The Doctrine of God’s Wrath
Most people today ignore or reject the thought of God’s wrath, preferring to believe that God accepts anything and everyone equally. Like everything God is and does, God exercises His wrath in perfect balance with His entire nature. God loves everything that is good and right. Therefore, He opposes everything that threatens what and whom He loves. God’s wrath represents a deliberate response of His justice, holiness, and love against all that dishonours Him. Whereas God’s love flows intrinsically from His nature, His wrath represents His holy response to the ravages of sin. God does not exercise wrath in gleeful retribution or to “get even.” God’s holy anger stands as a protective and purifying expression of His divine love.
The Bible offers many manifestations of God’s wrath: the Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the plagues of Egypt to name a few. Nahum and Zephaniah warned of God’s wrath and impending action against unrepentant evil and idolatry. Judah, Israel, and foreign nations alike encountered God’s just judgment of their sin. Today, God’s wrath is being revealed against sin and ungodliness. In the future, God’s wrath will be poured out on the earth as He removes Satan and evil forever. Every person is born with a sinful nature and deserves God’s wrath. Anyone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice receives eternal salvation because He absorbed God’s wrath on their behalf.
Despite Satan’s attempts to hide this truth, God’s wrath against sin cannot be dismissed or ignored. Without an understanding of God’s just response to sin, Jesus’ cross and the gospel do not make sense. Failure to recognize this truth minimizes the gravity of both personal and corporate sin and universal accountability to God. We cannot maintain a right view of God without understanding the seriousness of His wrath. Psalm 90:11 says, “If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.”
The truth about God’s wrath helps us comprehend the amazing beauty and wonder of Jesus’ cross. God’s own Son came to earth as a man, lived a sinless life, and died a sacrificial death for sinners. In His infinite perfection, Jesus absorbed the full force of God’s wrath against the sins of countless people who trust Him for salvation. For every believer, God’s wrath has been fully satisfied – the debt of sin has been paid in full. As those spared from God’s wrath, believers should be particularly motivated to share the gospel with others. Multiplied voices in heaven will proclaim: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments” (Revelation 19:1-2a).
Resource: Bible Study Fellowship, People of Promise: Kingdom Divided, Lesson 24
