{"id":1301,"date":"2009-10-20T19:17:17","date_gmt":"2009-10-21T01:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=1301"},"modified":"2009-10-20T19:17:17","modified_gmt":"2009-10-21T01:17:17","slug":"romans-35-righteous-wrath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-35-righteous-wrath\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 3:5 – Righteous Wrath"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Romans 3:5<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say?<\/span> Is<\/span><\/em> God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.)<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

God is righteous and must judge unrighteousness.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The word translated \u201cdemonstrates<\/span>\u201d is sunist\u0113mi<\/span><\/em>, a compound word made up of sun<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201ctogether\u201d and hist\u0113mi<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto stand.\u201d Hence, it literally means \u201cto stand together.\u201d Usually, when this word is used with inanimate things it means \u201cto prove, or establish.\u201d When used of a person, however, this word means \u201c<\/span>to introduce or to present to one’s acquaintance for favorable notice.\u201d Therefore, in this context it means \u201cto establish or demonstrate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cInflicts<\/span>\u201d is from the Greek word epipher\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which is made up of epi<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cupon\u201d or \u201cover\u201d and pher\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which means \u201cto bring\u201d or \u201cto carry.\u201d Therefore, epipher\u014d<\/span><\/em> literally means \u201cto bring against.\u201d<\/p>\n

The word \u201cwrath<\/span>\u201d is translated from org\u0113<\/span><\/em>, which is based on a word that means \u201cexcitement of the mind\u201d or \u201cviolent passion.\u201d Org\u0113<\/span><\/em> is nearly always translated as \u201cwrath.\u201d It is a word that shows the action which results from anger. In God\u2019s case it is always righteous anger and, therefore, righteous wrath.<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

This can be very confusing so follow me carefully. <\/span>Paul has just stated two rhetorical questions that would be objections by Jews to his current discourse. <\/span>The Jewish Christians in Rome would be following his logic to this point. <\/span>They might well concede that some (even many) Jews had not believed. <\/span>They would also concede that God was true to his promises and His character, thereby judging sin. <\/span>As a result of this, the character of God, as a just being, would shine out illustriously.<\/span><\/p>\n

A careful follower of this reasoning might then argue that Paul was saying that God is glorified by man\u2019s sin. <\/span>In anticipation of this argument, Paul asks another rhetorical question which we could paraphrase as: <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>But if our unrighteousness shows the worthiness of God\u2019s righteousness, what can we say against Him? <\/span>Is God unrighteous who brings forth His wrath against unrighteousness?<\/p>\n

Obviously, we can\u2019t condemn God for displaying His righteous wrath against sin. <\/span>That is the very character of God. <\/span>He is holy and just. <\/span>He abhors sin and must judge it because He is a righteous God (He always does what is right).<\/p>\n

But Paul is not through with his reasoning against the pride of the Jewish Christians in Rome. In the following verses he will continue his stern discourse.<\/p>\n

These past few verses and the ones to follow comprise a difficult passage of scripture to understand. <\/span>However, if we hang in there I\u2019m sure we will all get a much better understanding of what Paul is teaching us.<\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

When we realize that we are sinners and that God is a righteous God who must judge sin, we recognize that we are deserving of God\u2019s judgment and wrath. But thanks to the blood of Christ, when we confess our sin God cleanses us of all unrighteousness (see 1John 1:9<\/span><\/strong>). Praise God!<\/span><\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"signature\"<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

<\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone \"\"(618) 614-3070<\/span><\/span><\/span> and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:\"e-mail<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 3:5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) Truth to Learn God is righteous and must judge unrighteousness. Behind the Words The word translated \u201cdemonstrates\u201d is sunist\u0113mi, a compound word made up of sun, meaning \u201ctogether\u201d and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[75,436,373],"class_list":["post-1301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-righteousness","tag-unrighteousness","tag-wrath"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-kZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1301\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}