Righteous Anger

Well, if you'd like to get your Bibles, turn to Romans chapter 1.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

I've lived in Chatswood now for just over 13 years, and I can still remember vividly

my first experience of moving to Chatswood.

One of those experiences was rain.

Amazingly, rain for me was weird in Chatswood because it came from every direction.

My experience was rain always came from the west until I moved here and it came from

any direction, unpredictably.

Secondly, I noticed the noise never stopped.

Thirdly, I remember not being able to sleep well because it was so bright at night.

I was wondering who had left lights on in the house.

Light pollution is a very real thing, and it's a real thing in Chatswood.

It's not good for sleeping, but it is good if you want to go for a walk at night and

you've forgotten your torch.

The major downside is we miss something that is so glorious and spectacular.

I have never experienced the wonder glittering night sky in Chatswood.

Never.

In 13 years, never seen it here at all.

You've got to go west to experience the wonder of the universe and to sense your smallness.

I've never seen the Milky Way or a shooting star in Chatswood.

Every light I see in the sky in Chatswood at night is on track to land at Sydney Airport.

Or it's on flashing the top of a building of a crane or something like that.

What makes the heavenly lights so bright is and so attractive is that it's set against the scene of the ink blackness of the sprawling universe.

That's what makes them stand out and so glorious.

The night, the brighter the stars, and it's the same with the gospel.

It's the same with the core message of the Christian faith.

Last week, Romans chapter 1, verses 16 and 17, we investigated the Apostle Paul's thesis in a nutshell about the Christian faith.

Romans 1:16

Why is that so glorious and spectacular?

Why is that such great news?

Why is receiving God's righteousness through Jesus Christ the only way to have a right standing with our creator God?

We get the answer to that in verses 18 through to chapter 3, verse 20.

What we have here is a devastating critique of human nature.

It is a dark picture of humanity that shows us why we cannot earn, deserve, or attain righteousness ourselves.

And yet it is against this spiritual backdrop of blackest night that the light of the good news of the gospel shines even brighter for us.

So you've got an outline that will come up on the screen.

Three major points.

I'm going to kick off with revealing righteous anger.

At the end of last week's text, it's as Paul's summary.

His gospel nutshell, if you like, the heart of Christianity.

He says, he writes here,

I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes.

First to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

For in the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed.

A righteousness that is by faith from first to last.

First to last.

Now in the original language, verse 18 begins with the word for.

That is, it's connected, deeply connected.

It flows directly on from verse 17.

The connection is showing us that the gospel is necessary.

Not just simply to make us happy or in John Piper's words, to give us a ticket out of hell.

It is necessary because we have a big, big problem that needs to be resolved.

And Paul's confidence, joy, and passion for the good news is resting on the assumption

that all human beings, apart from Jesus, are under the righteous, justified anger of their creator God.

Without a clear understanding of God's righteous anger,

then the gift of his righteousness to us in Jesus will never thrill us,

will never empower us, and it will never transform us.

God's anger against human sin is a settled, fair, right, and a present reality.

In verse 18, we are told that God's wrath is being revealed.

It doesn't say that it will be revealed, but that it is being revealed.

It's a reality now.

And so it prompts two questions.

The why question and the how question.

Why is it being revealed and how is it being revealed?

Verse 18 tells us that God is angry because of humanity's godlessness and wickedness.

Godlessness is a word that summarizes, if you like,

a disregard for God and a breaking of relationship with him.

Wickedness is a word that summarizes disregard for people and breaking relationship with people.

That is, it captures both our vertical and horizontal relationships.

Mark chapter 12, verses 29 to 31 tells us the greatest commandment.

Mark 12:29–31

It's to love God, love people, vertical and horizontal.

Verses 19 and 20 says that the breaking of relationship with God and with people

is something that all of us are responsible for.

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 his divine nature have been clearly seen,

being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

So the beginning of verse 21 goes as far as saying that all human beings,

everywhere and at all times, know God.

