The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven (Romans 1:18).
Romans chapter 1
lets us in on the reasons for humanity’s downward spiral. Verse 29 tells how
bad things have gotten: They have become filled with every kind of
wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. We have to back up a few verses to find where things went wrong. They
wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks (NLT, v. 21).
The consequence of
mankind’s rebellion was God’s wrath. The idea of people venting their wrath
paints a picture of mindless explosions of uncontrolled anger. But that’s not
the wrath Paul writes about. Three times he states: God gave them
over . . . to sexual impurity (v.
24); God gave them over to shameful lusts (v. 26); God gave them over to a
depraved mind (v. 28).
This illustrates how
poorly we understand wrath and grace. We have things backwards. We see God’s
discipline as wrath and his permissiveness as grace, when in fact that is
exactly opposite of the way things really are. According to New Testament
scholar Paul Achtemeier, God’s wrath is exhibited in allowing us to continue
unabated down the sinful path we’ve chosen [8]. In other words, wrath means God
takes a hands off posture, and allows us to push on deeper into sin. In this equation,
discipline becomes an act of grace, as God’s loving attempt to get us back on
the right track.
How does
Achtemeier’s explanation of wrath impact your understanding of grace?
TODAY’S MEDITATION
Thank God for his
correction in your life. This is yet another manifestation of his incredible
love.
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