Romans 2:5
But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
Truth to Learn
On the Day of Judgment God will show His wrath rather than His mercy.
Behind the Words
The word translated “hardness” is skleroteta, from which we get our medical term sclerosis, meaning hardening. It literally means “hardness like a stone” but in reference to our heart, as it is here, it refers to “stubbornness or obstinacy.”
The word translated “impenitent” is from the Greek ametanoeton, which is a compound word made up of a, meaning “not” and a form of metanoeō, which means “to have a change of heart, to change one’s thinking, to repent.”
The word translated “treasure up” is a form of thesauridzō, from which we get our word thesaurus, meaning “a treasury.” The notion is of storing up or hoarding things simply for the purpose of having them. This word is in the present active indicative form, implying present continuous action. Paul is saying, “you are continually hoarding up wrath for yourself.”
Meaning Explained
Paul has just informed his readers that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance without which we would never respond properly to the result of our sin. All sin is abhorrent to God, and He must exact the payment for sin, which is death. Through His own goodness, however, he draws us to repentance, which is necessary in order to receive the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of His own Son. So we see that not only does God provide the payment for our sins (for which we have no one to blame but ourselves), but He also draws us to that payment by leading us to repentance.
Unfortunately there are many who will refuse to be drawn to repentance because they are too proud and will not submit to the sovereignty of God. For these, Paul now explains what will ultimately happen.
He says, “because of your stubbornness and refusal to repent you are hoarding up wrath for yourself.” This wrath will come, “in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” If you read through the book of Revelation you will see that our loving God will one day pour out His wrath upon the sinful, unrepentant inhabitants of this earth. And, the ultimate result of that wrath will be the casting of unrepentant souls into the lake of fire.
Those who refuse to submit to God’s authority will be given over to all kinds of sinfulness, as we learned in the previous chapter. They will also receive the judgment for that sinfulness in the Day of Judgment. Only when it is too late will they realize that they were wrong and that they were fighting against the all-powerful Judge of the universe.
Application
Let us not be that way! Instead, let us voluntarily submit to Almighty God and repent of our sinfulness, claiming the blood of Christ as the payment for our sins.
So, what will it be; Pride and Punishment or Submission and Mercy? The choice is yours to make today! Don’t wait!
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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