In this study, we
will seek to understand the biblical
teaching on God’s wrath. As in previous
studies, we will look at definitions,
scriptures, commentary, lexical, and
confessional evidence for the glorifying of
God in how we live.
Wrath
God’s perfection of
righteous anger against sin; his “eternal
detestation of all unrighteousness.” *
Wrath
Biblically, it is the
divine judgment upon sin and sinners. It
does not merely mean that it is a
casual response by God to ungodliness, but
carries the meaning of hatred,
revulsion, and indignation. God is by nature
love (1John 4:16), however, in His
justice He must punish sin. The punishment
is called the wrath of God. It will
occur on the final Day of Judgment when
those who are unsaved will incur the
wrath of God. It is, though, presently being
released upon the ungodly (Romans
1:18-32) in the hardening of their hearts.
Wrath is described as
God's anger (Numbers 32:10-13), as stored up
(Romans 2:5-8), and as great
(Zechariah 7:12). The believer's deliverance
from God's wrath is through the
atonement (Romans 5:8-10). “For God has not
destined us for wrath, but for
obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus
Christ” (1Thessalonians 5:9). **
Scripture Teaching:
“Kiss the Son, lest
he be angry, and ye perish from the way,
when his wrath is kindled but a
little. Blessed are all they that put their
trust in him.” (Psalm 2:12)
(Underlining emphasis mine)
“Riches profit not in
the day of wrath: but righteousness
delivereth from death.” (Proverbs
11:4)
“He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life: and he that
believeth not the Son shall not see
life; but the wrath of God abideth
on him.” (John 3:36)
Ellicott's Commentary
for English Readers on John 3:36:
“The wrath of God
abideth on him. - Once only in the four
Gospels does this term, so full of
tremendous meaning, meet us, and that in the
Gospel of fullest love, and in a
context which speaks of the Father’s love to
the Son, and of eternal life,
which is the portion of all who believe on
the Son. It must be so. This wrath
(comp. Romans 2:8; Ephesians 4:31;
Colossians 3:8; Revelation 19:15) is not the
fierceness of passion, nor is it the
expression of fixed hatred. It is the
necessary aspect of love and holiness toward
those who reject love, and willfully
sin. It is not here spoken of as coming upon
them, or as passing from them. It
abideth, ever has and ever must; for the
wrath of love must abide on hatred,
the wrath of holiness must abide on sin. But
none need hate, and none need live
in willful sin. “He that believeth”—how vast
the love and bright the hope of
the all-including words—“hath eternal life”!
(Comp. Note on John 6:56.)” (1)
For the wrath
of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of
men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”
(Romans 1:18)
Gill's Exposition of
the Entire Bible on Romans 1:18:
“For the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven,.... The apostle
having hinted at the doctrine of
justification by faith in the righteousness
of Christ; and which he designed
more largely to insist upon in this epistle,
and to prove that there can be no
justification of a sinner in the sight of
God by the deeds of the law, in order
to set this matter in a clear light, from
hence, to the end of the chapter, and
in the following ones, represents the sad
estate and condition of the Gentiles
with the law of nature, and of the Jews with
the law of Moses; by which it most
clearly appears, that neither of them could
be justified by their obedience to
the respective laws under which they were,
but that they both stood in need of
the righteousness of God. By “the wrath of
God” is meant the displicency and
indignation of God at sin and sinners; his
punitive justice, and awful
vengeance; the judgments which he executes
in this world; and that everlasting
displeasure of his, and wrath to come in
another world, which all through sin
are deserving of, some are appointed to,
God's elect are delivered from,
through Christ's sustaining it, in their
room and stead, and which comes and
abides on all impenitent and unbelieving
persons. This is said to be “revealed”,
where? not in the Gospel, in which the
righteousness of God is revealed; unless
the Gospel be taken for the books of the
four Evangelists, or for the Gospel
dispensation, or for that part of the
ministry of a Gospel preacher, which
represents the wrath of God as the desert of
sin, the dreadfulness of it, and
the way to escape it; for the Gospel,
strictly taken, is grace, good news, glad
tidings, and not wrath and damnation; though
indeed in Christ's sufferings for
the sins of his people, which the Gospel
gives us an account of, there is a
great display of the wrath of God, and of
his indignation against sin: but this
wrath of God is revealed in the law, it is
known by the light of nature, and to
be perceived in the law of Moses, and may be
observed in the Scriptures, where
are many instances and examples of divine
wrath and displeasure; as in the
total destruction of the old world by a
world wide flood, the burning of Sodom
and Gomorrah, turning Lot's wife into a
pillar of salt, the plagues of Egypt,
and the several instances mentioned in this
chapter. This wrath is said to be
God's wrath “from heaven”, by the awful
blackness which covers the heavens, the
storms and tempests raised in them, and by
pouring down water or fire in a
surprising manner, on the inhabitants of the
world; or “from heaven”, that is,
openly, manifestly, in the sight of all; or
from God who is in heaven, and not
from second causes; and more especially it
will be revealed from heaven, when
Christ shall descend from thence at the day
of judgment: the subject matter or
object of it,” (2)
“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; Who will render to
every man according to his deeds: To them
who by patient continuance in well
doing seek for glory and honour and
immortality, eternal life: But unto them
that are contentious, and do not obey the
truth, but obey unrighteousness,
indignation and wrath.” (Romans 2:5-8)
“Let no man deceive
you with vain words: for because of these
things cometh the wrath of God
upon the children of disobedience.”
