The wrath of God revealed against those who suppress the truth (Romans 1:18)

Says "For" (γάρ) the wrath of God "is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness" (1:18, BSB). Implies The γάρ joins 1:18 to 1:16–17. The gospel of God's righteousness is needed because all people stand under his wrath, and 1:18–3:20 makes that case. The two revelations (ἀποκαλύπτεται, 1:17 and 1:18) are in the same present tense. Both are taking place now: righteousness "in" the gospel, and wrath "from heaven," that is, from God himself (note.language.Rom.1.17.apokalyptetai).

Says ὀργὴ θεοῦ (orgē theou, "the wrath of God") is God's settled, judicial opposition to sin (note.language.Rom.1.18.orge-theou; lex.G3709). Implies It is personal and is God's own wrath. It is not anger in the human sense of loss of temper, nor an impersonal law of cause and effect. Dodd proposed that wrath in Paul is an impersonal, inevitable process of moral cause and effect rather than an attitude of God (src.dodd-romans-moffatt). Against this, "the wrath of God" names God in parallel with "the righteousness of God" (1:17). The handing over in 1:24, 26, 28 is God's act (ὁ θεός is the subject). And wrath is also a future day (2:5, "the day of wrath," BSB; 5:9). The present revelation of wrath in the "giving over" of 1:24–28 anticipates the final judgment and does not replace it.

Says The wrath is "against all ungodliness (ἀσέβειαν) and unrighteousness (ἀδικίαν) of men." Implies The two nouns are not two classes of people. Ungodliness, the refusal to honor God, is developed in 1:19–23, 25, 28a. Unrighteousness, the wrong done in life and toward others, is developed in 1:24, 26–27, 28b–31. The order matters: the wrong toward God comes first and the moral disorder follows from it.

Says People τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐν ἀδικίᾳ κατεχόντων (tēn alētheian en adikia katechontōn), they "suppress the truth by their wickedness" (BSB). Implies κατέχω here means "hold down, restrain," not "possess," as the following verses show. They have the truth (1:19–21) and hold it down (note.language.Rom.1.18.katechonton; lex.G2722). The truth about God is present to them. Their guilt is that they refuse it, not that they lack it. "In unrighteousness" can mean either the means ("by") or the sphere ("in"). The two are close, and the team does not decide between them.