We have seen how God's wrath is active in His opposition to all sin and ungodliness, the second half of the first chapter of Romans shows how that wrath is manifested in the world at present. I expect that when most of us think about judgement we think of the Day of Judgement which is yet come, and of course this ultimate and final judgement of God lies sometime in the future, but here in Romans and elsewhere in the Bible we find evidence that there is an aspect of God's judgement which is at work in our present age.
The Old Testament is full of examples of God's judgement on sin and evil of all kinds, such that the psalmist could say, "His judgements are in all the earth" (Ps.105:7). Sometimes we find the judgement carried out on His people Israel, sometimes on the Gentiles. Here are some examples:
In the New Testament we find that God's judgements though perhaps not so visible and obvious are still at work, and as we can see in the following scriptures are mostly evident in God's "giving up" of men to their own devices:
Other aspects of judgement
2. There is a particular judgement against Jews who refuse the gospel:
3.God's judgements are absolutely righteous:
There are many, many more, these few well known ones serve to show us that the judgement of God was a very real fact and something that impacted the lives of people in very real and often devastating fashion.
Notice that in the above examples the judgement is because people have failed to respond to whatever has been revealed to them about God, whether that revelation is through the ministry of Jesus (in the gospels) or through what is revealed of God in His creation (Rom.1:20), in either case men are judged to be "without excuse" and prove by their actions that they prefer darkness to light.
This "giving up" of people to their own desires has been used by God thoughout the ages, he did it with Israel (Acts 7:42) and He does it with the unbelieving people of the present age and Romans 1:18ff shows us the corresponding slide deeper and deeper into sin that occurs when God leaves people to their own devices. Note the stages of this slide:
That this is all God's judgements is clear from the 3 verses (24,26,28) which state that it is God who has given men up to these things. When people refuse God He takes away His hand of restraint and allows them to fall deeper and deeper into depravity. It is an act of God's mercy at this present time to restrain sin in some measure, and we ought to note with interest that in the final days that restraint is to be taken away and the full force of evil will be unleashed upon the earth as part of God's final judgement of this world (see 2Thess.2:7). We can see this judgement being worked out in much of the western world today, nations that once revered and respected Biblical morals and truth have now rejected the word of God in favour of man-made morality, false eastern religion and the occult. The result we see so plainly is God's judgement in the giving over of such nations to the sinful desires: moral standards decline, discernment of right and wrong is lost, justice is hard to find, every form of sexual immorality is rampant, deeds of evil and wickedness increase not just numerically but also in depth of depravity, children cannot be controlled and much more. If you recognise all this in the land where you are living, then be sure that God's judgement is on that land, and you as a follower and believer in Jesus Christ are called upon to pray for the mercy of God in bringing revival, and to be prepared to make a bold stand as a witness for truth and righteousness, knowing that such witness may well prove to be costly in persecution. Remember too that what we are seeing is only a taste of what is still to come, God has not yet fully taken away His hand of restraint.
1. Believers in Christ also have to face the prospect of God's judgement in this life, that judgement may be very severe:
Acts 5:1-11.
1Cor.10:27-32.
Rev.2:4,5; 2:15,16; 2:20-23; 3:3; 3:15-19.
Acts 28:23-28.
Romans 11:7-25.
The judgement that is given by God on unbelieving Jews is summed up in Romans 11:8 as "a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not here", but note carefully Romans 11:25, "blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in." God has ordained a time when Israel will repent and turn to the Lord.
When we look closely at the scriptures relating to judgement we see that people are often given what they want, for example those who refuse the gospel are left to live without the gospel and without Christ, that is their choice. The gospel offers people an alternative to a life of sin, the sad testimony of the world is that many prefer darkness to light and must therefore suffer the consequences of their decision, in this life and the next. And God always gives the opportunity for repentance and restoration, yet even under the most extreme circumstances we find that people will not turn. In Rev.16:11 during the time of the outpouring of the wrath of God on the earth we find that "they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds." On the final day of reckoning no-one will be able to claim an unfair judgement, nor will there be any courts of appeal.
You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due. And I heard another from the altar saying, "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgements."
Rev.16:5-7.