First, I'm not trying to bash anyone. I think that biblical truths have been ignored. It is simply my goal to respond to the original post by gene which was all fueled by his church's billboard which states that God is not mad at you. If you check out his blog, he only uses verses about the love of God. This is a characteristic of God, but not the only characteristic of God, as we will see later.
Secondly, I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings, but I do wish to bust your bubble. There is a growing number of folks who have abandoned the bible in place of their philosophical Jesus who acts like a hippy. This Jesus could never grow angry, nor rebuke poor sinners (oops, I mentioned sin!! sorry) Lets embrace the ENTIRE doctrine of our Lord. The Bible speaks more of God's wrath than it does His love. Yet more than any, it speaks of His Holiness. His nature is good, perfection, righteousness. Sin is against all of these things. So He rightly hates these things and his anger burns against it.
Here we go.
Is God Angry? Can God be Angry? Is He Angry at me???
Certain pastors don't seem to think that God can be angry. We'll simply start with verses deeling with this very issue.
Deut 1:37 Because of you the LORD became angry with me also and said, "You shall not enter it, either.
Deut 3:26 26"But (A)the LORD was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; and the LORD said to me, 'Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter.
Deut 4:21 21"(A)Now the LORD was angry with me on your account, and swore that I would not cross the Jordan, and that I would not enter the good land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Deut 9:8 8"Even (A)at Horeb you provoked the LORD to wrath, and the LORD was so angry with you that He would have destroyed you.
Deut 9:20 20"The LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him; so I also prayed for Aaron at the same time.
2 Sam. 22:8 8"Then (A)the earth shook and quaked, The foundations of heaven were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.
1 kings 11:9 9Now (A)the LORD was angry with Solomon (B)because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, (C)who had appeared to him twice
2 Ch. 25:15 15Then the anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, "Why have you sought the gods of the people (A)who have not delivered their own people from your hand?"
This one is Epic......
2 Ch. 6:36 36"When they sin against You ((A)for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to a land far off or near,
2 Ch. 28:9 9But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded; and (A)he went out to meet the army which came to Samaria and said to them, "Behold, because the LORD, the God of your fathers, (B)was angry with Judah, He has delivered them into your hand, and you have slain them in a rage (C)which has even reached heaven.
Is God angry with those who sin?
Ezra 9:14 14(A)shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples who commit these abominations? (B)Would You not be angry with us to the point of destruction, until there is no remnant nor any who escape?
Psa 2:12 12Do homage to (A)the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For (B)His wrath may [a]soon be kindled How blessed are all who (C)take refuge in Him!
EPIC
Psa 60:1 1O God, (A)You have rejected us You have (B)broken us; You have been (C)angry; O, (D)restore us.
Psa 79:5 5(A)How long, O LORD? Will You be angry forever? Will Your (B)jealousy (C)burn like fire?
Psa 80:4 4O (A)LORD God of hosts, How long will You be angry with the prayer of Your people?
Zec 1:2 "The LORD was very (A)angry with your fathers.
Micah 5:15 (New International Version)
15 I will take vengeance in anger and wrath upon the nations that have not obeyed me.
and the list goes on and on and on. But this is just so you get the picture. God gets angry concerning sin.
But now you'll utter the phrase which none aught utter......God hates the sin, not the sinner???? That would be a wonderful saying if it weren't for the Bible. You can't and won't find it in the words of scripture. No great theologian came up with it. It was Ghandi. But what you will find is this.......
Psalm 5:5 God HATES all who do EVIL (ouch, you won't find this verse on a throw pillow at your granny's house)
Remember the story of Jesus and the disciples in Matt. 15? The Pharisees got mad because the disciples didn't wash their hands (as went the traditions). But Jesus steps in with something interesting.....
The Heart of Man 15Peter said to Him, "(L)Explain the parable to us."
16Jesus said, "Are you still lacking in understanding also?
17"Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated?
18"But (M)the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.
19"(N)For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.
20"These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."
Sin isn't just something we do, it's who we are. It comes out of our heart. Our hearts are the home of the worst evils. And now some of you are saying. No No No. I'm a good person. My heart is pure......
Jer. 17:9 9"The (A)heart is more (B)deceitful than all else And is desperately (C)sick; Who can understand it?
Since we are all sinners, by word, thought, and deed. Since sin isn't just something we do, it's who we are. Then God, who is Holy and Righeous is justified in condemning us all to Hell.
We also see that God pours out His wrath on false prophets, wolves, those who distort the truth, those who misguide the weak.....
Ephesians 5:6 (New International Version) Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God's wrath comes on those who are disobedient.
A common deception throughout church history has been the notion that professing Christians can lead unrepentant, sinful lives after conversion to Christ (see 2 Tim. 3:1-9, 2 Peter 2: 1-3, Rev. 2:14, 20) and not suffer the consequences. But these practices lead to the wrath of God in judgement (e.g. Rev 2:21- 23)
Some paint Jesus as a hippy star child with all the wonderful attributes of a fairy. They refuse to believe that this Jesus was ever upset/sad/angry/mad, etc...... They can only see him as the guy who goes to live under a bridge with homeless people. Or the hip pastor who ALWAYS sits on a stool behind a cafe table as he gives life talks to his congregation while sipping on his coffee. This Jesus probably listened to "Backstreet Boys'' while feathering his hair. I personally cannot worship a man-made Jesus such as that..........But I can worship the Biblical Jesus. The one who flipped tables when they turned his Father's house into a den of theives. Or check out the Revelations style Jesus. Now that is a guy I can worship.
Rev. 19
The Rider on the White Horse
11I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter."[a] He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Revelation 14:19 (New International Version)
19The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath.
Some examples of sins that really make God angry.....
Colossians 3:5-6 (New International Version)
5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.[a]
The Bible constantly speaks of God's love. The Bible speaks more of God's wrath. The Bible speaks even more of His Holiness. 1 Sam 2:2 “There is none holy like the Lord; there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God.
Isa. 47:4 Our Redeemer—the Lord of hosts is his name—is the Holy One of Israel.
1 Pet. 1:16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.
Mark 1:24 Even the demons declare that Jesus is holy What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”
Luke 1:49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.
Isa 6: 3-6 And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;the whole earth is full of his glory!” [2]
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”
Rev 4:8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,who was and is and is to come!”
Somehow, these things work together. There is definetly an aspect of God's love for humanity, but we must not ignore the hard passages with the hard truths. We must ask, "If God hates sin, and sin isn't only something I do, it's who I am, then how can I make it to heaven? How can I be pure? A child of God? How can this wrath that is rightly due to me, be removed?"
Simple...................
On the cross, It was Jesus who bore our sins. 2 Cor. 5:21 puts it so elogantly....
2 Corinthians 5:21 (New International Version)
21God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Perfect Jesus came to earth, willfully went to the cross, took all our sins, and was crushed.
Isa. 53 4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
He bore in his body your and my crimes. He didn't deserve it. But He was obedient to the will of the Father and it is Him alone that redeems us from the law of sin and death thereby removing the wrath that is rightfully ours. The Hate is gone. He was crushed. Look above at Isa. 53:5. It was His punishment that brought us peace. We are HEALED by his wounds. Read Isa 53. It speaks a lot about wrath. That God hates sin. The measure of how much He hates sin is the cross.
"The supremacy of Christ in truth and redemption is found in His exclusivity. There is no other means by which man can be justified. “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18, ESV). “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
How can what is wrong be made right? The Bible says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV). There came a day when God the Father crushed and killed His one and only Son in our stead in order to satisfy His wrath, “so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26, ESV).
The spotless, sinless Lamb of God is crushed, rejected, and killed to pay a debt that He did not owe on behalf of sinners who could never pay Him back.
Can you hear the rhetorical questions from Calvary? Was that enough for your sin? Was that enough for you to recognize the supremacy of Christ in truth as it relates to redemption? Nothing else could have been done that would have allowed God to be both just and justifier. But in the humiliation and exaltation of Jesus Christ we find the resolution to the question, “How can what is wrong be made right?”
Listen as the hymn writer proclaims: “There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains” (William Cowper’s “There Is a Fountain Filled with Blood,” 1772).
How can what is wrong be made right? The spotless, sinless, Lamb of God is crushed, rejected, and killed to pay a debt that He did not owe on behalf of sinners who could never pay Him back." Voddie Baucham Jr. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v4/n2/life-questions
Isa 53:10 10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes [c] his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand
The punishment that is rightfully ours is now forgiven in Christ.
Ephesians 1:7-8 (New International Version)
7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.
We are justified through the blood of Christ alone. And it is this very justification that removes the wrath of God from us.
Romans 5:9 (New International Version)
9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
Let us embrace the full truth of the Gospel!! Let us not be cowards or men of deception, only telling half-truths. Let us love the gospel. Let us carry the message of salvation to those who are perishing. To tell a non-believer that God is not angry concerning their sin is an absolute lie. A heresy. Un-biblical. Foolishness. Let all believers remember that Christ has absorbed the wrath of God that was rightly due to us all. When we deserve hell, He predestined us for life. I rejoice in the atoning sacrifice of our Lord. Expiation - While we were whores, Christ dresses us in white. The cross has made us white as snow!! 2 Cor 5:21 We have recieved the righteousness of Christ!! Not because of the great things we have done, but inspite of the horrible people we are!!! The real love of God is only understood correctly when viewed in light of his Holiness, our wickedness waging war against his holiness, His hatred of sin (and sinners ps 5:5), and the means in which He is rescuing the elect!!
Sorry that was so long. I had no idea I wrote so much until it was posted.
Fight for the heart of our King
Daniel
wdb0002@auburn.edu
334-759-0320
