The following are sermon notes from Romans Soli Deo Gloria. This is a study of the book of Romans. To read more about this series, including the introduction, download the study guide, resources and listen to audio content click here.
A wrathful God is archaic and dimwitted. So the culture states. If there is one truth about God that many Christians cowardly shy away from it is the fact that He is wrathful. God is loving, yes. He is also wrathful. Yet, so often this truth is overlooked because of it’s counter-cultural and controversial message. What we’re left with is a weak, impotent, love-dovey God who cannot accomplish what the cross of Christ claims. We’re left with a moralistic example and no Savior. You cannot have the Savior without wrath.
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodlines and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth” (Romans 1:18 ESV).
Definition of Wrath
It’s important that we define wrath. Is it simply emotion? Is it more than that?
Wrath is the permanent attitude of God when confronted with sin and evil. It is in-part motivated or derived from God’s perfect Holiness and His love.
Many times people will read the Old Testament and think that the God of the New Testament is much more enlightened and matured. As if the OT is like the Junior High years for God. Yet the truth is God’s wrath is permanent. The wrath that is spoken of in the OT is present in the NT. There is no greater picture of this wrath than in the death of Christ.
Additionally, wrath is responsive. There would be no wrath if we were all perfect and holy. This is decidedly not true, therefore God is wrathful.
Furthermore, wrath is in-part derived from God’s holiness and Love.
1) The Holiness of God:
God is perfectly holy. To be holy is to be set apart from impurity, imperfection and sin. This is a communicable attribute of God, meaning that humans can possess holiness once saved by Jesus. However this holiness is a mere shadow of the holiness God possesses (as is true of every communicable attribute of God). Furthermore, our holiness is gifted to us by Christ when we’ve been saved and our sin has been expiated (that is, taken away) and is not earned on our own. We are made pure by Christ’s action and none of our own. However, there is also the continual holiness that we can pursue by learning to repent of sin and working to mortify it in our flesh and sin no more. We will never reach a state of perfection, without sin, while on this earth, but we are able to intentionally stop sinning in different areas of our life with the help of the Holy Spirit thereby becoming more holy.
God has never sinned and will never sin. He is the perfect example of holiness and is the very definition of what it means to be holy. Additionally, God is the opposite of sin itself. Everything in His nature opposes sin as it is His enemy. Note: it is important to understand that sin is not limited bad behaviors that we do, or good behaviors that we fail to do. It is also the position, nature and posture of anyone who does not worship Jesus as Lord who Scripture specifically states is an enemy of God. Therefore, wrath is the logical, just and perfect emotive reaction for God to have towards sin and sinners.
2) The Love of God
The love of God and the holiness of God are certainly connected attributes, yet they are very different as well. Holiness is primarily concerned with God’s relation to sin while His love is concerned with God’s relation to other beings. Like the Holiness of God, the Love of God is a communicable attribute.
As with holiness, the love that we possess is a distorted and imperfect picture of the love that God possesses. Yet, we are able to love others, love God and experience being loved by other people. This is shared with God who is able to express and receive love. All love, therefore, must be defined by God’s love since, it all comes from Him and His love is so much more than our love. Furthermore, love is not merely emotion; it is also action and behavior.
As far as God’s wrath is concerned it is dually motivated by His holiness and His love. If God did not truly love us, why would he have any kind of emotional response when we aligned ourselves with his enemy? Take a husband and wife for example. If a husband found his wife cheating on him with another man what would his response be? If he loved his wife, he would certainly be angered to the point of wrath, and this wrath would be directed toward both participating parties. It would be the man that had no love for his wife who would have no anger or wrath at all. So the wrath is derived from God’s love. Had He no love for us, He would have no wrath for us.
Hate the Sin, but love Sinner?
No. This reasoning (often quoted as Biblical text, which is untrue) is extremely flawed. Apart from this never appearing in Scripture and numerous texts which contradict this statement, one of the biggest flaws is the fact that the gospel isn’t just about behavior.
If all God was concerned about was our behavior the gospel would be “behave better and then you’re saved”. This is NOT the gospel. The Biblical gospel is one of heart, mind and soul transformation. God doesn’t care about your behaviors, He cares about your heart:
“Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person” (Matthew 15:17-20).
Christianity isn’t about behavior modification. It’s about transformation. Enemies of God becoming children of God.
Does God Hate?
Here is the controversy: yes. Before you argue read:
- “The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man: (Psalm 5:5-6).
- “The Lord tests the righteous but His soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence” (Psalm 11:5).
- “All their evil is at Gilgal; indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more. All their princes are rebels” (Hosea 9:15).
- “There are six things which the Lord hates, yes seven which are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers” (Proverbs 6:16-19).
The Scriptures are exceedingly clear: God hates evil. Not just behaviors, but the very people who commit those behaviors. Sin is so disgusting to God that He hates it!
The Gospel means good news. What is the good news? That the wrath that you totally deserve because of God’s hate of evil is diverted from you to Jesus Christ who became the object of God’s wrath so that you could be saved. Jesus saved you from the wrath, hate and anger of God! This is the good news! This is the Gospel! You can’t have good news without bad news.
What is perhaps the most perplexing part of this truth is the fact and paradox that within God resides both hate/wrath and love. The God who hates is the God of love!
What do we do with this?
- Recognize how terrible your sin truly is. It’s not funny, it’s not a joke, it’s a declaration of war against the God of the universe! Habitual sin laughs in the face of the God who sent His son to the cross to be punished for your sin. To continue to sin without regard for God’s holiness is like giving the God of the Bible the proverbial “finger”. Here’s what you do: repent of your sin, hate it like God hates it. Declare war against your sin rather than against God! Trust that Jesus is your Savior from the wrath of God.
- Be broken over those that need the gospel. The good news is better than you think, and the bad news is much worse than you think. You should feel the urgency of this truth and it should drive you to make disciples of as many people as possible. It should cause you to grieve over those who are not saved from a very real impending doom.
- You should have no pride in your behaviors because you weren’t saved by your good behavior. You were saved by the Love of God in Jesus Christ who became the perfect act of Love and the ultimate object of wrath on the cross where He died in your place for your sins. The only difference between the sinner and the follower is the fact that Christ has given the follower the new heart!
For more information about this series click here.
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