They know God.

God has made himself plain to them since and in the creation of the world.

God reveals a God of eternal power, a being of divine nature,

a God to whom we are utterly dependent and completely accountable.

Now, creation doesn't reveal everything that we need to know about God.

God is not.

But it's not hard to conclude that if the universe is great,

then there is something greater that is behind that universe.

It philosophically does not work to hold to the view

that there is a spectacular universe that happened by accident.

It does not philosophically work to say that a God of order does not exist,

but to point to scientific evidence at the same time.

Scientific evidence works on the assumption of order and not chaos.

But I'm not here to argue all those points.

Verse 18 says that we suppress that truth.

If we suppress that truth,

we will never understand who we are

or why the world is as it is.

And so Paul says we are without excuse.

As verse 21 says,

every human knows God,

but no human glorifies God or gives thanks to him.

That is, God's issue with humanity

is not so much that we're rude

and that we've got bad manners.

You know, I'm really cranky with people

because they forgot to say please and thank you and pardon me.

It's not that.

The issue is that we are glory stealers.

We are glory stealers.

We take what God has made

and we pass it off as if it's our own.

Ours.

Which really is another way of saying

that we don't acknowledge our dependence upon our creator

and we claim independence instead.

We live under the illusion

that we call the shots

and that we can decide what is right

and what is wrong.

What's interesting in these verses

is what it says

about how we practice

this suppression of the knowledge of God.

We push it down.

We hold it down.

We are people

made in the image of God

and we are made to worship God.

And when we reject God,

we don't by nature stop worshipping.

We transfer our worship to another thing.

That's what we do.

We simply shift at the object of our worship.

Have a look at verse 23.

They exchanged.

It's a key word here in this text.

Exchanged the glory of the immortal God

for images made to look like a mortal human being

and birds and animals and reptiles.

It's there again in verse 25.

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie

and worshipped and served,

created things rather than the creator.

So people are created for worship

and if they don't worship their creator God,

then they worship something else.

They don't stop worshipping.

They just worship something else.

There must be something which captures our attention,

which shapes our hope

and in which we put our security.

It becomes our centre of our being.

This thing we must have

for our sense of validation

and for our worth

and whatever it is, we serve it.

You can generally tell what it is

because when I kick it for you,

you get angry.

When someone challenges it in any kind of way,

your response is an angry response.

We give ultimate affection

to a created and a good thing

rather than the God who alone

is worthy of ultimate affection

and ultimate worship.

Rather than worshipping the immortal,

we worship what he has made.

That's why he is angry

against humanity.

But Paul also explains

how God's anger is being revealed

in the present here.

Verse 24.

Therefore, God gave them over

in the sinful desires of their hearts.

The two words sinful desires there

in verse 24

comes from a single word

in the original New Testament language

which literally means an over desire.

An over desire.

That is,

it means an all controlling drive

and longing and passion.

The main issue for us

is not so much

that we have desires

for evil and bad things,

but that we have over desires

for created good things.

Over desires.

Controlling passions for those things.

We turn good,

created things

into ultimate God things.

We go from good things

to God things.

We just take an O out

is what we do.

They go from being good things

to God things.

And those good things,

when they become God things,

turn into being evil things,

bad things,

destructive things.

The worst thing that can happen to us

is to be given

what our hearts desire

if it's not God.

As Oscar Wilde,

not a Christian himself,

summed it up well,

when the gods wish to punish us,

they answer our prayers.

They answer our prayers.

God's judgment on godlessness

and wickedness

is to give us

what we want.

And that ultimately

is the picture of hell.

Every person who will be there

will want to be there.

It's what we have chosen

for ourselves.

Since our hearts

were made to be centered

on God

and since he is our creator

and our provider,

the provider of our satisfaction

and our significance

and our identity,

every alternative

that we set our hearts on

ultimately will not satisfy us.

God gives us over

to whatever it is

that we have exchanged

worship of God for

and we will worship

and we will serve those things.

They will control us

because they are not God

and they will control us

because they are not God.

They will never satisfy us.

They are created things.

They are less than us

and they will always control us.

They will enslave us.

We will always want more.

The tragedy of humanity

of which I am one.

I want you to be clear about this.

I am deeply in this text.

The tragedy of my life

and your life

and humanity

is we strive for

and we fail to find

in creation

what we could simply receive

and enjoy

from our creator.

We suppress the truth

which would free

and satisfy us.

But the tragedy is

what the heart loves

the will chooses

and the mind justifies.

What the heart loves

the will chooses

and the mind justifies.

Secondly

revealing the consequences of sin

until verse 24

Paul's been focusing

on humanity's

vertical relationship

with their creator.

While not everything

about him

is obvious

from creation

he has made

his presence

and his power

known in the fabric

of what he has made.

Sin

is where

instead of

honouring him

by living

independent

gratitude

we suppress the truth

and we give honour

to created things.

But sin

doesn't just ruin

relationship with God

it ruins

everything else

as well.

Damaging our

vertical relationships

with God

also damages

our horizontal

relationships

with people.

As I said previously

and I'll say it again

the word exchanged

is key

in understanding

what sin is

in verse 23

and 25

we exchange

the created God

for created things

we make those things

our God

instead

that is

what we have here

is an upheaval

of the created order

this exchanging

and disordering

of creation

continues

because of our

fractured relationship

with God

it flows on

from there

and so in verses

26 and 27

because of this

God gave them

over to shameful lust

even their women

exchanged

natural sexual relations

for unnatural ones

in the same way

the men also

abandoned

natural relations

with women

and were inflamed

with lust

for one another

men committed

shameful acts

with other men

and received

in themselves

the due penalty

for their error

and this is one

of the more

controversial passages

in the Bible

it's the longest

passage on the Bible

on the issue

of homosexuality

let me say

that more recently

many have attempted

to suggest

that the

historic

traditional

understanding

of these verses

has been mistaken

for instance

there is a suggestion

that these verses

refer to people

who act against

their own nature

rather than

the nature

however

there's a number

of pushbacks

against that

the reference

to unnatural

relations

in verses 26

and 27

is literally

against nature

against nature

in the original

language

that is

homosexual practice

and I'm talking

about practice

here

not orientation

homosexual practice

is a violation

of the nature

the created

nature of God

Paul does not

here

state

these people

exchanged

their nature

their orientation

that is

they're not going

against their

personal orientation

the nature

of their personal

orientation

but they are

going against

the nature

of sexual

functioning

there is no

reference here

to natural

or unnatural

feelings

it is to

natural

and unnatural

function

that's the

reference

and the context

matters too

Paul is outlining

here

a scathing

critique

of pagan

society

as a whole

he's not

referring here

to the sexual

preferences

of some

members

of that

society

but society

as a whole

he's addressing

human nature

and not the

nature of

certain

individuals

he's not

judging

sexual

immorality

on the

basis

of an

inner

disposition

of the

individual

but in

accordance

with

biblical

revelation

on the

natural

functioning

of humans

from

created

order

now

some

have

suggested

that the

word

nature

here

means

convention

meaning

that

it's

against

the

generally

accepted

practice

in

certain

times

and certain

places

that is

it's

against

the

cultural

practice

of Paul's

day and

age

so it's

against

the

society's

acceptance

of it

the reality

is that

is just

a misreading

of

