#23. Romans 1:18 - Indignation Revealed Against Sin, Not Men (Indignation Series, Part II)

 Part II: The Conduct of Humanity

For God’s indignation is being revealed from heaven on all the irreverence and injustice of men who are retaining the truth in injustice…

God is love. God is love. Such a direct statement speaks to us with all authority – He never says that He is “indignation,” or that He is “power.” These are attributes of God, but, as we have discussed, do not reveal His innermost Being. Indignation, power, and other attributes like this are relative. But whenever a statement like this is made (such as, “God is love,” or “God is spirit,”) we may understand its absolute property.

When we study the text, we should not falsely reason that, because God “is righteous,” He must do <insert whatever my limited perspective believes is the right thing here>. This will never do. When we are considering relative aspects of His character, we must maintain the wisdom to know the difference between what will remain, and what shall pass. Many reason that “God is eternal, so all of His attributes are eternal.” Yet here, in the introduction to the indignation of God, we do not read that His indignation is “eternal.” We do not read this at any point in scripture, and when we detach from the idea that our inference is magically true, the passage and its treasures are unlocked.

The indignation of God is revealed from heaven. This is not to be understated, but we should not forget the loving root of God, or we will lose sight of the message Paul is stating, here. The indignation of God is not a mindless, reactive prospect, but a proactive story beat that must take place in order to prove a critical point in the following chapter (being the judgment of God.) As we read throughout this chapter, you may find that this aspect of indignation that we are considering in Romans 1:18-32 is… rather different than the examples provided in the previous article. The principle still applies – misconduct, hurt feelings, indignation, reconciliation – but the manner in which this indignation is revealed is unique in that it speaks to the individual’s misconduct, and speaks to the individual receiving the indignation. We must study this indignation in order to fully grasp its function as the backdrop to the evangel.

God is love. The indignation in view is relative. It does not supersede His love – love, instead, is the root of the indignation. This is far and away the most difficult aspect of God for any, I think, to understand, but it is critical. God is a Light which antagonizes darkness. He establishes Peace against the chaos. This indignation exists because He hates darkness, and hates the corruption running rampant in His creation. Most of humanity are unhappy. We are flawed, dying little creatures on this pale blue dot in the middle of nowhere. This indignation is an affront to the causes of this unhappiness – namely, irreverence and unrighteousness.

God’s anger, while temporary, is a set statute – complete (if that makes any sense.) It does not change. It does not give leeway to the Enemy, being Sin. God is love, and He cannot display this if the Enemy which hates Love is at large. As such, His righteous indignation is being perpetually revealed. He will never let up against Sin – He will always stand in direct opposition to that which reproaches His method and will. This is best seen in the encompassing word “all,” where we see that all irreverence and unrighteousness must be met with His indignation.

This is not, however, to mistake “God’s indignation” against Sin with “God’s indignation” against the person. While the indignation itself does not change, its function and purpose is applied in two different ways. While mankind can be at odds against God, this demeanor cannot last, and to cling to it is futile against such an awe-some Deity. Lady Sin, however, is enmity. She isn’t “just rebellious” – Sin, personified, is Rebellion itself. Sin is lawless, and God is not. As such, Sin can never be reconciled to God. It would be like trying to smush two positive magnets together; they will always push apart, and are simply incompatible.

This creates two different purposes for the indignation – against Sin, it is a weapon, employed at all times to defeat and utterly destroy Sin. There can be no victory for Sin, or God does not establish Himself a powerful and victorious Deity. Against man, however, who is designed to learn from experience, the indignation of God is a tool, specially purposed to educate us on the “spiritual ethics” of righteousness. It is only when we are shown, with practice, how corrupt our bodies are, that we can come to appreciate that the indignation is, in truth, for our own good, humbling us, as Job was, to become aware of our righteous Opposite (Christ.)

With this, we can trust that God may avenge us, but it is not a vengeance against fellow men. It is, instead, a vengeance against His spiritual opposite, being lawlessness and doubt. His indignation is not vindictive, but vindicative. We see this clearly in Romans 1:18, where we read of the indignation being revealed from heaven “on all the irreverence and unrighteousness of man.” Paul does not solely say, “on all men,” and to proclaim this is an oversimplification, and a twisting of the text.

I want to talk with you about the subject of a sentence, now, because this is so important for both any English class (4^th grade and above,) and Scriptural precedent. The subject of a sentence is its object, usually a noun (but not always,) and the rest of the sentence revolves around the subject to some degree. So, for example: “Timmy is going to play with knives in the foyer.” You wouldn’t, in this sentence, assume that the knives are doing the ‘playing,’ would you? Of course, the subject is “Timmy.” The object of Timmy’s focus may be the knives, but this does not change the objective fact that, in this sentence, Timmy is the source that propels the rest of the sentence. This makes “Timmy” the subject, and “knives” the direct object of the sentence.

Let’s apply this to Scripture: “For God’s indignation is being revealed” would show us that not God, but His indignation is the subject of the sentence. And what is the direct object of His indignation’s focus? Against two distinct aspects of sin:

1)    Irreverence

2)    Unrighteousness

Neither of these words are “men,” or “people.” It is, then, not “men” which indignation comes against, but the sin which traps us.

We are the fly – sin is the flypaper.

It is these specific aspects of man, which are undoubtedly rooted in sin, which God’s indignation is being unveiled against. Irreverence is disrespect. Many disrespect God, as we will come to read throughout the rest of this chapter. In the past, the word “irreverence” has been translated as “ungodliness.” This, unfortunately, is a blanket statement used by many to infer whatever they personally find to be against God, and the aggressor typically takes whatever measures are necessary to achieve their goals (The Crusades, for example.) This word, when concordantly translated, means irreverent, with the elements “UN-REVERENCE.” This is, literally, the opposite of reverence.

The word “unrighteousness” is adikia in Greek, and its elements are “UN-JUSTNESS.” This is the opposite of the word dikaion, meaning “just,” or “righteous,” in the Greek. These two terms are in the same word family, and should be translated as such.

The irreverence comes first, and leads to the unrighteousness (which is, of course, the opposite of righteousness.) If men (all men) were to believe God, then there would be no disrespect here on earth, and our actions would be proof of this. Yet the deeper we dive into certain religious doctrines on this blog (such as eternal conscious torment,) the more we will find a massive disconnect between what the word of God states, and what mankind infers. In other words: irreverence is the relative cause, and unrighteousness is the relative effect.

Why are these aspects specifically highlighted by God as deserving of His indignation? Well, they go directly against the core function of the Mosaic law’s precepts to attain righteousness. Observe Luke 10:27–

“You shall be loving the Lord your God out of your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole strength, and with your whole comprehension, and ‘your associate as yourself.’”

If these precepts are not followed, then they are clearly not being respected (you could argue that there are some who simply don’t know about these precepts, but I reply that it doesn’t help that everyone who has ever heard them fails conclusively to enact them.) Any manager can tell you of the frustration incurred when their employees will not follow the rules of the workplace. Any parent can tell you of the frustration incurred when their child will not follow the rules of their household. And, similarly, God can tell you of the frustration incurred when His nation will not follow the rules of the land. 

Yet each one – manager, parent, or God – can tell you that the issue is typically not the person, but the level of maturity or awareness in that person. As such, God highlights his disdain for the sin, and not the individual. Paul will later clarify that God is the Savior of all mankind (1 Tim. 4:10,) and will reconcile all living creatures, whether those in the heavens or on the earth, to Himself (Col. 1:20.) This could not be done if God’s indignation were solely on the man as opposed to the man’s actions.

- GerudoKing