“Good” is a relative thing. The question is always, “Compared to what?” A good pizza, a good dog, and a good man are not the same. You only appreciate “good” when you understand “bad.” So when Paul explains the good news of the gospel, he begins with bad news—truly horrible news.
Paul says the gospel reveals the righteousness of God, and he starts by showing God’s righteous wrath (Rom 1:18–3:20). We’ve earned it. God has made Himself known, and we know Him—and reject Him. We don’t acknowledge Him or give thanks. Instead, we worship the created rather than the Creator (Rom 1:21–23).
So God gives us over. He hands us to our lusts, and we don’t repent (Rom 1:24–25). He gives us over to disgraceful passions, and we run with them (Rom 1:26–27). We refuse to acknowledge God, so He gives us over to what Paul calls a “useless mind,” producing a long list of sins (Rom 1:28–32). And even those who recognize sin have earned His wrath, because we practice it too (Rom 2:1–3).
It only gets worse. God judges everyone without partiality (Rom 2:9–11). The best of us stand condemned (Rom 3:1–9). We are without righteousness, without good, without the fear of God (Rom 3:10–18). Many ask, “What did I do that’s so wrong?” Paul’s answer is simple: we failed to recognize God and give Him the worship He deserves.
It is in the shadow of this complete failure—and God’s absolutely just wrath—that the good news appears. “The righteousness of God has been made manifest…” (Rom 3:21ff). In the blood of Christ, God’s righteous wrath is appeased (Rom 3:25), and God becomes both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Rom 3:26). Imagine that. Having diligently earned God’s wrath, we are offered a substitute so that we may come in faith and be “justified by faith apart from works” (Rom 3:28). That is good news—good news of massive magnitude.
Christians sing about “amazing grace” and praise God’s mercy, but if we don’t grasp the magnitude of the sin that earned His righteous wrath, we will have a diminished view of grace. We were vessels of wrath, yet shown mercy. And remember—our original problem was failing to acknowledge Him and give thanks (Rom 1:21). To repeat that failure in response to grace would be a tragic mistake.
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