After the introductory summary about the change of mankind (Romans 1:18-3:20), we now turn to the text in more detail. The section begins like this:

“For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.”
Rom 1:18

How we read such statements has much to do with our understanding of the New Testament. Few experience and realize that our present time is characterized by grace. Grace of God is the opposite of wrath of God. If I do something wrong today, lightning does not immediately come from heaven to consume me. In this day and age, it is not about what I do, but what He has done. God has reconciled Himself to this world and does not impute current offenses to them (2 Cor. 5:18-21). Grace characterizes today’s time, not anger.

Near-term expectation in the New Testament

Jesus, the apostles and also Paul lived in a near expectation. They saw themselves close to the messianic kingdom. According to their expectation, their time would be temporary and no one would probably have imagined that it would continue for at least another 2000 years (where we live now). This near expectation plays a role in the context of the New Testament again and again. Thus Paul speaks of a coming time of judgment. He sees a change coming that has nothing directly to do with his current time. Jesus had also spoken of a change from this eon to the coming eon (Mark 10:30). Jesus’ disciples had asked about the conclusion of this aeon and what will happen then (Matt 24:3). Jesus gave a detailed answer to their question, which we can read in Matthew 24 and 25.

When we recognize ourselves in the light of 2000 years of church history, change seems inconceivable. God’s attitude towards the church, towards the believers, is probably the same today as it was then! This is true, but no one in the New Testament would probably have foreseen church history, nor that the Kingdom of God would still not have come after 2000 years, as Jesus spoke about it.

Even if it seems strange to us, the near expectation in the New Testament is quite real. That is why Paul was able to speak soberly of the coming wrath, because he saw a change in history as imminent.

Wrath is on the earth

“For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men”.
Rom 1:18

God’s wrath is “from heaven,” that is, on earth. What Paul has in mind is not a hell, nor a judgment somewhere in the nowhere, but a sober intervention of God here on earth. For this was the outlook of Isaiah, who wrote:

“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel, with fury and wrath, to make the earth a desolation; and her sinners will he cut off from her.”
Isa 13:9, cf. Isa 13:13

It is the earth that will be made desolate on that day, and sinners will be cut off then and there. So also here no trace of an eternal judgment, but of a time of judgment on this “Day of the LORD”. This day comes “with fury and wrathfulness”. It is the beginning, so to speak, of the Day of the Lord.

Let’s try to imagine what this is all about, as awkwardly as that is possible with just a few text references:

• There is an upheaval from this time to the next, from this age to the next.
• The next time is the coming eon, of which Jesus has already spoken.
• This is the messianic kingdom of which the prophets spoke.
• This upheaval does not go smoothly, but with “Grimm und Zornglut”. It is only through court that things apparently continue.
• People will perish (who will be dead – bad enough, but not worse than that!).

Day of wrath with Paul

In the next chapter of Romans, Paul also writes about the day of wrath:

“According to your hardness and your uncontemplating heart, you store up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and the unveiling of the righteous judgment of God, who will repay everyone according to his works.”
Rom 2:5-6

This reads like a summary. Paul describes anger from the understanding that it is man who accumulates anger for himself by his own attitude. And this will become visible on the “day of wrath”, namely at the “unveiling of the righteous judgment of God”. First of all, it should be made clear here that nowhere is there any mention of “eternal salvation” and that this is not a question of “heaven or hell”. This is not mentioned in a single word. This court will only clarify what you have lived yourself. Paul writes:

“[Gott]… Who will repay each according to his works.”
Rom 2:7

It is not a matter of works righteousness (by which one could “earn one’s eternal salvation,” so to speak), but of being judged on how one has lived one’s life. This is true of every judgment mentioned in the Bible, that you are judged according to your works. Anger is what you can get with an “uncircumcising heart”. Whoever gets into this must also take responsibility for it. When the court comes, that will be the case. Judgment will be righteous, and “wrath and anger – tribulation and pressure” will come upon every person who does evil (Rom 2:8-10).

“For with God there is no respect of person. For all who sinned without the law will also perish without the law; and all who sinned in the law will be judged by the law.”
Rom 2:11-12

Wrath of God from Heaven

When Paul talks about “wrath of God from heaven” in the first chapter, this is not a new thought. Rather, he picks up on familiar ideas. He then refers to what is known among the audience (church in Rome).

The wrath of God is the contrast to the righteousness of God. More has already been said about this in the last article (“Injustice of the people”). Paul can refer to these things because such thoughts were known. The listeners were familiar with the fact that God will one day establish a kingdom from heaven that is characterized by His righteousness (cf. Dan 2:44, Dan 7:27).

“Great is the dominion, and there shall be no end of peace upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it by judgment and by righteousness from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
Isa 9:6

The wrath of God leads there. Or in other words: Through judgment the new messianic time comes into being. When we recognize the wrath of God in this context, it takes away much of the fear that plagues many people.

But it is even more important to understand that Paul is not talking about us, but about other people. Anger is not something we have to deal with. We too will be judged, even as members of the church, and we too will be judged by what we have done, but it does not affect our salvation and deliverance through Christ (1 Cor. 3:10-15). We ourselves are standing in a different time.

Are we experiencing the Day of Wrath?

The day of wrath is not for us. I have met people who were full of fear over God’s wrath. This concept is associated in some teachings with eternal salvation, in such a way that one can also lose eternal salvation and an angry God is only waiting for us to appear before Him. What a horror picture! Anxiety can be the result. As shown just before, these posts appear in a specific context. This context tells a very different story – often very much to the liberation of church-damaged people.

There is another fear. Some fear that we will have to go through, say, the “Great Tribulation” (Matt. 24:21). Such fear is more likely to be heard among people with a free-church background. There the eschatology, the teaching about the end times, is often more pronounced. This term comes from Jesus’ end-time discourse and it is an answer to the disciples’ question “What is the sign of Your presence and the end of the eon?” (Mt 24:3). It is little wonder that both the talk of the day of wrath and that of a great tribulation both speak of this time of judgment that marks the transition to the new age. Therefore, both terms are temporal, both refer to a situation on earth, and through judgment some are saved and others are condemned. Much could be said about this in detail.

The wrath of God does not apply to the church. Paul writes to the Thessalonians that we are saved by Jesus “from the coming of wrath.”

“And to wait for His Son from the heavens, whom He raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the coming of wrath.”
1Thess 1,10

Jesus will “deliver us from the coming of wrath” according to this statement. This suggests that we see the wrath coming, but before it fully arrives, He will save us from it. He saves from the coming of wrath. Paul says this again in Romans, in the following words:

“But God exalts His love toward us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. How much more consequently (!) we, now justified in His blood, will be saved from wrath through Him!”
Rom 5:9

We expect salvation, not wrath:

“For God hath not set us to wrath, but to the appropriation of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1Thess 5,9

Full of grace and goodness

Our God is full of grace and goodness toward us. He looks at us in Christ. This establishes the grace that is 100% ours. In today’s world, grace is the key word. A coming time of judgment was normal for Jesus, for the apostles and for Paul. One day it will be different and God’s kingdom will be established with power. This upheaval will begin with a day of wrath. In it, what was slanted and crooked is straightened out. For there will be a day when God will judge the hidden things of men, according to Paul’s gospel, through Jesus Christ (Rom 2:16).

This is how a new era can dawn. This is the target of God’s wrath.