(Ephesians 5:6)
Pulpit Commentary on Ephesians
5:6:
“Verse 6. - Let no
man deceive you with empty words. No man,
whether pagan or nominal Christian:
the pagan defending a life of pleasure as
the only thing to be had with even a
smack of good in it; the Christian
mitigating pleasant sins, saying that the
young must have an outlet for their warm
feelings, that men in business must
put all their soul into it, and that life
must be brightened by a little mirth
and jollity. As opposed to what the apostle
has laid down (ver. 5), such words
are empty, destitute of all solidity or
truth. For on account of these things
the wrath of God cometh on the children of
disobedience. The sophistry is swept
away by an awful fact - the wrath cometh, is
coming, and will come too in the
future life. It comes in the form of natural
punishment, Nature avenging her
broken laws by deadly diseases; in the form,
too, of disappointment, remorse,
desolation of soul; and in the form of
judgments, like that which befell Sodom
and Gomorrah, or the sword which never
departed from David's house.” (3)
“The same shall drink
of the wine of the wrath of God,
which is poured out without mixture
into the cup of his indignation; and he
shall be tormented with fire and
brimstone in the presence of the holy
angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.”
(Revelation 14:10)
Vine's Expository
Dictionary of New Testament Words on wrath:
Wrath
[1, G3709, orge]
See ANGER and Notes
(1) and
(2).
[2, G2372, thumos]
hot anger, passion,
for which See ANGER, Notes
(1) and
(2), is translated “wrath”
in Luke 4:28; Acts 19:28; Romans 2:8, RV;
Galatians 5:20; Ephesians 4:31;
Colossians 3:8; Hebrews 11:27; Revelation
12:12; Revelation 14:8, Revelation
14:10, Revelation 14:19; Revelation 15:1,
Revelation 15:7; Revelation 16:1;
Revelation 18:3; “wraths” in 2 Corinthians
12:20; “fierceness” in Revelation
16:19; Revelation 19:15 (followed by No. 1).
[3, G3950, parorgismos]
occurs in Ephesians
4:26, See ANGER, A, Note
(2).
Note: For the verb parorgizo,
“to provoke to wrath,”
Ephesians 6:4, AV, See ANGER, B, No. 2. (4)
Short list of synonyms for
wrath:
Extreme or hot anger,
fury, hate, indignation, vengeance, passion,
fierceness
Definition for WRATH,
(ANGER), International
Standard Bible
Encyclopedia:
WRATH,
(ANGER)
rath, roth,
rath ('aph,
from 'anaph,
“to snort,” “to be angry”; orge,
thumos, orgizomai):
Designates
various degrees of feeling, such as sadness
(Ps 85:4), a frown or
turning away of the face in grief or anger
(2Ch. 26:19; Jer. 3:12), indignation
(Ps 38:3), bitterness (Jdg. 18:25), fury
(Est 1:12), full of anger (Gen 4:5; Jn.
7:23), snorting mad (Gen 27:45; Mt 2:16).
1.
Divine Wrath:
Wrath
is used with reference to both God and man.
