So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in it is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. (Romans 1:15-18 KJ2000)

Immediately after Paul briefly summarizes the gospel, as we discussed in more detail over the past several posts, he proceeds to discuss the wrath, or judgment, of God. At first he spends far greater time discussing this wrath and reasons for it than discussing the positive aspects of the gospel. In fact we might call this part of his book “the gospel of wrath.” First note that Paul reveals the wrath of God as coming against those “who hold the truth in unrighteousness.” Who might these be? Are they the untold millions who do not know Christ and who practice the abominations listed in Romans 1:21-32? Is Paul talking about God’s wrath against unbelievers? Do they hold the truth in unrighteousness? No, they do not know the truth. Mankind en mass did once know it, Paul says, but they have long since forgotten it.

It is not until we come to the end of chapter two that Paul explains himself, saying,

Behold, you are called a Jew, and rest in the law, and make your boast of God, And know his will, and approve the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; And are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light of them who are in darkness, An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, who has the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. You therefore who teach another, can you not teach yourself? you that preach a man should not steal, do you steal? You that say a man should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? you that abhor idols, do you commit sacrilege? You that make your boast of the law, through breaking the law do you dishonor God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. (Romans 2:17-24 KJ2000)

Thus we see that Paul speaks to Romans* who have believed in Jesus. They know the truth because to them the truth was revealed through the Scriptures. They know the truth and yet they hold that truth in unrighteousness. How? Because they themselves partake of the sins that they actively condemn. They are hypocrites! This has been the bane of true religion from the beginning. God reveals truth, a man believes it and even teaches it, and then goes on to lead a hidden life that negates and betrays the truth he says he loves. This is the main reason Christianity is held in such low esteem throughout much of the world today. Christian nations, usually from the West, have subjagated nations around the world for at least the last four centuries. Instead of teaching them the gospel when we conquered and ruled them we made them twice the sons of hell that we ourselves are. We taught them lawlessness and greed instead of mercy and truth.

So we see that Paul actually begins to explain his gospel by denouncing all believers who hold the truth in unrighteousness. These are they who say one thing and do another.  These are they who know the truth because they believe in Jesus and know what he has defined as sin, yet willingly and disobediently live in sin and teach others to do so as well. It is upon these hypocrites, he says, that God’s wrath first comes.

*Note: Some versions make it appear that Paul writes to Roman Jews. Yet, later in the book Paul makes it clear that he writes to Gentiles, those who are not Jews by birth. He makes this especially clear in Romans 11 and the following verse: “For I speak to you Gentiles, since I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify my office.” (Romans 11:13 KJ2000)