The Wrath of God

Which of these scriptures indicates that God’s wrath only burns against sin?

Romans 1:18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”

Proverbs 11:4, “Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.”

Ephesians 5:6, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

Romans 2:5, “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.”

Revelation 14:10-11 “He also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.”

John 3:36 “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

The first statement is a question, and the reason I asked is that it is a popular belief that God hates the sin and not the sinner. We see from the above scripture references that it is not the act of sin that burns eternally; instead, it is the actor. When we say that God hates the sin and not the sinner, we soften the blow of God’s wrath. The statement God hates the sin and not the sinner makes God out to be unjust. The sinner now feels he has cover. God’s wrath is not burning against him; personally, it’s just a general hatred against sin.

The truth is,

^22 “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory” (Romans 9:22-23).

God’s wrath is equally Glorifying to Him, equally Just, and without wrath, we would not know His mercy or His love. Because God is perfect in all of His attributes and perfectly balanced in all of His attributes, His wrath is perfectly righteous and just. Wrath is not glorifying to man, at all, His purpose is not to glorify man, but Himself.

The Christian should be Greatfull because,

^3 “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others” (Ephesians 2:3).

The Christian has no room to boast. We are by nature children of wrath. This should cause us to look at our friends and neighbors with an understanding and merciful heart and a desire to tell them of the great love of God in the hope that they to will turn and flee from the coming wrath. But what should they flee from if God’s wrath is not burning against them? We must tell the truth; they must know the eternal results of their actions. They need to know that,

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Peter was speaking to the rulers of the people and the elders, about Jesus, so there is salvation only in Jesus, who is the Christ, our savior, and king.

Wrath is another bitter pill to swallow when speaking of God’s attributes. Wrath must be seen in conjunction with His other attributes, like mercy, grace, love, righteousness and on and on. You can not judge the righteous judge of all the creation. If you did try to judge God, you would especially be wrong judging from the limited view of one attribute. Remember,

“But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” (Romans 9:20).

I think we have about four attributes left, and then we will start something new. I am not sure what yet, but I am sure of who is in control. So, I keep praying for you and this blog that you and the blog would glorify God.