Romans 2:8 but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.
What a contrast to what we read yesterday in verse 7. God’s judgment is that one who seeks His glory and honor by trusting in and living in union with Jesus Christ has eternal life. In this verse Paul continued explaining the revelation of God’s wrath and indignation. We learned from chapter 1 that God’s wrath focuses on those who suppress the truth in ungodliness and unrighteousness because they do what they want to do. Here, he calls them selfishly ambitious. They do not obey the truth that only God is good. Therefore they are hopeless without His righteousness as the source of their justification and good works. They think they can do good and that their good deeds will outnumber their bad deeds. They are deluded about God’s judgment. They think they will be rewarded with eternity in heaven even though they know God’s wrath should rightly fall upon every deed that falls short of His glory. God will render wrath and indignation upon these proud, self-seeking rebels.
Let this verse be a welcome reminder to us to seek to glorify and honor God today by living to love with Jesus. Let us take heart that we are obeying the truth when we live in union with Him and trust in His righteous deeds as the basis for our justification before God. The way we show our faith in Jesus and our obedience to the truth is walking in love. In 1 Cor. 16:14, Paul wrote, “Let all that you do be done in love.”
Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com