entire

misreading

of history

he is

arguing

against

homosexual

practice

not because

it was

accepted

culturally

unacceptable

culturally

then

homosexual

practice

was

acceptable

practice

in his

day and

age

he is

writing

this letter

from

Corinth

sin

city

people

had

sex

in

the

streets

in

broad

daylight

he is

writing

from

here

where

it

was

both

acceptable

in

Corinth

and

in

the

Roman

Empire

to

have

both

a

wife

and

your

family

and

a

homosexual

lover

at

the

same

time

openly

another

argument

is that

Paul is

only

referring

here to

promiscuous

homosexual

practice

and not

against

long-term

settled

relationships

long-term

settled

relationships

homosexual

relationships

in the

Roman

Empire

was also

acceptable

practice

it was

culturally

acceptable

and there

is nothing

in this

text that

suggests

even for

a moment

that he

only has

certain

practice

in mind

and not

others

Paul

had

access

to

language

to

distinguish

between

certain

things

and

certain

practices

in his

day

access

to

language

that

Greek

philosophers

like

Plato

themselves

used

to

distinguish

Paul

doesn't

use

any

of

them

here

even

though

he

had

access

to

all

of

it

all

of

it

if

he

had

certain

practices

in

mind

he

could

have

easily

had

access

to

that

language

and

implanted

in

the

text

and

he

doesn't

as a

cultured

and

travelled

Roman

citizen

Paul

would

have

been

very

familiar

with

long

term

stable

loving

relationships

between

same

sex

couples

and

yet

that

does

not

stop

him

here

from

identifying

them

as

not

the

creator's

intention

for

human

flourishing

Paul

is

saying

here

is a

way

in

which

God

has

in

his

righteous

settled

just

anger

for

human

sin

given

people

over

to

over

desires

and

to

experience

its

consequences

and

that

is

how

the

end

of

verse

27

should

be

understood

the

reference

there

to

due

penalty

for

their

error

in

verse

27

is

just

really

simply

the

reaping

of

the

results

of

exchanging

God

for a

lesser

thing

which

is a

biblical

definition

of

idolatry

the

due

penalty

for

their

error

is the

consequence

of

idolatry

this

means

that

whatever

due

penalty

is

in

verse

27

it

is

not

restricted

to

homosexual

practice

the

due

penalty

stuff

in

verse

27

is

not

restricted

to

homosexual

practice

this

is

due

penalty

for

all

sin

all

human

beings

suffer

the

due

penalty

for

the

rejection

of

God

and

we

carry

it

in

our

lives

every

day

now

the

Bible

is

clear

and

I'm

very

mindful

this

is a

politically

charged

subject

and it's

not just

politically

charged

it is

deeply

pastoral

and

personal

for

many

people

including

dear

friends

of

mine

the

Bible

is

clear

both

in

the

Old

Testament

and

the

New

Testament

that

practicing

homosexual

sex

as a

settled

unrepentant

pattern of

behaviour

is indicative

of an

attitude

of rejection

of Jesus

Lordship

and

according

to

1

Corinthians

6

this

leaves

a

person

outside

of

his

kingdom

but

hear me

say

this

never

ever

outside

of his

reach

of his

mercy

never

now

there's

much more

that could

be said

on this

subject

but I do

want to

make two

observations

lengthy

observations

firstly

notice that

the first

thing that

Paul

highlights

in these

verses

is

heterosexual

sex

is that

all

sex

outside

of a

biblical

definition

of

marriage

in

verse

24

is

sin

and he

says that

before he

gets to

homosexual

sex

in verses

26 and

27

that is

both

result

in

and are

an

outworking

of

God's

giving

over

in

judgment

all

forms

of

sex

outside

of a

marriage

covenant

between a

man and a

woman

are in

view

here

not just

some

all

all

are a

form of

exchanging

God's

good

order

and

are

therefore

idolatry

and all

result

in

due

penalty

let me

take this

a bit

further

on this

issue

elsewhere

in his

letters

Paul

mentions

other

examples

of

idolatrous

behaviour

he doesn't

just think

of sex

as idolatrous

behaviour

other

examples

of idolatrous

behaviour

for instance

in

Colossians

Colossians 3:5

3

verse 5

