The Wrath of God
In our modern culture we find many people who call themselves “Christian” but who do not want to comply with the guidelines for faithful Christian living described by Jesus and his apostles. They want what David Faust in a recent Christian Standard article called an “un-angry God.” This term comes from a reaction to the famous sermon by Jonathan Edwards in 1741 entitled “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” Many want nothing to do with an angry God. So, we might ask: Is God angry?
Let’s be real about this. Those who want an un-angry God might be people who disregard sexual mores of the Bible, whether about sleeping together without marriage, or practicing homosexuality. Such rules don’t meet with their approval, with the lifestyle they want, so they disregard them. Romans 1 talks about this, and the sexually promiscuous and the gay crowd don’t like it. But if we are going to talk about being offended by what Romans 1 teaches, we might want to read it again. It also shows God’s displeasure with idolatry (bowing to created things rather than the Creator), about truth twisting (telling lies for personal benefit), about greed, envy, gossip, slander, arrogance, disobedience toward parents, about those who “invent ways of doing evil” (misusing social media, disseminating pornography, etc.).
See, the thing is, Romans 1 (written by the Apostle Paul) tells us that sin deserves punishment. And we all are guilty of sin (not just the sexually permissive). We need more than moral reform to save us, because as we correct one sin, another pops up. The solution to this problem? God sent Jesus to die as a perfect sacrifice and save us “from the coming wrath” (I Thessalonians 1:10).
Yes, God is a God of love. But his love does not remove his abhorrence of sin, nor his coming wrath that will deal with sin. Instead, his love provides a pathway that saves us from sin! But this path is not one without requirements, as some mistakenly lead people to believe. It’s not a simple prayer inviting Jesus into your heart. That’s a popular but unbiblical process of becoming a Christian. The actual biblical process has us admitting we are sinners and, believing Jesus is the Messiah, the answer to sin, we confess him as Lord, repent of such sins (all sins, sometimes a slow process over time), go through a death and rebirth process (baptism), and then we live as a faithful follower of Jesus. We earn nothing in this process, but we give evidence of making him Lord by actually making him Lord. We seek to understand what Jesus and his apostles teach, and then comply. That’s real faith. Such faith saves.
You see, a truly un-angry God would not be what we really want. We want justice. If someone kills a friend of ours with malice, something needs to be done about it! While in Prague in 2021 we worked with a man who helps girls caught in sex trafficking. Their “pimps” often have a mafia-like system and threaten harm to anyone who messes with their “property.” This demands justice! On and on we could go, there are many examples of purposeful wrongdoing in this life. So, shouldn’t a righteous God want justice also? For those who reject him and commit purposeful wrongdoing, justice will come.
The Bible clearly indicates God is a wrathful God (John 3:36; Romans 2:5; Ephesians 5:6; Revelation 14:10, etc.). It’s the flip side to this coin we can enjoy. In love he offers mercy and grace through Jesus. And with Jesus as Lord, with us as faithful followers, we have no fear of God’s wrath.
Let’s be real about this. Those who want an un-angry God might be people who disregard sexual mores of the Bible, whether about sleeping together without marriage, or practicing homosexuality. Such rules don’t meet with their approval, with the lifestyle they want, so they disregard them. Romans 1 talks about this, and the sexually promiscuous and the gay crowd don’t like it. But if we are going to talk about being offended by what Romans 1 teaches, we might want to read it again. It also shows God’s displeasure with idolatry (bowing to created things rather than the Creator), about truth twisting (telling lies for personal benefit), about greed, envy, gossip, slander, arrogance, disobedience toward parents, about those who “invent ways of doing evil” (misusing social media, disseminating pornography, etc.).
See, the thing is, Romans 1 (written by the Apostle Paul) tells us that sin deserves punishment. And we all are guilty of sin (not just the sexually permissive). We need more than moral reform to save us, because as we correct one sin, another pops up. The solution to this problem? God sent Jesus to die as a perfect sacrifice and save us “from the coming wrath” (I Thessalonians 1:10).
Yes, God is a God of love. But his love does not remove his abhorrence of sin, nor his coming wrath that will deal with sin. Instead, his love provides a pathway that saves us from sin! But this path is not one without requirements, as some mistakenly lead people to believe. It’s not a simple prayer inviting Jesus into your heart. That’s a popular but unbiblical process of becoming a Christian. The actual biblical process has us admitting we are sinners and, believing Jesus is the Messiah, the answer to sin, we confess him as Lord, repent of such sins (all sins, sometimes a slow process over time), go through a death and rebirth process (baptism), and then we live as a faithful follower of Jesus. We earn nothing in this process, but we give evidence of making him Lord by actually making him Lord. We seek to understand what Jesus and his apostles teach, and then comply. That’s real faith. Such faith saves.
You see, a truly un-angry God would not be what we really want. We want justice. If someone kills a friend of ours with malice, something needs to be done about it! While in Prague in 2021 we worked with a man who helps girls caught in sex trafficking. Their “pimps” often have a mafia-like system and threaten harm to anyone who messes with their “property.” This demands justice! On and on we could go, there are many examples of purposeful wrongdoing in this life. So, shouldn’t a righteous God want justice also? For those who reject him and commit purposeful wrongdoing, justice will come.
The Bible clearly indicates God is a wrathful God (John 3:36; Romans 2:5; Ephesians 5:6; Revelation 14:10, etc.). It’s the flip side to this coin we can enjoy. In love he offers mercy and grace through Jesus. And with Jesus as Lord, with us as faithful followers, we have no fear of God’s wrath.