When used of God it is to be
understood that there is the complete
absence of that caprice and unethical
quality so prominent in the anger attributed
to the gods of the heathen and to
man. The divine wrath is to be regarded as
the natural expression of the divine
nature, which is absolute holiness,
manifesting itself against the willful,
high-handed, deliberate, inexcusable sin and
iniquity of mankind. God's wrath
is always regarded in the Scripture as the
just, proper, and natural expression
of His holiness and righteousness which must
always, under all circumstances,
and at all costs be maintained. It is
therefore a righteous indignation and
compatible with the holy and righteous
nature of God (Nu 11:1-10; Dt. 29:27; 2
Sam 6:7; Isa 5:25; 42:25; Jer. 44:6; Ps
79:6). The element of love and
compassion is always closely connected with
God's anger; if we rightly estimate
the divine anger we must unhesitatingly
pronounce it to be but the expression
and measure of that love (compare Jer.
10:24; Ezek. 23; Am 3:2).
2.
Human Wrath:
Wrath,
when used of man, is the exhibition of an
enraged sinful nature and is
therefore always inexcusable (Gen 4:5, 6;
49:7; Prov. 19:19; Job 5:2; Lk 4:28;
2Cor. 12:10; Gal 5:20; Eph. 4:31; Col 3:8).
It is for this reason that man is
forbidden to allow anger to display itself
in his life. He is not to “give
place unto wrath” (Rom 12:19 margin), nor
must he allow “the sun to go down
upon his wrath” (Eph. 4:26). He must not be
angry with his brother (Mt 5:22),
but seek agreement with him lest the
judgment that will necessarily fall upon
the wrathful be meted out to him (Mt 5:25,
26). Particularly is the
manifestation of an angry spirit prohibited
in the training and bringing up of
a family (Eph. 6:4; Col 3:19). Anger, at all
times, is prohibited (Nu 18:5; Ps
37:8; Rom 12:19; Gal 5:19; Eph. 4:26; Jas
1:19, 20).
3.
Divine Wrath Consistent with Love:
Wrath
or anger, as pertaining to God, is very much
more prominent in the Old
Testament than in the New Testament. This is
to be accounted for probably
because the New Testament magnifies the
grace and love of God as contrasted
with His wrath; at least love is more
prominent than wrath in the revelation
and teaching of Christ and His apostles.
Nevertheless, it must not be thought
that the element of wrath, as a quality of
the divine nature, is by any means
overlooked in the New Testament because of
the prominent place there given to
love. On the contrary, the wrath of God is
intensified because of the more
wonderful manifestation of His grace, mercy
and love in the gift of His Son
Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the world.
God is not love only: He is also
righteous; yea, “Our God is a consuming
fire” (Heb. 12:29); “It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living
God” (Heb. 10:31). No effeminate,
sentimental view of the Fatherhood of God or
of His mercy and loving-kindness
can exclude the manifestation of His just,
righteous and holy anger against sin
and the sinner because of his transgression
(1Pet 1:17; Heb. 10:29). One thing
only can save the sinner from the outpouring
of God's righteous anger against
sin in the day of visitation, namely, faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ as the
divinely-appointed Redeemer of the world
(Jn. 3:36; Rom 1:16-18; 5:9). Nor
should the sinner think that the
postponement or the omission (or seeming
omission) of the visitation of God's wrath
against sin in the present means the
total abolition of it in the future.
Postponement is not abolition; indeed, the
sinner, who continually rejects Jesus Christ
and the salvation which God has
provided in Him, is simply `treasuring up'
wrath for himself “in the day of wrath
and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God; who (one day) will render to
every man according to his works: .... to
them that .... obey not the truth,
but obey unrighteousness, .... wrath and
indignation, tribulation and anguish,
upon every soul of man that worketh evil”
(Rom 2:5-9; 2 Pet 3:10; Rev 6:16,17;
16:19; 19:15).
See
RETRIBUTION, 5.
God's
anger while slow, and not easily aroused (Ps
103:8; Isa 48:9; Jon 4:2; Nah
1:3), is to be dreaded (Ps 2:12; 76:7; 90:11;
Mt
10:28); is not to be provoked (Jer. 7:19;
1Cor. 10:22); when visited, in the
present life, should be borne with
submission (2 Sam 24:17; Lam 3:39, 43; Mic
7:9); prayer should be earnestly made for
deliverance from it (Ps 39:10; 80:4;
Dan 9:16; Hab. 3:2); it should be the means
of leading man to repentance (Isa
42:24, 25; Jer. 4:8).
