Title: When Men Reject the Light
March 15, 2026
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Good morning, everyone. Today we are going to look at Romans 1:18 through 23, and these verses are some of the most sobering verses in the entire Bible. They show us what happens when people reject the truth of God. They show us that unbelief is not merely an intellectual problem. At its root, it is a moral and spiritual problem. Paul explains that God has made Himself known, but man suppresses that truth, turns from that light, and begins a downward path into darkness, vanity, and idolatry. These verses do not merely describe the pagan world long ago. They describe the human heart apart from the grace of God. They also warn us of what happens to any society that refuses to honor the God it knows.
Opening Prayer:
Father, we ask You to bless the teaching of Your Word today. Give us understanding, and give us soft hearts before You. Help us not only to understand what these verses mean, but to feel their weight. Let Your truth search us, humble us, and draw us into a deeper reverence for You. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Scripture:
Romans 1:18–23
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”
Lesson:
Romans chapter 1 begins by lifting up the gospel, but very quickly Paul turns and shows why the gospel is so necessary. The good news shines brightest when we understand the bad news. Men do not simply need improvement. Men need salvation. Humanity is not just slightly off course. Humanity is under the judgment of God. Before Paul explains the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel, he first explains the wrath of God revealed against sin.
That is where our passage begins.
Romans 1:18
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;”
Paul says, “For the wrath of God is revealed.” That word “for” connects this verse with what came before. The gospel reveals the righteousness of God, but the gospel is needed because the wrath of God is also being revealed. In other words, the gospel is not just helpful information for people trying to live better lives. It is the only hope for a race that is already under divine judgment.
When we hear the phrase “the wrath of God,” we need to understand that this is not sinful anger. Human anger is often impulsive, selfish, and mixed with pride.
But the wrath of God is holy, just, and pure. God’s wrath is His settled opposition to all that is evil. It is His righteous response to sin. God does not lose His temper. He expresses His holiness.
Paul says this wrath “is revealed from heaven.” That means it comes from above, from the throne of God, from the Judge of all the earth. This is not merely natural consequence. It is not merely social collapse. It is not merely psychological damage. God Himself is revealing His wrath against sin.
And notice what it is against: “all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” Ungodliness points to sin against God. Unrighteousness points to sin in conduct, especially toward others. So sin is vertical and horizontal.
Man does not honor God as he should, and because he does not honor God, he does not live rightly toward people either. When a man gets God wrong, he will eventually get everything else wrong too.
Then Paul says these men “hold the truth in unrighteousness.” The idea here is not that they lack truth entirely. It is that they suppress it. They push it down. They restrain it. They do not want the truth to rule them, so they resist it.
This is one of the great tragedies of the human condition. Man is not simply ignorant because no light was ever given. He is guilty because light was given and he resisted it.
That is a very important point. The Bible does not present fallen man as a neutral seeker who simply has not found enough evidence yet. It presents him as a rebel who does not want the truth because the truth confronts his sin. The problem is not merely in the head. The problem is in the heart.
People often speak as if mankind is honestly searching for God with complete openness, but Scripture shows that apart from grace, man suppresses the truth because he loves his sin.
He does not want a God who rules him, judges him, and commands his repentance. He wants freedom without accountability. He wants creation without Creator, blessings without gratitude, morality without Lordship, and life without judgment.
That is why the wrath of God is revealed. It is revealed against men who know enough truth to be accountable, yet choose unrighteousness.
Romans 1:19
“Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.”
Now Paul tells us why mankind is guilty. “That which may be known of God is manifest in them.” This does not mean that man knows everything about God. It means that God has made certain truths about Himself plainly known. There is enough revelation given that man is responsible before Him.
Paul says it is “manifest in them.” There is an inward witness. There is something in man that testifies that there is a God. There is a moral awareness. There is a sense of accountability. There is a consciousness that life is not random and that we answer to something beyond ourselves.
Even when men try to deny God, they cannot fully escape that inner witness. It is one reason why men are restless. They may deny God with their lips, but their conscience keeps testifying.
