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God’s Wrath Revealed, Part 1
Dr. Ritch Boerckel
July 5, 2015
Scriptural Text: Romans 1:18-23, ESV
God's Wrath on Unrighteousness
18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by
their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God
has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been
clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without
excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became
futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
23
and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and
creeping things.
The subject of God’s wrath is like an old set of encyclopedias. They once had value. One does not want to throw them
away completely. Yet, one does not want them in the den anymore. So, the subject of God’s wrath is treated like this
old set of encyclopedia’s which are simply stored in the attic. They are not likely to be opened again until one moves
or until one dies.
Modern Christians often appeared to not only avoid this doctrine but be rather embarrasses by it. This prompts the
question: Has the Doctrine of God’s Wrath become outdated and irrelevant? Should we, in our modern times, box up
the Doctrine of God’s Wrath and put it in the attic of our thoughts, of our teaching, and of our conversations as
Christians? After all, the Doctrine of God’s Wrath is so repugnant to moderns so as to make it a subject of ridicule in
the eyes of sophisticated contemporaries, “How do we believe we will reach the millennials who are leaving the
church in droves if we do not stop blathering on about the wrath of God?”
If the church exists to help the unchurched become churched then speaking much of God’s wrath seems to be a
loosing strategy. The moment we tell a friend, a relative, or a co-worker that God is angry about some particular in
their life, we can expect to be called names of every stripe: bigot, judgmental, hater and worse. I acknowledge if we
talk much about God’s wrath we will surely find ourselves turning people away from the church. People do not want
to hear that.
The problem is believing, however, that the church exists to help the unchurched become churched. But, that is not
why the church exists. The church exists, first, to glorify God. It exists for worship. We worship God by proclaiming
the Gospel so sinners can become saints, so those who are outside of God’s family can be drawn inside of God’s
family. A person who is not ultimately transformed from the inside out by the Gospel is not any better off for going to
church than they were before they did not go to church, if indeed they have not believed the Gospel God has given to
us.
This offense over the Doctrine of God’s Wrath is strong, but it is not a modern invention. Sinful man has never been
warm to this truth. The church, in desiring to reach people for God, which is a good motive, often neglects the
teaching about the wrath of God. This is ironic because we are attempting to reach people for God by hiding things
about God. Theologian J.I. Packer writes, “The modern habit throughout the Christian church is to play this subject
down. Those who still believe in the wrath of God (not all do) say little about it; perhaps they do not think much
about it. To an age which has unashamedly sold itself to the gods of greed, pride, sex and self-will, the Church
mumbles on about God’s kindness, but says virtually nothing about His judgment . . . 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.”1
1
Knowing God.
J.I Packer wrote that statement over forty years ago. This reluctance to teach about the wrath of God has been
multiplied exponentially over these last four decades. I wonder, when was the last time any of us has had a good
conversation about the wrath of God around the dinner table, or better yet in the neighborhood?
Our text for this study gives us a good discussion about the wrath of God. It is a necessary subject if we are to believe
the Gospel for it is a part of the Gospel. There are three main ideas within the text about God’s wrath we will
consider.
Idea Number 1: The fact of God’s wrath. Is it true God is angry?
18a
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…
As we follow the logic of this passage, Paul begins the theme of his letter in Verse 16, when he talks about the Gospel
being the power of God unto salvation. Then we follow what the Gospel is in Verse 17, where the Apostle Paul talks
about how, in the Gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. Then, he completes that thought by saying why we
need the power of God for salvation. It is because we need the righteousness of God for salvation. Why do we need
the righteousness of God for salvation? It is because the wrath of God is revealed against all unrighteousness and
ungodliness of men.
We will begin with a definition of God’s wrath. God’s wrath is God’s just and loving response to overcome and to put
an end to evil. God will not evil to abide forever and ever and are we not, as Christians, thankful for that? By way of
God’s sovereign power and righteousness, God will judge all wickedness and all ungodliness completely and put and
end to it. If we miss the fact that God is a God of wrath, it is not going to be for a lack of God telling us about it.
Over and over, as we open our Bibles and begin to read, Scripture describes the fury and anger of the Living God.
From the beginning and all the way to the end, the wrath of God is revealed in God’s response to sin and rebellion.
God’s wrath meets us over and over on almost every page of sacred Scripture.
God first communicates His wrath to us by the way of stories. In Genesis 3, when sin enters the world, God
communicates His angry curse upon Satan, upon Adam, and upon Eve in the wake of Adam’s and Eve’s sin. In
Genesis 4, God curses Cain for the murder of Cain’s brother, Abel. In Genesis 5, obituaries appear. Over and over,
Scripture says, “and he died,” “and he died,” and he died, “and he died.” It is rather a boring chapter, so why is it
included in God’s sacred record, especially so early? It is because God does not want us to miss the fact that when
man sins, he invites death and death happens. God judges man with death as a result of sin, so every person who is
born dies. Then in Genesis 6, God speaks to Noah. God looks over the face of the earth and He sees wickedness
filling the earth,
And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence
through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”
13
That is God. How can we miss this revelation from God about God regarding His fury? Think of that! This is a flood
that is not just local, but it is worldwide and it destroys every living creature save those who are in the ark, every man
and every woman and, yes, every child. God’s wrath is His just and loving response to overcome and put an end to
evil. He will not allow evil to endure and flourish.
This emphasis upon God’s wrath is not merely an Old Testament construct, but it flows through the New Testament
as well. It climaxes for us in the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation. Let me take us on a brief journey
through Scripture to Revelation and offer a very few of the statements God makes about Himself,
Psalm 7:11
Nahum 1:2
God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.
The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes
vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.
Ezekiel 5:13
Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they
shall know that I am the LORD—that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them.
Colossians 3:5-6
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and
covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
Revelation 19:15
From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them
with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty.
God feels indignation every day. Think of that! And, God is a jealous God and He is deeply concerned that His glory
will be made known throughout all the earth. What did Jesus say about God’s wrath? Jesus is very explicit in warning
us regarding the wrath of God as it will be poured out on that final Day of Judgment,
Mark 9:47
And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one
eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Hell…
God is angry about sin and we do not want to experience God’s righteous response against the evil in our life. It is
better to loose and eye than to suffer underneath God’s righteous anger for the sin we invite into our life. But, we
thought Jesus taught us about God’s love. He does, but Jesus teaches us about God’s love in view of God’s wrath,
John 3:16, 36
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not
perish but have eternal life . . . 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.
Perishing is a reference to God’s wrath. But, there is still a strong protest that rises up within us, “God’s wrath seems
to make God a cruel God.” No, God’s wrath is what makes Him loving and His wrath is His loving action to
opposition to soul-destroying sin. God would not be love if we were ambivalent to the very enemy who would rob
himself of His glory and separate His people from His life. God’s love in wrath are not contradictory perfections.
They are conjoined twins and they are drawn together.
It is a false notion for us to say, “I love the God of the New Testament, but not the God of the Old Testament.” God is
just as angry in the New Testament as He is in the Old Testament and perhaps even more so as we read the Book of
Revelation. God’s love does not move Him from anger, but it moves Him toward anger.
What are some applications about the fact of God’s anger? First, we need to discover who God is through Scripture
and not through our own imaginations. In pride, we believe we can imagine a better God than the God who reveals
Himself in the Bible. But, if we fashion for our self a god who is not filled with wrath over sin, then we are
worshipping an idol. If we are not worshipping the God of the Old Testament, that is fine, but then we are not
worshipping the God who is, who is living, and who is true. We are worshipping some other false god and some other
idol. We are not worshipping the God who created us.
Our flesh may resist the God of Scripture. Our flesh may defy the God of Scripture, but we cannot change the God of
Scripture just because He does not fit what our imagination, in our weakness, in our willfulness, and in our sinfulness.
God is who God is and He reveals Himself to be a God who is angry with our sin. Ours is either to reject Him as God
or to worship Him. He is who He is and He does not change.
I urge each of us, by way of application, to take time to meditate upon God’s righteousness and wrath. We do not take
enough time to think about these perfections of God. Such a subject is worthy of our reflection and worship. It is
valuable and profitable to our soul. I believe God will that to help grow us in holiness. I encourage each one of us to
ask God to teach us more about Himself and all of His perfections and attributes, but specifically these in which we
have a hard time embracing.
Satan loves to distort God’s glory. He hates that God would receive glory so he bends our understanding of God away
from truth. He corrupts our soul, either, by tempting us to focus on God’s wrath in such a way that we do not see His
grace. There are people who that, also, and that is just as much idolatry, to focus on a God who is all wrathful and not
One who is tender, compassionate, full of mercy, loving, and kind. Also, Satan will bend others away from God’s
wrath. In both of these approaches, these two people are completely opposite in the false god they worship. Satan does
not really care which one he can tempt us toward just as long as we do not worship and acknowledge the God who is.
Second, we need to flee from God’s wrath,
1 Thessalonians 5:9, 10a
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us . . .
He did not create us for wrath. The death of Jesus is mentioned in 1 Thessalonians because it is on the cross that the
wrath of God was satisfied and completely exhausted. Jesus suffered underneath the Father’s wrath so that we would
never have to. God constantly directs us toward His mercy by saying, “Here is the way out. Here is the fire in the
burning building, but here is the way out. It is an escaper. Move! Run! Flee!” God’s wrath is satisfied in Jesus and not
one of us need never to face an angry God. If we flee to Jesus for refuge we will find safety.
If any one of us should find our self experiencing the wrath of God on that final Day of Judgment, it is because we
have chosen that for our self. It is because we have rejected the means and the Way of escape God has lovingly
provided at great cost to Himself, the suffering of His own Son. Who ever believes in Him is not condemned, but
whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. This
is the judgment. Light has come into the world and people love darkness rather than light because their deeds are
evil.2
The third application is to fear God. In other words, we are to hold Him in awe. This is not a slavish kind of fear, but
it is an awe-filled fear, a worshipping fear,
Ecclesiastes 12:13
The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the
whole duty of man.
Too often we treat God as though He is a buddy who chuckles over our sins and our misdeeds. Many think of God as
a drinking friend who listens quietly to the stories we tell of our unruly adventures. Then we say, “I apologize. I am
sorry. Please forgive me,” He pats us on the back and off we go. This is a wrong picture of God. God abhors and
opposes our sin. A better picture is shown in Hebrews 12,
28-29
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God
acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.
Our God is worthy of awe, that worshipping kind of fear.
Idea Number 2: The perfection of God’s wrath,
18a
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men…
It is called “The Wrath of God”. God is not embarrassed by His wrath. He is not trying to hide it. He puts it right out
in front of us as one of the attributes that makes Him God and makes Him perfect. Jesus, in Matthew 5, tells us,
48
You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
This means, God, whomever His is, is without flaw and wholly beautiful in every aspect of His being. Every quality
that is true of God is a beautiful perfection. If we do not perceive a specific attribute or characteristic of God as being
perfect, our appraisal of that attribute does not make it a deficiency in God. Rather, the deficiency is in us, the
appraiser. God’s wrath is an aspect of who God is and that is what God reveals about himself and as such it is one of
His perfections.
If God’s wrath is a perfection, and not a flaw, why do we find our self disliking the truth of God’s wrath so much?
2
John 3:19
There are two answers. First, we misunderstand God’s wrath. We often misunderstand God’s wrath because we
equate it with man’s wrath and the two are wholly unalike. The kind of anger God possesses is not the kind of anger
man most often expresses. Man’s anger is not a perfection; it is a flaw. We do not bind our anger with other
perfections such as love, righteousness, patience, and mercy. When the Bible speaks of the anger of God, it
communicates this anger in terms of a beautiful and glorious perfection. It is anger that is slow. It is an anger bound
by compassion and mercy and truth and what is right.
However, when God Himself speaks about the anger of man, He communicates that kind of anger in terms of sinful
rebellion and sinful imperfections. James sums up the anger of man most succinctly when he says,
1:20
for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
It does not come from it and does not bear fruit toward it. Think of the number of times we have experienced the
wrath of man. How many times have we experienced another person’s wrath as being holy or right: the mom who
raises her voice to her children; the dad who raises his voice to his wife; the boss who berates an employee; the coach
who curses the referee; the golfer who curses himself? Man’s anger is almost always the kind that is unjust and wrong
and sinful. Man’s anger is expressed in its explosiveness, its touchiness, its thoughtlessness, its maliciousness, its
unpredictability, its meanness, its impatience, its irrationalness, its destructiveness, its pettiness, and its selfishness.
But, God’s anger is none of those things. God’s wrath is always slow, always rational, always patient, always
predictable, always righteous, always settled, always determined, always pure, always thoughtful, always wise, and
always eternal. It does not flow on and flow off.
We would be mistaken to dismiss God’s anger as unrighteous simply because man’s anger is unrighteous. God’s and
man are so very, very different in our nature and in our habits. God Himself teaches us this truth in Numbers,
23:19
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
It is important to capture that God’s anger and man’s anger are very different things as we think about God’s anger so
that we can communicate this difference to our self as well as to others. Man’s anger is an embarrassing flaw. God’s
anger is a beautiful perfection. God’s anger is always wrapped up by these other attributes that drive it toward a
loving purpose. That is why Lamentations is so wonderful to say,
3:22
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every
morning; great is your faithfulness.
Why is God’s wrath a perfection? First, we believe it is not a perfection because we often misunderstand what God’s
anger is.
Secondly, and I believe this perhaps more prominent, we believe of God’s anger as an imperfection because we
simply love our own sin. God’s anger, by definition, is a hatred and an abhorrence of our sin. We do not like that God
hates the things we love. We do not want Him to oppose our sin, so when He does we believe somehow He is unfair
and something is not right. We long for Him to simply be okay with it. So, we fashion a god who is okay with our
own sin.
God’s wrath, though, is one of His qualities that actually makes Him good. If God were not angry, that would mean
that He would be neutral in the face of evil and He would not oppose it. He would let evil run its course forever how
long and however deep evil would take us. God cannot infinitely love what is good and healthy for His people and at
the same time not infinitely hate what is evil and destructive to His people. So, we understand this truth on a very
limited way on a human level and we understand why it is necessary in order to be good we must hate evil.
Imagine being assaulted on the street by a robber. The robber is pounding you bloody with the butt of his gun. A
police officer walks by and you cry out to him, “Help! Help! This guy is killing me here.” The police officer is a
really nice guy. He is not a guy who is given to anger, to strong opposition to evil; he is a friendly local police officer.
He looks at the guy, this assailant, and the robber stops for just a moment and looks at him. The police officer smiles
at him and tips his hat at him. The robber tips his gun at the police officer, “Good afternoon, sir.” The police officer
responds, “Good afternoon to you, also,” and then he walks right on by. Do you say such a police officer is “good”?
No, of course not! That is the antithesis of a good police officer and that police officer is evil and he is doing such
wrong. Why is that? It is in order to be good, a police officer must hate what is evil and oppose it and do everything
within his power to act in justice to stop it.
I understand we do not see our sins as egregious as the robber, but that is the point, is it not? Our heart deceives us
about the nature of our own sin. We do not see the harm in our sin so we believe, “Why would God act to stop it?
Why would God be angry over that?” But, God does see the harm in our sin. He does see its infinite wickedness. A
denial of God’s wrath is usually accompanied by the acceptance and celebration of some specific sin. Let us be
careful to not only place the sins of others in this category as deserving of God’s wrath. We are all prone to dismiss
God’s wrath in various ways.
The Christian’s first response, for instance, to the celebration of homosexual practice in our culture really needs to be
a humble consideration of God’s anger against the sins we have befriended. We are right to consider what God’s
response is towards our gossip. What is God’s response toward our unrighteous anger. What is God’s response to our
lust, our covetousness, or our pride? If we are to communicate God’s wrath against sin effectively to others, we must
first communicate God’s wrath effectively to our own self and to our own sin.
The application for this is to hate sin! And we need to hate our own sin first. We often consider how much we hate the
sins of others, but we need to hate our own sin first. When was the last time any of us have become angry over our
own sin? I believe that is a necessary response for a growing Christian, to constantly be angry over their own sin and
to be angry, first and foremost and most furiously, over the sins corrupting one’s own soul and acting in such a way to
keep from communicating who God is through that life to the family, the children, friends, and world. We need to
hate our own sin.
Idea Number 3: The object of God’s wrath,
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For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by
their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
Note the words, “ungodliness and unrighteousness of men”. God is referring to humankind. God is not angry about
the misdeeds of the animal kingdom. He made us in His image and He made us as moral agents. When an alligator
murders a person in Florida, or a shark bites the arm off of a person in South Carolina, God is not angry at those
animals. Those are terrible events, but He is not angry about that. His anger and His wrath is reserved for the
unrighteousness and ungodliness of men. He has created us with a moral conscience. He has created us with a moral
responsibility and accountability to Him.
Now notice the words, “revealed from Heaven”. God is telling us He is not keeping His wrath secret. Revealed is in
the present tense indicating a constant, ongoing stream of the revelation of God’s wrath to us. How is that so? There
are a number of ideas regarding how God reveals His wrath to us. This text tells us He reveals it to us from Heaven
and this could be a reference to the Scriptures coming to us from Heaven. He certainly does that.
This could be a reference that God placed eternity in our hearts and a conscience within each of us and He reveals to
us He is not pleased. And, if we stop long enough and listen to the conscience God gave to each of us, then, indeed,
we would recognize God is angry with us for the way we are living our life.
I believe the dominant meaning of God’s wrath being revealed is that we need to look around us. Do we see society
tumbling down into darkness, corruption, violence, pain, and misery? If we say, “Yes, I see that,” the wrath of God is
being revealed. God tells us in His wrath He simply let people sin. Every time we look and see a country like the
United States that begins to celebrate sins, it is not a sign that God “will” judge, but it is a sign that God “has” judged
us.
How do I know that? It is because I look and I see the celebration of sexual sin of every kind all around us and even in
the church. I say that is God’s judgment and God has revealed His wrath to us by letting us tumble into spiritual
darkness, away from Him, and away from anything good and anything that is life. This is revealed from Heaven.
Third, we need to note the little word “all” unrighteousness and “all” ungodliness. God does not wink at the little
white lies we tell or at the small moral failures or the disobedient mistakes. God is infinitely angry with all the
unrighteousness and ungodliness of man.
Most people agree God is right to be angry over some sins. I have not talked with many people who believe it would
be wrong for God to be angry over certain kinds of sins such as rape, murder, oppression of the poor, and child abuse.
Most do not have a problem thinking God would be angered by those because we are, but God is angry against all
unrighteousness and all ungodliness.
What specific sins anger God? Romans 1:18 tells us: all of them! He will judge every sin. If any one sin remains
attached to us on the day we stand before God, we are in tremendous trouble. Later in Romans, Paul will write,
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.
When sins stick to us we stand in them on the Day of Judgment. When God unleashes His wrath and His fury upon
sin He will unleash His wrath and His fury upon us because sin is still connected to us. This is why it is so important
for us to be forgiven and be separated from our own sin.
This is a sobering truth is it not? Today people who have died without believing in Jesus as their Savior, have died
without God’s salvation and they have entered into His righteous judgment. Today they are experiencing the full
weight of the wrath of God and it is terrifying. If that does not break our heart as a believer I do not know what does.
This is why it is so important for us to think about these things. People today, who perhaps we have loved, and I know
there are some of my people, who are experiencing the full weight of the wrath of God and they did not have to. They
could have run and found safety, but they did not. Hebrews 10 tells us,
31
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
There are three applications. First, if you have not received God’s salvation, repent of your sin and believe in Jesus as
your Savior and Lord. This is the only hope and the only means by which we can be saved and rescued.
Second, Christian, confess your sins daily to the Lord. Do not let sin take root. God is not less angry with our sin
simply because we will not be eternally condemned for it. God hates the sin of each of us, you and me, and He
disciplines His children so that we might live in obedience.
Third, proclaim the Gospel in all its fullness. Do not be ashamed. The only hope for salvation from God’s wrath is the
Gospel so let us communicate to our unsaved friends and family the fullness of the Gospel. Let us proclaim this
Gospel with tears and humility, but let us proclaim the Gospel in all its fullness.
Will others appreciate this when we do this? No, they will not. Are there times to wise as to when to share? Yes, there
are and we do not abuse people in the midst of our proclamation, but we actively seek God to open doors and then we
are bold to enter them. Love compels us the moment we see an opening God provides. Our friends need us to tell
them what the Gospel is.
If we must share the Gospel, because the Gospel is the power of God for salvation, what is the Gospel? The Gospel
engages people with the truth about God’s righteousness and the truth about God’s wrath. We know this from the
letter to the Romans. Romans is the fullest explanation of the Gospel in all the world. When Paul begins this theme,
he says,
1:16
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation…
Paul does not immediately begin talking about God’s love. He could have, but he does not. Instead, he immediately
begins talking about God’s righteousness and on the heels of talking about God’s righteousness, he next chooses to
declare and share about the wrath of God. Beloved, we do not share the Gospel of Jesus if we do not share God’s
righteousness and God’s wrath against every form of unrighteousness.
If a person hears us share truths about the Gospel, about His love, about His offer of forgiveness, but not truths about
His righteousness and His wrath then that person has never heard the Gospel. If they believe in that gospel that was
shared with them and they become baptized and begin going to church, guess what, nothing has happened because it
is in the Gospel we find the power of God unto salvation.
In Acts 24, the Apostle Paul is in front of a pagan ruler by the name of Felix. Listen to what was said by Paul as to
what the Gospel was to Paul,
24
After some days Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul and heard him
speak about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 And as he reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming
judgment, Felix was alarmed and said, “Go away for the present. When I get an opportunity I will summon
you.”
Felix was a Roman ruler and Romans were known for their sexual immorality, their greed, and their pride. Many
church leaders today encourage us not to share the whole Gospel. The message is given, “God loves you. We will not
tell you how to live your life. All you need to do is accept His love for you and you will be all right.” The Gospel
requires that we talk about sin in specific terms and not in general terms.
If we were to have an hour to talk with Dillon Roof, the young man who murdered nine people in the Emmanuel
African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, and Dillon told us he still does not believe he did
anything wrong when he opened fire on those nine and he murdered them. Would we believe it to be appropriate to
talk with Dillon about God’s revelation and what God thinks about racial hatred and murder and how those two are
grievous sins against God and He will act as Dillon’s righteous Judge when he meets Him? And you tell Dillon he
will die without God if he does not repent of sin, particularly those sins of murder, and receive God’s forgiveness.
Would we believe that to be appropriate? Most people would say, “Of course!” That may enrage Dillon and it may
cause him to clam up and not talk anymore, but it is the truth he would need to hear if he is to receive salvation.
Would we believe we would be amiss if we said, “I know, Dillon, you still hate blacks. I know you still have
murderous rage in your heart, but listen, Dillon, all you need to do is accept that Jesus loves you and pray this prayer
with me and say, ‘I accept that you have love for me,’ and you are good.”? Would we say, “That does not sound
right!”? Absolutely that does not sound right because it is not right. If we move that same story over to the category of
socially accepted sin and we say, “I do not know if I want to talk about that sin to that person because they might hate
me for it,” I am telling you, if we just share with them that God loves them and He does not care how any person
lives, that all they need to do is accept Jesus and everything will be fine, we are proclaiming a gospel that is not the
Gospel and we are proclaiming a message that has no power to bring salvation.
What is the Gospel? It is about that God is righteous and holy and just and He is angry at our sin that would rob Him
of His glory and a sin that would destroy our soul.
In our next study we will discuss the reasons man deserves God’s wrath and that we are without excuse. But, I want to
close with this statement from J.I. Packer. This first statement, I believe, is why some who just simply refuse to talk
about the wrath of God react to the way it sometimes, and often times, is taught. I do not want to defend that way at
all. It ought to be taught with tears. “No doubt it is true that the subject of divine wrath has in the past been handled
speculatively, irreverently, even malevolently. No doubt there have been some who have preached on wrath and
damnation with tearless eyes and no pain in their hearts. No doubt the sight of small sects cheerfully consigning the
whole word, apart from themselves, to hell has disgusted many. Yet if we would know God, it is vital that we face the
truth concerning his wrath, however unfashionable it may be, and however strong our initial prejudices against it.
Otherwise we shall not understand the gospel of salvation from wrath, nor the propitiatory achievement of the cross,
nor the wonder of the redeeming love of God, . . .”3
3
Ibid, page 142.