character has become stereotyped, their course is deliberate and final, and there remains nothing but “a fearful expectation of judgment” (Hebrews 10:27) and the fullness of the hell which has already begun. Beloved, let us take heed of the beginnings of sin. Let us be careful how we reject the light and turn aside from its faintest ray. Let our eyes be open and our hearts alert to the perils of our age, and let us send the gospel to the world which is floating in the darkness of sin, and for which there is no remedy but the grace of God. Let us likewise in the spirit of His love, go forth to live and die with lost and dying men, and prove that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, even to the most degraded of men. And if there be a soul to whom this picture brings the consciousness that it is true of you, oh, remember that the consciousness of your lost condition is not enough to save you! A purpose to reform is not sufficient to rescue you. You need a stronger hand, you need a mightier strength, you need the righteousness of God, the blood of Jesus, the power of the Holy Spirit. When the steamer “Atlantic” went down in Long Island Sound, her bell remained for days in a portion of the wreck, ringing out a sad and solemn remained for days in a portion of the wreck, ringing out a sad and solemn dirge, which seemed like a call to the sleepers in those slimy depths to awake, but they did not awake, and at last it sank, itself, beneath those dark waters. So, there are lives floating about on the dark sea of sin that have not life enough to realize their situation. A voice has been ringing out a wild alarm, but it is not strong enough to awaken them, and they are going down to sink into the lake of fire, unless a mightier helper is found. But there is help even for them. The love of God is a help strong enough to stand against all the unrighteousness of men, but we must fully recognize the sin, the sentence, and the judgment. There is help revealed from heaven. The righteousness of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ are “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16). Let us open our hearts to this blessed revelation. Let us take it for ourselves, let mercy triumph over judgment (James 2:13) and let the God that delights in mercy see, in the salvation of men, “of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied” (Isaiah 53:11).