Romans 2:8 – Stubborn to the truth

… yet to those of faction and stubborn indeed as to the truth, yet persuaded to injustice: indignation and fury.

The contrast that Paul paints in these verses is very black and white. Paul in this verse refers to the same people he mentioned in 1:18 and also uses the same terminology and antitheses. In 1:18 he described mankind retaining the truth in unrighteousness. Here it is: those who are stubborn to the truth and, on the contrary, let themselves be persuaded to injustice. In 1:18 we read that GOD’S indignation is revealed about this, because He leaves such a world to a reprobate mind (1:26) and here too there is talk of “indignation and fury”. Those are terms that clearly express intense aversion. It is not an aversion to mistakes or unwise choices, but an aversion to an attitude in which the truth suffers because of prevailing self-interest. Usually that is prestige, money or power. Isn’t that a striking picture of the present Aeon? We see it happening everywhere: demonstrable facts are being suppressed. And those who do open their mouths are ridiculed, silenced and shut out. Indeed: it is the lie that rules. But don’t worry: truth always triumphs in the end!

Delen: