“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth of God in unrighteousness.” (Rom.1:18)
Having—even holding in your hands—the truth of God is not good enough. If its principles are not reflected in the life of the one holding it, truth becomes, as is so vividly pictured by the indiscreet woman of Proverbs 11:22, “a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout.” Unrighteousness is ugly in the life of any man or woman, but it is especially repugnant with a Bible in its hand. When truth is manhandled, it becomes no less truth, but it’s no longer effective. And, eventually, can get twisted into a lie (v.25).
When you and I find ourselves “rethinking” the plain rules for life as laid down in the Scriptures—picking, choosing, modifying, softening—we have done nothing to change their eternal “rightness,” but have simply altered the quality of our own thinking from righteous to unrighteous. Sin, by any other name, is still sin; and as such, calls down the wrath of God, in one form or another. Notice this verse does not talk about “the wrath to come,” but speaks of God’s wrath that “is revealed” right now, and is apparent to those around us. If I, as a child of God, possessing the Truth of God, handle it with vain or frivolous skepticism, I can be sure of reaping the wrath of God in this life, faring no better—no doubt, worse—than an uninformed child of the devil.
Truth only has the power to set us free, if we believe it.
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