Certain
specific things are said especially to
arouse God's anger: continual
provocation (Nu 32:14), unbelief (Ps 78:21,
22; Heb. 3:18,19), impenitence (Isa
9:13, 14; Rom 2:5), apostasy (Heb. 10:26,
27), idolatry (Dt 32:19, 20, 22; 2Ki
22:17; Jer. 44:3), sin in God's people (Ps
89:30-32; Isa 47:6), and it is
manifested especially against opponents of
the gospel of Jesus Christ (Ps 2:2, 3,
5; 1Thess 2:16).
4.
Righteous and Unrighteous Anger:
There
is a sense, however, in which anger is the
duty of man; he is to “hate evil”
(Ps 97:10). It is not enough that God's
people should love righteousness, they
must also be angry with sin (not the
sinner). A man who is incapable of being
angry at sin is at the same time thereby
adjudged to be incapable of having a
real love for righteousness. So there is a
sense in which a man may be said to “be
.... angry, and sin not” (Eph. 4:26). Anger
at the sin and unrighteousness of
men, and because their sin is grievous to
God, may be called a “righteous
indignation.” Such an indignation is
attributed to Jesus when it is said that
He “looked round about on them with anger,
being grieved at the hardening of
their heart” (Mk 3:5). When anger arises
because of this condition, it is
sinless, but when anger arises because of
wounded or aggrieved personality or
feelings, it is sinful and punishable.
Anger, while very likely to become
sinful, is not really sinful in itself.
We
have illustrations in the Scriptures of
wrath or anger that is justifiable:
Jesus (Mk 3:5), Jacob (Gen 31:36), Moses (Ex
11:8; 32:19; Lev 10:16; Nu 16:15),
Nehemiah (Neh. 5:6; 13:17,25); of sinful
anger: Cain (Gen 4:5,6), Esau (Gen
27:45), Moses (Nu 20:10,11), Balaam (Nu
22:27), Saul (1 Sam 20:30), Ahab (1 Ki
21:4), Naaman (2 Ki 5:11), Herod (Mt 2:16),
the Jews (Lk 4:28), the high priest
(Acts 5:17; 7:54). William Evans (5)
Chapter VI of the Westminster
Confession of Faith:
Of
the Fall of Man, of Sin, and the Punishment
thereof
I.
Our first parents, being seduced by the
subtilty and temptations of Satan,
sinned, in eating the forbidden fruit.[1]
This their sin, God was pleased,
according to his wise and holy counsel, to
permit, having purposed to order it
to his own glory.[2]
II.
By this sin they fell from their original
righteousness and communion, with God,
[3] and so became dead in sin, [4] and
wholly defiled in all the parts and
faculties of soul and body. [5]
III.
They being the root of all mankind, the
guilt of this sin was imputed; [6] and
the same death in sin, and corrupted nature,
conveyed to all their posterity
descending from them by ordinary generation.
[7]
IV.
From this original corruption, whereby we
are utterly indisposed, disabled, and
made opposite to all good,[8] and wholly
inclined to all evil,[9] do proceed
all actual transgressions.[10]
V.
This corruption of nature, during this life,
does remain in those that are
regenerated; [11] and although it be,
through Christ, pardoned, and mortified;
yet both itself, and all the motions
thereof, are truly and properly sin. [12]
VI.
Every sin, both original and actual, being a
transgression of the righteous law
of God, and contrary thereunto,[13] does in
its own nature, bring guilt upon
the sinner,[14] whereby he is bound over to
the wrath of God,[15] and curse of
the law,[16] and so made subject to
death,[17] with all miseries spiritual,[18]
temporal,[19] and eternal.[20]
Scriptural proofs:
[1]
GEN 3:13 And the Lord God said unto the
woman, What is this that thou hast
done? And the woman said, The serpent
beguiled me, and I did eat. 2CO 11:3 But
I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent
beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so
your minds should be corrupted from the
simplicity that is in Christ.
[2]
ROM 11:32 For God hath concluded them all in
unbelief, that he might have mercy
upon all.
[3]
GEN 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree
was good for food, and that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be
desired to make one wise, she took of
the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
also unto her husband with her; and he
did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were
opened, and they knew that they were
naked; and they sewed fig leaves together,
and made themselves aprons. 8 And
they heard the voice of the Lord God walking
in the garden in the cool of the
day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord God
amongst the trees of the garden. ECC 7:29
Lo, this only have I found, that God
hath made man upright; but they have sought
out many inventions. ROM 3:23 For
all have sinned, and come short of the glory
of God.
[4]
GEN 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, thou shalt not eat
of it: for in the day that thou eatest
thereof thou shalt surely die. EPH 2:1
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in
trespasses and sins.
[5]
TIT 1:15 Unto the pure all things are pure:
but unto them that are defiled and
unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their
mind and conscience is defiled. GEN
6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man
was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually. JER
17:9 The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked: who can
know it? ROM 3:10 As it is written, There is
none righteous, no, not one: 11
There is none that understandeth, there is
none that seeketh after God. 12 They
are all gone out of the way, they are
together become unprofitable; there is
none that doeth good, no, not one. 13 Their
throat is an open sepulchre; with
their tongues they have used deceit; the
poison of asps is under their lips: 14
Whose mouth is full of cursing and
bitterness: 15 Their feet are swift to shed
blood: 16 Destruction and misery are in
their ways: 17 And the way of peace
have they not known: 18 There is no fear of
God before their eyes.
[6]
GEN 1:27 So God created man in his own
image, in the image of God created he
him; male and female created he them. 28 And
God blessed them, and God said
unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it:
and have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and
over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth. 2:16 AND THE LORD God
commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of
the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:
for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die. ACT 17:26 And
hath made of one blood all nations of men
for to dwell on all the face of the
earth, and hath determined the times before
appointed, and the bounds of their
habitation. ROM 5:12 Wherefore, as by one
man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin; and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. 15
But not as the offence, so also is the free
gift. For if through the offence of
one many be dead, much more the grace of
God, and the gift by grace, which is
by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto
many. 16 And not as it was by one
that sinned, so is the gift: for the
judgment was by one to condemnation, but
the free gift is of many offences unto
justification. 17 For if by one man's
offence death reigned by one; much more they
which receive abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness shall reign
in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18
Therefore as by the offence of one judgment
came upon all men to condemnation;
even so by the righteousness of one the free
gift came upon all men unto
justification of life. 19 For as by one
man's disobedience many were made
sinners, so by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. 1CO 15:21 For
since by man came death, by man came also
the resurrection of the dead. 22 For
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall
all be made alive. 45 And so it is
written, The first man Adam was made a
living soul; the last Adam was made a
quickening spirit. 49 And as we have borne
the image of the earthy, we shall
also bear the image of the heavenly.
[7]
PSA 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity;
and in sin did my mother conceive
me. GEN 5:3 And Adam lived an hundred and
thirty years, and begat a son in his
own likeness, after his image; and called
his name Seth. JOB 14:4 Who can bring
a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
15:14 What is man, that he should be
clean? and he which is born of a woman, that
he should be righteous?
[8]
ROM 5:6 For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. ROM 8:7 Because the carnal mind is
enmity against God: for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. ROM 7:18 For I know that in
me(that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good
thing: for to will is present with
me; but how to perform that which is good I
find not. COL 1:21 And you, that
were sometime alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now hath
he reconciled.
[9]
GEN 6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth, and that
every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually. 8:21
And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the
Lord said in his heart, I will not
again curse the ground any more for man's
sake; for the imagination of man's heart
is evil from his youth; neither will I again
smite any more every thing living,
as I have done. ROM 3:10 As it is written,
There is none righteous, no, not
one: 11 There is none that understandeth,
there is none that seeketh after God.
12 They are all gone out of the way, they
are together become unprofitable;
there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
[10]
JAM 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he
is drawn away of his own lust, and
enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived,
it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when
it is finished, bringeth forth death. EPH
2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked
according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience: 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. MAT 15:19
For out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications,
thefts, false witness,
blasphemies.
[11]
1JO 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us. 10 If we say that we have not
sinned, we make him a liar, and his
word is not in us. ROM 7:14 For we know that
the law is spiritual: but I am
carnal, sold under sin. 17 Now then it is no
more I that do it, but sin that
dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in
me(that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no
good thing: for to will is present with me;
but how to perform that which is
good I find not. 23 But I see another law in
my members, warring against the
law of my mind, and bringing me into
captivity to the law of sin which is in my
members. JAM 3:2 For in many things we
offend all. If any man offend not in
word, the same is a perfect man, and able
also to bridle the whole body. PRO
20:9 Who can say, I have made my heart
clean, I am pure from my sin? ECC 7:20
For there is not a just man upon earth, that
doeth good, and sinneth not.
[12]ROM
7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the
motions of sins, which were by the law,
did work in our members to bring forth fruit
unto death. 7 What shall we say
then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had
not known sin, but by the law: for
I had not known lust, except the law had
said, Thou shalt not covet. 8 But sin,
taking occasion by the commandment, wrought
in me all manner of concupiscence.
For without the law sin was dead. 25 I thank
God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So then with the mind I myself serve the law
of God; but with the flesh the law
of sin. GAL 5:17 For the flesh lusteth
against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh: and these are contrary
the one to the other: so that ye
cannot do the things that ye would.
[13]
1JO 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin
transgresseth also the law: for sin is the
transgression of the law.
[14]
ROM 2:15 Which shew the work of the law
written in their hearts, their
conscience also bearing witness, and their
thoughts the mean while accusing or
else excusing one another. ROM 3:9 What
then? are we better than they? No, in
no wise: for we have before proved both Jews
and Gentiles, that they are all
under sin. 19 Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to
them who are under the law: that every mouth
may be stopped, and all the world
may become guilty before God.
[15]
EPH 2:3 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.
[16]
GAL 3:10 For as many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse: for it
is written, Cursed is every one that
continueth not in all things which are
written in the book of the law to do them.
[17]
ROM 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but
the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
[18]
EPH 4:18 Having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of
God through the ignorance that is in them,
because of the blindness of their
heart.
[19]
ROM 8:20 For the creature was made subject
to vanity, not willingly, but by
reason of him who hath subjected the same in
hope. LAM 3:39 Wherefore doth a
living man complain, a man for the
punishment of his sins?
[20]
MAT 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them
on the left hand, Depart from me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for
the devil and his angels. 2TH 1:9
Who shall be punished with everlasting
destruction from the presence of the
Lord, and from the glory of his power.
In closing:
The
Wrath of God is transferred to Jesus on the
cross. Christ’s sacrifice is called
a propitiation or expiation, which is the
act of appeasing God.
“Whom
God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins
that are past, through the forbearance
of God. (Romans 3:25)
“Therefore
he had to be made like his brothers in every
respect, so that he might become a
merciful and faithful high priest in the
service of God, to make propitiation
for the sins of the people.” (Hebrews
2:17ESV)
“And
he is the propitiation for our sins: and not
for ours only, but also for the
sins of the whole world.” (1John 2:2)
Quote:
“Wrath
is the holy revulsion of God’s being against
that which is the contradiction of
his holiness.” - John Murray
Notes:
1.Charles
John Ellicott, Bible
Commentary for
English Readers, John, Vol.1, (London,
England, Cassell and Company), p.
406.
2.John
Gill, Exposition
of the Old and New
Testaments, Romans, 9 Volumes, (Grace
Works, Multi-Media Labs), 2011, p.
19.
3.H.
D. M. Spence and Joseph S. Exell, The
Pulpit Commentary, Ephesians, Vol. 20,
(Grand Rapids, Michigan, Eerdmans
Publishing Company reprint 1978), p.
208-209.
4.W.
E. Vine, An
Expository Dictionary of New
Testament Words, (Iowa Falls, Iowa,
Riverside Book and Bible House), p.
1251.
5.Orr,
James, M.A., D.D. General Editor, International
Standard
Bible Encyclopedia, (Grand Rapids,
Michigan, Eerdmans, reprinted
1986), p. 3113.
“To God, only wise,
be glory through Jesus Christ forever.
Amen.” (Romans 16:27) and “heirs
according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:28,
29)
Mr. Kettler has
previously published articles in the Chalcedon
Report and Contra
Mundum. He and his wife Marea attend
the Westminster, CO, RPCNA Church. Mr.
Kettler is the author of the book defending
the Reformed Faith against attacks,
titled: The Religion That Started in
a Hat. Available at:
www.TheReligionThatStartedInAHat.com