Then Paul says, “for God hath shewed it unto them.” This is crucial. God is the One who has shown this truth. If man were left entirely to himself, he would remain in total darkness.
But God, in His common revelation, has shown enough of Himself that mankind is accountable. This makes sin even more serious. Man is not rejecting a God who never spoke. He is rejecting a God who has made Himself known.
We need to stop and feel the force of that. The sinner is not just weak. He is resisting testimony. He is refusing revelation. He is living in defiance of light.
And this also means that no one can stand before God on the last day and say, “I had absolutely no witness at all.” There is an inward witness, and in the next verse Paul shows there is also an outward witness.
Romans 1:20
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”
Creation is not silent. It is constantly testifying that there is a Creator of infinite power and majesty.
Let me pause and ask this: If creation clearly reveals that there is a God, why do you think so many people still refuse to submit to Him?
Paul’s answer is that sinful man does not merely lack information; he suppresses truth because he loves sin and does not want God to rule over him.
This is one of the clearest statements in Scripture about what creation reveals. Paul says the “invisible things of him” are “clearly seen.” That sounds almost like a contradiction, but Paul’s point is that although God Himself is invisible, His handiwork makes certain things about Him visible to our understanding.
Creation is not God, but creation points to God. The heavens, the earth, the order of nature, the complexity of life, the precision of the universe, the majesty of mountains, the rhythm of the seas, the rising of the sun, the stars in their courses—all of these things preach. They do not preach the full gospel, but they do preach that there is a Creator. They testify that behind this world is eternal power and divine majesty.
Paul says these things have been visible “from the creation of the world.” This has been true from the beginning. God has never left Himself without witness. Every sunrise is a sermon. Every breath is borrowed. Every law of nature points to a Lawgiver. Every design points to a Designer.
He says these invisible things are “understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead.” Creation reveals at least two things Paul mentions here. First, it reveals God’s eternal power.
A universe of this magnitude and order did not come from nothing. Second, it reveals His Godhead, meaning His divine nature, His deity, His transcendence above creation.
Notice the result: “so that they are without excuse.” That is one of the most solemn phrases in the Bible. Man is without excuse. Not because he knows everything, but because he knows enough. Not because general revelation saves, but because it condemns. Creation does not tell a sinner how to be justified by the blood of Christ, but it does tell him there is a God he ought to honor.
This destroys the idea that unbelief is innocent. Scripture says man is without excuse. The evidence is not absent. The problem is rebellion. Fallen man does not misread the evidence accidentally. He rejects where the evidence leads because he does not want God to be God over him.
This verse should also shape the way we look at the world. Creation is not mute. It is speaking all the time. Psalm 19 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” The created order is like a vast cathedral filled with echoes of the Creator’s greatness. Yet the sinner walks through that cathedral and refuses to bow.
What a terrible thing it is to live in God’s world, breathe God’s air, eat God’s food, enjoy God’s gifts, and then deny God’s rule.
Romans 1:21
“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
This verse shows the tragic turning point. “When they knew God” does not mean they knew Him in a saving, personal, covenant sense. It means they had true knowledge about Him through revelation.
They knew enough to honor Him. They knew enough to acknowledge Him. But instead of responding properly to that light, they rejected it.
And how did that rejection begin? It began in two ways: “they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.”
That is profound. The essence of sin is refusing to give God what belongs to Him. They did not glorify Him as God. They would not honor Him in His rightful place. They would not bow. They would not submit. They would not acknowledge Him as the One worthy of worship, reverence, obedience, and praise.
And then Paul adds, “neither were thankful.” Ingratitude is not a small sin. It is one of the marks of a heart that is drifting from God. A thankful heart recognizes that everything good is received. An unthankful heart acts as if it is entitled, self-made, independent, and sovereign. Ingratitude is deeply connected to pride.
Think about how revealing that is. The man who is not thankful is already moving away from the knowledge of God. To wake up in God’s world and not thank Him is already a form of robbery. It is taking gifts while ignoring the Giver.
