The Wrath of God

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.”

There are few theological topics that are more unacceptable to the contemporary, Western world than the theme of the wrath of God.

The late Dr. J. I. Packer never spoke truer words than when he said, “The fact is that the subject of divine wrath has become taboo in modern society, and Christians by and large have accepted the taboo and conditioned themselves never to raise the matter”

It is truly a forgotten doctrine, even in the evangelical church. There are multitudes who attend church that although they may have heard it briefly mentioned, have never heard a single sermon on God’s wrath.

The reasons for this apparent neglect are diverse but easy to understand. Most of us would rather hear about the love and grace of God than about his righteousness and wrath. After all, to speak of the wrath of God makes us appear like an old-fashioned, narrow-minded, judgmental fundamentalist. In our easily offended, no absolute truth, highly enlightened and cultured age, those aren’t popular adjectives.

Many Christians feel as if they must apologize for this doctrine. Some think it a blemish on God’s character. Others think that God’s wrath is inconsistent with his love.

We need a simple definition of wrath as one of God’s attributes because most people associate the word wrath with uncontrolled anger. Here’s a working definition: “The wrath of God” is the settled, changeless, unvarying attitude God has toward sin, and thus necessarily also toward unforgiven sinners, and the action He takes to reprise and destroy it.

Also please note that the modern cliché, “God loves the sinner and hates the sin” is an impossibility. Sin has no existence apart from sinners. Sin isn’t cast into hell, but unrepentant sinners who die in their sins. The typical man of the street has such a shallow, superficial, syrupy view of sin that he is immediately incensed and inflamed when he hears the real truth about the wrath of God. If you really understood sin, your real difficulty would be in trying to understand how God could love sinners and go to such great lengths to save them. You would realize how amazing His love and His grace really are! 

God’s wrath is his holy hatred of all that is unholy. It is his righteous indignation at everything that is unrighteous. Wrath is what happens when holiness meets sin, when justice meets rebellion, when righteousness meets unrighteousness, and when perfect good meets humans in which there are “none righteous or good, no not one” (Roms. 3:12).

Note what the text says in describing sin.  It speaks of “ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress (stifle, hold down) the truth in unrighteousness.” “The wrath of God stands revealed against all ungodliness.” “Ungodliness” is any direct disregard of God, a disregard that categorically violates the first four of the Ten Commandments, which contain the written transcript of God’s own character.  That disregard may take the form of ignorance, or indifference, or blatant idolatry.  “Ungodliness” is man’s attempt to do without God, to live independently of God, to pursue a “minus-God” course of living.

Focus next on the term “unrighteousness of men” as a definition of sin. This has to do with misdeeds of moral character in man, and the inner distortion within man that evokes them. This word refers to selfishness and wickedness of conduct, whether they produce the hot-blooded sins of the flesh, or the cold-blooded sins of the spirit, or the “cool” independence of the suave sinner. 

Note also the last phrase that defines sin: “Men…hold down (suppress, stifle) The Truth by their unrighteousness.” The grammar of the text indicates an aggressive action on man’s part.  Whether this is simply the inevitable by-product of sin, or the intentional action of the sinner, man’s sin suppresses The Truth of God. This is a wrestler’s term, “to pin an opponent to the mat to immobilize him.” Every sin of man pins God’s Truth to the mat to immobilize and silence it. This is a serious charge, but every person without Christ is necessarily guilty - this is the invariable consequence of his sins, and this action takes place in himself, in society, and in reference to God.  This is an inescapable reality when a person remains unsaved. You see, God’s wrath never (ever!) comes on anybody who doesn’t deserve it!  This is the first dose of the tough medicine of Truth that leads to conviction of sin and repentance toward God, the very first necessity to be saved. 

Before coming to saving faith in Christ, I, along with every other sinner, was destined to endure “flaming fire” and “vengeance on those . . . who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus . . . [and who] suffer the punishment of eternal destruction” (2 Thess 1:8-9). I was not a son of God, but a child of wrath (“…were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind…” Eph. 2:3) God was not my Father. He was my judge and executioner. I was a “son of disobedience” (Ephs 2:2). I was dead in trespasses and sins. And the sentence of my Judge was clear and terrifying: “Because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Ephs 5:6).

There was only one hope for me and all sinners - that the infinite wisdom of God might make a way for the love of God to satisfy the wrath of God so that I might become a son of God.

This is exactly what happened, and I will forever tell the gospel story of God’s salvation that is so rich and free. After saying that I was by nature a child of wrath, Paul says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Ephs 2:4-5). “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son . . . to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” God sent his Son to rescue me from his wrath and make me his child.

Perhaps there is someone reading this article that is without a personal saving faith in Christ, let me remind you of the danger of your position. The same chapter of the Bible that recorded the most familiar verse in history – John 3:16 – closes with these words in 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.” (This present tense verb means that God’s wrath goes on remaining on him every second of every day.) 

If this were not enough, consider what Paul said about failing to allow the “kindness of God” to lead you to repentance and faith in Christ: But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrathwhen God's righteous judgment will be revealed” (Roms. 2:5). 

What an awful idea is here expressed - that the sinner himself is amassing, like hoarded treasure, an ever-accumulating stock of Divine wrath every day, every hour they live. One day the treasure chest of God’s long-suffering will break open and the great Day of His Wrath will come. And without being in Christ, none can stand!

Remember again that there is only one hope for you and me and that is in the gospel where the infinite wisdom of God made a way for the love of God to satisfy the wrath of God so that we might become sons of God.

What a gospel!