he calls

greed

idolatry

that is

greed

is an

over

desire

for more

more

my sense

of worth

validation

is in

my bank

accounts

and my

possessions

that is

greed

is just

as

indicative

of

idolatry

and a

giving over

as sexual

immorality

is

I'll go

even further

Galatians

Galatians 4:8

4

verses

8

and 9

Paul

addresses

Christians

who have

been pagans

before they

became

Christians

in Jesus

and who

are now

tempted

to take

on

Jewish

religious

laws

in order

to be

saved

this is

what he

says

formally

when you

did not

know

God

you were

slaves

to those

who by

nature

are not

gods

but now

that you

know

God

or rather

are known

by God

how is it

that you

are turning

back to

those

weak

and miserable

forces

do you

think

do you

wish to

be enslaved

by them

all over

again

Paul's

point

there

is

that the

seeking

of blessing

and salvation

through

biblical

morality

through

religious

practice

is

just

as much

of an

idolatry

as

greed

and

sexual

immorality

we

worship

whatever

we think

will give

us a

sense

of

identity

worth

validation

and a

sense

of

fulfillment

if we

do not

worship

our

creator

God

then we

will

worship

something

else

it could

well be

sexual

gratification

increasing

our wealth

and our

possessions

or

practicing

religion

the point

is

none of

these

things

and this

is absolutely

essential

for us

to get

none of

these

things

are

more

or

less

serious

than

the

others

this

leads me

to the

second

observation

while

I want

to

declare

that

homosexual

practice

is a

sin

with

all

sexual

immorality

as a

sin

it is

not the

worst

sin

it is

not the

worst

sin

all

sexual

immorality

is

sinful

including

you

married

men

who are

engaged

in

pornography

it's

sinful

sexual

immorality

and

Paul

will in

a moment

go on

and list

a whole

bunch

of sins

in the

following

verses

and he

calls

all of

these

acts

wickedness

that flow

out of

rejection

of the

truth

of God

so

friends

what I

want to

do

here

the

line

I

want us

to walk

as a

church

is to

have such

confidence

in God

and his

word

that we

call sin

what he

calls sin

I do

want to

avoid the

error of

some

churches

possibly

for some

in a

desire for

relevance

and to

be welcoming

and loving

for those

of the

homosexual

community

and others

and I

embrace

that idea

but what

they've done

in that

they have

downplayed

or denied

the clear

teaching of

scripture

on this

issue

I also

at the

same time

want to

avoid the

error of

those who

take the

Bible

seriously

on

homosexuality

but do

so

from a

very

self

righteous

way

for them

this is

the sin

that really

matters

they may

not do it

overtly

and you

may not do

it overtly

but they

speak and

live

as if

this is

it

this is

the sin

they do

not seek

to love

and welcome

gay people

but they

seek to

love and

get alongside

their Hindu

neighbours

or their

friends who

are committing

adultery

or some

other sexual

sin

Romans 1

is not

doing either

of those

things here

Paul is

not saying

it doesn't

matter what

you do

God's

okay with

it so

get along

with it

and be

happy

he's not

saying that

but he's

also not

saying what

you do

matters so

much

that I

don't want

to love

you

I don't

want to

witness

to you

and if

you are

somehow

that's as if

somehow you're

beyond the

gospel

or that you're

beyond God's

mercy

or you're

beyond the

welcoming and

embracing

of the local

church

can I say

that you

can always

tell if the

latter is

ultimately your

attitude

because you

will see

sexual sin

and in our

day and age

you will see

homosexuality

as a

perversion

but you

do not see

your gossip

your greed

your rampant

materialism

your slandering

of another

your anger

you don't see

any of those

things a

perversion

you don't

feel the

weight of

any of

that

how can

you possibly

think

that one

sin like

sexual sin

is a

perversion

but your

impatience is

justified in

any way

we do

not have a

hierarchy

of sin

there is

no gospel

breakthrough

for any

of us

until we

feel the

weight of

our sin

not someone

else's sin

our sin

and so