Then Paul shows what follows: “but became vain in their imaginations.” Once men reject God, their thinking becomes empty. Vanity enters the mind. The intellect is affected by sin. When man will not worship rightly, he will not think rightly. Rejecting God does not make a person more rational in the deepest sense. It makes him vain in reasoning.
Our world often celebrates intellectual pride, but Scripture says the mind detached from the fear of God does not rise into true wisdom. It sinks into emptiness.
Men may become advanced in technology and yet foolish in moral and spiritual judgment. They may learn how to split the atom and still not know how to worship. They may map the stars and still refuse to bow before the One who made them.
Paul then says, “their foolish heart was darkened.” Notice that darkness is not only in the mind but in the heart. Sin is not merely bad information. It is moral darkness. The heart becomes obscured. Light rejected leads to darkness increased.
This is one of the terrifying judgments of God: when people refuse the light they have, they are given over to deeper blindness. The same sun that melts wax hardens clay. The same truth that softens one person hardens another if resisted. Light neglected becomes darkness deserved.
That is why we must never play with truth. When God shows us something, we must respond. To hear truth and resist it is dangerous. To know what God says and brush it aside is dangerous. A man is never safer by ignoring what God has revealed.
Romans 1:22
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,”
This verse is so relevant that it feels like it was written this morning. Paul says men profess themselves to be wise. They claim wisdom. They congratulate themselves. They admire their own insight. They celebrate their own enlightenment. Yet in rejecting God, they became fools.
Notice the contrast. In their own estimation, they were wise. In God’s estimation, they were fools.
That is always the danger of pride. Pride blinds a person to his blindness. A fool rarely announces, “I am a fool.” He announces that he is advanced, liberated, informed, and wise. He mocks the old paths. He despises divine revelation. He pities those who fear God. Yet all the while, he is proving his own foolishness.
According to Scripture, wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. So if a man rejects God, he may have information, but he does not have wisdom in the truest sense. He may be brilliant in one field and blind in the most important matters. He may know many things and miss the main thing.
The world often treats faith as foolishness and unbelief as sophistication. Paul turns that upside down. The true fool is not the one who trembles before God. The true fool is the one who sees God’s witness all around him and still refuses to glorify Him.
There is something tragically ironic here. Men think that rejecting God will make them freer, wiser, and more exalted. But it actually degrades them. Sin never elevates. It always lowers. Rebellion never enlightens. It darkens. Pride never crowns. It corrupts.
So this verse warns us against intellectual arrogance. It warns us against admiring human wisdom when that wisdom is set against God. It reminds us that the most educated society can also be the most foolish if it rejects its Maker.
Romans 1:23
“And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”
Idolatry did not end in the ancient world. It simply changed form.
So here is a question worth asking: What are some modern idols people exchange God for today, even if they never bow to a carved image?
The answer is anything that takes God’s rightful place—money, pleasure, reputation, politics, self, family, comfort, or success.
Here Paul shows the terrible exchange. Men did not merely ignore God. They changed the glory of God into images. They exchanged the worship of the true God for idols.
Notice how Paul describes God: “the uncorruptible God.” God is eternal, pure, unchanging, and incorruptible. He is not subject to decay. He is not like the creature. He is wholly above creation. Yet men traded the glory of this great God for images of corruptible things.
That is what idolatry always is: a disastrous exchange. It is turning from the highest to the lowest, from the eternal to the temporary, from the Creator to the creature.
Paul mentions images made like man, then birds, then fourfooted beasts, and then creeping things. There is almost a downward movement there. Once man turns from God, he does not rise—he descends. Idolatry is not progress. It is collapse.
And although many today may not bow to carved statues, idolatry is still everywhere. Anything that takes God’s place is an idol. Anything that receives the trust, love, reverence, or devotion that belongs to God alone becomes an idol.
People idolize money, sex, pleasure, power, self-image, political systems, celebrities, comfort, family, career, or even their own opinions.
At the heart of idolatry is this: man wants a god he can reshape, control, or live without obeying. The true God cannot be managed. He reigns. He commands. He judges. So fallen man invents substitutes.
