Most people would agree Paul's letter to the Romans is largely about Grace and in particular, the transition from the penalty of the law to the freedom of God's grace.  It is interesting, then, that the first segment of Paul's letter deals almost exclusively with the topic of God's wrath and judgment.  Let me share some excerpts:

1:18 - "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.."

1:21 - "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^"

1:26 - "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. . . ."

1:28 - "Furthermore . . .he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done."

2:5 - "But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed."

2:8 - "But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger."

2:16 - "This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares."

My company does a lot of web design. One concept in design is, if you want the bright colors to really pop out you need to use deep, dark colors in the background.  If we only use bright colors, the vividness of any one color will be lost.

LIKEWISE, IF I ONLY WRITE IN CAPS ALL OF THE TIME, THE INTENSITY OF ANY ONE SENTENCE WILL BE LOST!!!!!!  ESPECIALLY IF I PUT A WHOLE BUNCH OF EXCLAMATION MARKS AT THE END OF EVERY ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You get the point. What a dis-service we do to the message of God's redeeming Grace when we refuse to acknowledge His wrath and judgment.  I'm afraid the church in America has given itself to just such a thing.  We love to paint in the bright colors of grace, but lose the vivid, bold message of redemption in the process.  If we are not vial sinners, what need do we have for Grace in the first place?  If God's wrath is not truly reserved for us on the day of judgment, then why do we need His forgiveness? 

Perhaps the most horrifying statement Paul made (above) is when he said God gave us over to shameful lusts and depraved minds.  Interpretation?  An entire culture of Christians who have forgotten the wrath of God.  An entire generation of church goers who have so grieved the Holy Spirit with their lifestyle of sin and self-seeking that God literally stopped convicting them of their depravity.  The result? We constantly say that wrong is right.  We consistently claim Grace with no felt need for repentance.  Our painting of the Gospel ultimately becomes some "man made" work that takes on an image that is anything but the portrayal of the one, true, living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  It is a painting of another god - a god we invented ourselves.  Even Paul said they ". . .exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." 

My friend emailed me this gut wrenching quote from William Penn this morning. I think it applies:

"The unmortified Christian and the heathen are of the same religion, and the deity they truly worship is the god of this world.  It is a false notion that they may be children of God while in a state of disobedience to his holy commandments, and disciples of Jesus though they revolt from his cross."

Oh God, make us aware of our depravity and your wrath today.  Don't allow us to live another moment without full disclosure of the depravity of our minds and hearts, that we might truly understand and receive your Grace in it's most abundant form.  Grace that saves from all of our sin.