that is the

first step

needed to

break through

to gospel

hope and for

a joy and

freedom

is to be

confronted by

our own

sinfulness

our own

sinfulness

we need to

come to

that place

where we

realize like

the apostle

Paul in

1 Timothy

1 15

I

I am

the worst

sinner I

know

me

if you

can

specifically

outline

a history

of people's

sin

against you

but you

cannot go

clearly to

your own

sin

and if

one makes

you angry

and the

other one

doesn't

break you

you haven't

yet had

gospel

breakthrough

you're living

in Chatswood

with light

pollution

you can't

see the

glory of

the stars

if Jesus

would come

and die

for my

sin

then there

is no

one he

would not

die for

I've already

jumped into my

third point

seeing ourselves

here

that's my

final point

we see

ourselves

in this

text

Romans 1

is not

about some

people

it's about

all of us

one way or

another

verses 28

to 32

we have

this

unsettling

list

not an

exhaustive

list

but an

unsettling

list

of an

outworking

of idolatry

it's the

outworking

of the

suppression

of the

knowledge

of God

of not

thinking it

worthwhile

to retain

the knowledge

of God

the list

is an

all

encompassing

list

even if

it's not

detailed

that is

it includes

economic

disorder

in verse

29

with greed

in getting

verse 29

social

disorder

with murder

and strife

and deceit

and malice

in verse

30

we family

disorder

with disobeying

parents

in verse

31

further

relational

disorder

with senselessness

and faithless

and heartless

and ruthless

the point

this all

points to

what is

known here

as

historically

the Christian

doctrine

of total

depravity

it touches

everything

it means

that sin

has touched

every single

part

of who we

are

and everything

that we

do

it doesn't

mean that

we're

that human

beings

are as bad

as they

possibly

could be

because God's

grace to

all of

humanity

is that he

doesn't just

hand us

over to the

full extent

of our

sin

he by his

grace

restrains

so much

wickedness

hell

is where

he lets

go

and you're

on your

own

right now

we exist

with the

blessings

of his

gracious

hand on

our lives

this here

chapter is a

dark view

of humanity

but

it fits

so well

with the

reality

of the

world in

which we

live

every

religion

and system

of thinking

must account

every religion

and system

of thinking

including

secularism

must account

both

for the

awesomeness

of the

universe

and at

the same

time

of the

sorry

the awesomeness

of the

universe

the goodness

of that

human beings

are so

capable of

and at

the same

time

the brokenness

of our

world

and our

bodies

and our

lives

and our

hearts

and our

relationships

holding both

of those

things in

tension

the scriptures

the christian

message has

got a clear

understanding

of how those

two things

connect

why is there

so much beauty

in this world

and yet

why is it

so flawed

the bible's answer

is god

god

in the beauty

of the world

we are to see

god's existence

and in the

brokenness of the

world we are to

see his

justice

this

this

this ultimately

takes us

to the cross

both of those

things

take us

to the cross

of jesus christ

where

with both

those things

the ugliness

and the beauty

collide

for the display

of god's

mercy

towards us

the ones

who have

rejected him

this

dark

view of

humanity

in this text

draws us

into it

every single

one of us

there is no

them and us

these verses

blow away

self-righteous

pride

if that doesn't

do it for you

then come back

next week

come back next

week as the

apostle paul

turns his guns

and does a

devastating

rebuke

on the

self-righteous

those who

are pursuing

a self-righteous

morality

the religious

you see the

thing is

self-righteousness

and if this

is you at

the moment

let me just

say self-righteousness

is always

without

without

failure

it is

always

self-condemnatory

always

and it's the

playing field

of the

moralist

the gospel

does not

shine brightly

brilliantly

in our

lives

until we

see the

darkness

of our

hearts

but this

view of

humanity

must be

read in

the light

of verses

16 and

17

and considering

those verses

we do

we do not

need to