“But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;”
My Notes
What Does Romans 2:5 Mean?
Paul warns about a particular kind of spiritual danger: a hard and impenitent heart that is accumulating wrath like a savings account. Instead of depositing grace, the unrepentant person is storing up judgment — treasuring it against themselves.
The image of "treasurest up" is deliberately ironic. People treasure what is valuable. The impenitent person is treasuring wrath — building up a reserve of judgment they will one day withdraw in full.
"The day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" places this withdrawal at a specific future point. The wrath is not arbitrary. It is righteous — perfectly just, proportional, deserved.
"Hardness and impenitent heart" describes the mechanism: a heart that has become calloused through repeated refusal to respond to God. Hardness is not a single decision. It is accumulated resistance — each refusal making the next one easier.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Where might you be 'treasuring up wrath' by delaying repentance?
- 2.How does hardness of heart develop gradually — can you trace the pattern in your own life?
- 3.What is God currently pressing on your heart that you have been putting off?
- 4.How is the 'day of wrath' an expression of justice rather than vindictiveness?
Devotional
Treasurest up unto thyself wrath. The image is chilling — a person who thinks they are getting away with it, storing up judgment like money in a bank, not realizing the account will come due.
A hard and impenitent heart. Hard — calloused, unresponsive. Impenitent — unwilling to change direction. The hardness did not happen overnight. It built up over time — each ignored conviction, each dismissed warning, each opportunity for repentance declined making the heart a little more rigid.
That is the danger of delayed repentance. Not that God becomes less willing to forgive — he does not. But that you become less able to respond. The heart that keeps saying tomorrow becomes the heart that eventually cannot say today.
The day of wrath is coming. Not because God is vindictive but because he is just. And every day of hardness adds to the account.
If there is something God has been pressing on your heart — something you have been putting off, something you know you need to address — today is the day. Not because tomorrow is too late. But because every tomorrow makes the heart a little harder.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
But after thy hardness and impenitent heart,.... The apostle goes on to show, that such persons who promise themselves…
But after thy hardness - The word “after” here κατά kata means in respect to, or you act according to the direct…
But after thy hardness - Occasioned by thy long course of iniquity. And impenitent heart-produced by thy hardness,…
In the former chapter the apostle had represented the state of the Gentile world to be as bad and black as the Jews were…
after according to, in a way traceable to.
hardness insensibility, whether to love or reason.
treasurest up Possibly…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture