I recently read a blog about the wrath of God as it concerns the gospel message which elicited the contender (Jude 3) in me because of a very predictable first response. A young man wrote... well, you can read it for yourself...
“Hi, ... I agree completely that the gospel includes the fact that God hates sin. It also includes the fact that He loves the world. Both are true and both are necessary. To concentrate on one aspect only is unbalanced and is an incomplete gospel. To overemphasize one side in response to the other side being overemphasized is just as wrong. The truth is always balanced.”
What he said is perfectly true, I agree with him. However, I do not agree that his statement was a necessary “correction”, if you will, for an article about the wrath of God. It is perfectly fine to look at God’s wrath and praise Him for it without having to "relieve" the audience by bringing up God’s love as if it were an antidote for a “flaw” of God.
Why, oh why, do people feel the need to dilute the power of the fear of God, (Joshua 4:24) which is any normal person’s reaction to the understanding of the wrath of God, and is the first portion of the Gospel itself, with their own personal dose of conscience-numbing relief, “The wrath of God! Oh! No! Quickly! Quickly! Turn the ‘channel’ to the love of God before you start to believe that God is wrathful!” When you try to mix dirt and water, you end up with mud--so too, if you try to dilute the wrath of God by measuring in a protective (maybe preventative?) dose of the love of God, you will end up with a muddied picture of Who He really is.
Do those who try to balance God’s wrath with God’s love also and always, upon hearing mention of God’s love, immediately speak up to make sure that truth is ‘balanced’ with the truth of God’s wrath? Do they believe wrath is somehow inappropriate for God? Do they believe the love of God fixes the ‘problem’ of God’s wrath? God is wrathful--full of wrath, and God is loving--full of love. He is both and both are wonderful attributes; neither is inferior nor superior to the other. Exodus 34:6-7 In fact, in 1 John 4, we are told God is love! But John is talking about the the blessed doctrine given to a believer, not the gospel message to an unbeliever!
In response to ‘the truth is always balanced’ post and probably in response to the hundreds of times I have heard this through the years, may I say that no where in the Bible does God qualify truth as being ‘balanced’. That is usually man’s device to achieve his own point of view, especially promulgated in the latter half of our last century (due in part to society’s new found love of syncretism which, in and of itself, requires a falling away from the truth). Truth is always and simply--whatever God says! Always! Always! Always! Whatever God says is Truth, as well, but take note of the significant difference in what I am saying. Let me say that again: Truth is always and simply--whatever God says!!!
Mankind does not like it that the wrath of God is the very first part of the gospel message (Romans 1:15 and on) because it offends his own ‘self-righteousness’ and interestingly, his own self-esteem. God is God and man is not! Man does not like to hear that unchangeable little fact, due to his ignorant low estimation of God and his arrogant high estimation of himself. God says that His wrath is coming against all ungodliness and unrighteousness - and that means each and every individual! Man cringes in offense when he is accused of any fault or guilt on his own part - after all, man is “MAN!”
If I am in the desert without any means of comfort, then surely water will be good news to me. However, if I am in a luxury hotel with all my needs met, then I will scarcely realize the gracious provision of an offer of water. Good news is only good news if the people receiving it realize they are in a bad situation. The good news of salvation will not be received in a heart that does not believe God’s wrath is meant for them. Take away the wrath of God and you no longer have any good news! It is easy to get lost people saved…but it is next to impossible to get ‘good people’ lost…
Man hates the true watchword of the church, which is “Repent!” That is why men have repeatedly tried to change that watchword to “Don’t judge!” However, despite their purposeful apostasy-driven efforts to erase the truth from the lips of God’s saints, “Repent!” will always remain as the true watchword of the true church.
That is exactly why the forerunner to the Messiah, John the baptist, unabashedly without ‘balance’ proclaimed, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” Matthew 3:2, ...and that is why the Messiah, Himself, repeatedly without ‘balance’ proclaimed, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” Matthew 4:17, ...and that is why the Messiah always commanded His apostles to preach the same, “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 10:7; ...that is why Paul preached it, ...and that is why we are to do the same.
And we are to stay on that point (“Repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand!”), be a stickler about it, if you will, until the hearer responds rightly. The right response is a fear of that wrath, and a fear of the One Who is sending it against his or her ungodliness, which only resolves itself through repentance before a Holy Righteous God and a faith-filled cry to Him for salvation.
Never are we to ‘balance’ the first point of the gospel by adding, “Oh, but remember how much God loves you.” Doing this doesn’t result in balance, rather it takes what is perfect and whole and stands alone as Truth, and distorts it--the result is not ‘balanced truth’ but rather, a distortion which robs God of His glory. It is like trying to balance water with dirt--all you get is mud. And that is exactly what you get when you try to ‘balance’ the wrath of God against sin by ‘adding’ the love of God--both of which are perfect and whole God-glorifying entities of their own. However, to add the love of God in order to ‘save’ God’s reputation, and to provide for yourself a numbed conscience, muddies the waters until it becomes impossible to see a clear picture of Who God really is. To dilute the wrath of God with the love of God is to change Who He is. He is a wrathful God, take that away from Him and you have just another god, a false god! It is an abominable travesty that so many ‘Christians’ believe they need to change the Word of God in order to interest someone in ‘believing’! How can anyone possibly balance truth anyway? Truth is truth already!!!
Those who are ashamed of the gospel (specifically the audacity of the gospel to judge a man) and subsequently leave out this intrinsic part of the gospel actually take away the gospel’s power for salvation. The Kingdom of God is given to those who are humble, not to those who are too haughty to believe they deserve God’s wrath, nor to those who are too arrogant to deliver God’s gospel exactly as He penned it through His saints. To be ashamed to preach the whole gospel, starting with the beginning and not leaving anything out, is unbelief at its worst--and to preach the ‘gospel’ while omitting even one part, is treachery at its worst.
We are to spend our efforts, when giving the gospel, helping the listener to understand God and His ways in order that they might fear Him (awesome reverential respect) and repent of their own ways. Why? Because the Kingdom of heaven is at hand! Knowing that the King of all is coming and He will punish all rebellion against Him is a great motivator to renounce your own ways and cry out to Him for deliverance!
If the hearer of the gospel responds in faith to the truth about God’s wrath against him or her because of his or her sin, then the person who is delivering the gospel will be pleased to give the responder much more information; but according to Romans 1-12, that next information will be about the faith of God, the justice of God, the grace of God, the sovereignty of God, and the mercy of God--and of course, the Son of God--Jesus, the Promised One, sent by God, Who achieves all of this in the life of a repentant sinner.
Praise the Lord! His love is greater than the greatest love imaginable, but it is not the ‘antidote’ for ‘ruining God’s reputation’ with His ‘poisonous’ and ‘embarrassing’ wrath. I say that, because at the very root of the ‘make it balanced’ doctrine is man’s unbelief, an insidious one. Mankind says that God is not perfect (and therefore God is not God) because He exhibits behavior contrary to man’s determined standard of righteousness. Woe to us if we condone this heresy in any way!
In the context of the attributes of God, love is included, as well as dozens of other descriptions of His marvelous nature and essence, but in the context of the gospel, the wrath of God is first and foremost. We need to always resist any pressure to add a little bit of ‘positive PR’ for God to make up for His ‘negative wrathful side’. True Christians are not ashamed of God. True Christians are not ashamed of God’s gospel.
I wrote a response to that young man’s post because what he was doing was promoting a prominent lie that is deceiving a large majority of ‘church people'. It is part of the leaven that is permeating the visible church right before our very eyes. In my own way, I guess I was trying to contend for the faith on behalf of any who might listen to the lie and have their ears tickled, thus being encouraged to feel just fine over not enduring sound doctrine. That is why I am writing what I am today. II TImothy 4:3
Paul was not ashamed of the gospel; he spoke it all, every bit of it; whether the listeners wanted to hear it or not. I thank God for His gospel, all of it, because in the true gospel is the power of salvation from our sin and His wrath (and therefore the introduction into the wonderful intricacies of salvation described in the rest of Romans.) To give the true gospel, all of it, will mean much rejection to the gospeler, but to those few who are called it will mean the gift of God’s ‘O So Great Salvation’! Hebrews 2:1-4
God is Who He is. He reveals Himself to us in His Word. I encourage those who feel the need to balance the truth of God’s wrath in the gospel message with the truth of God’s love to go to the Word of God to see if God does the same. Why? Because the Kingdom is at hand!
Oh LORD, please send more workers into the field who will preach Your Word, in its entirety, without compromise, without deception, without shame...