This is why idolatry is so offensive. It is not just religious mistake. It is insult. It is robbery. It is treason against the Majesty of heaven. It takes the glory due to God and hands it to something made, something lesser, something unworthy.
Think of the madness of this. The human being, made in the image of God, bows down to things lower than himself. That is what sin does. It degrades. It reverses the proper order. Instead of the creature worshiping the Creator, the creature worships other creatures.
And whenever people stop worshiping God, they do not stop worshiping altogether. They simply worship something else.
The Main Message of the Passage
What then is the main burden of Romans 1:18–23?
It is that mankind is guilty before God because God has made Himself known, yet man suppresses that truth, refuses to honor Him, becomes darkened in heart, boasts in human wisdom, and turns to idolatry.
This passage tears down human excuses. It tells us that man’s greatest problem is not lack of intelligence but lack of submission to God. It tells us that unbelief is morally charged. It tells us that rejection of God leads to foolishness, darkness, and corruption.
It also explains the condition of the world. Why is there so much confusion? Why so much darkness? Why so much moral collapse? Why so much inversion, where evil is called good and good is called evil?
Because when men reject God, the center does not hold. Once the Creator is denied, everything else begins to unravel.
Personal Application
This passage is not only a description of the pagan world. It is a mirror showing what the human heart becomes apart from grace. Left to ourselves, this is our story. We may not have followed every expression of idolatry the same way, but the seeds of rebellion are in fallen humanity.
So what should this passage produce in us?
First, it should produce humility. We should not read this passage and feel superior. We should remember that if not for the mercy of God, we too would remain in darkness. Salvation is of grace.
Second, it should produce gratitude. Paul specifically says man’s downfall included refusing thankfulness. Then let us be a thankful people. Gratitude guards the soul. A heart that daily thanks God is less likely to drift into pride and forgetfulness.
Third, it should produce reverence. God is not to be treated casually. He is the uncorruptible God. He is the One all men must glorify. We are not free to reduce Him to a manageable idea. We must worship Him as He is.
Fourth, it should produce sobriety about evangelism. Lost men do need evidence, but deeper than that, they need divine grace. The issue is not merely that they need more facts.
They need hearts awakened by the Spirit of God. So when we evangelize, we should speak truth clearly, but we should also pray earnestly, because only God can break the power of suppression and rebellion.
Fifth, it should produce self-examination. Are there ways we fail to glorify God as God? Are there ways we are unthankful? Are there idols competing for first place in our hearts? It is possible to condemn pagan idols while still cherishing modern idols. Anything that rivals God in our affection must be cast down.
And finally, this passage should make us treasure the gospel. If Romans 1 shows the wrath of God revealed against sin, the gospel reveals the righteousness of God provided for sinners through Jesus Christ.
What man ruined by rebellion, Christ came to redeem by His obedience, His blood, and His resurrection. The bad news is terrible, but it makes the good news shine all the brighter.
Conclusion:
Romans 1:18–23 is a heavy passage, but it is necessary. It tells the truth about man. It tells the truth about sin. It tells the truth about the justice of God. And until we understand that truth, we will never fully appreciate the glory of the gospel.
The world is not merely misinformed. It is in revolt. It is not merely confused. It is guilty. It has light, and it suppresses it. It has witnesses, and it ignores them. It has a Creator, and it refuses Him.
But thanks be to God, He did not leave us without hope. The same Bible that reveals wrath also reveals mercy. The same God who judges sin sent His Son to save sinners. The answer to man’s darkness is not more pride, not more self-made wisdom, not more idols—but Jesus Christ.
May God help us to glorify Him as God, to live with thankful hearts, to reject every idol, and to walk humbly before Him in the light of His truth.
Closing Prayer:
Father, thank You for Your holy Word. Thank You for showing us the truth about the human heart and the danger of rejecting Your light. Keep us from pride, from ingratitude, and from every form of idolatry. Teach us to glorify You as God and to walk before You with reverence and thankfulness. And help us treasure Christ more deeply as the only Savior for guilty sinners. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Thank you for your attention. You are blessed in Jesus’ name.
More grace,
Michael Wilkerson
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