Category Archives: Wrath of God

Romans 1:18, etc. – Wrath: personal or impersonal?

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Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, 1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

In his commentary on Romans, C.H. Dodd famously contended that Paul speaks of ‘the wrath’ ‘in a curiously impersonal way’.  He writes:

‘Paul retains the concept of “the wrath of God” not to describe the attitude of God to man but to describe the inevitable process of cause and effect in a moral universe.’

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‘The Lost Message of Paul’ – ‘The wrath of God’

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In chapter 12 of The Lost Message of Paul, Steve Chalke deals with ‘the wrath of God’.

Chalke thinks that the idea that God is capable of wrath, or anger, is mistaken.  Three reasons are discernable.

Historical

According to Chalke, much of the responsibility for the doctrine of the wrath of God must be laid at the feet of John Calvin, who is described as brilliant but legalistic.

Calvin, it is said, ‘effectively replaced Jesus’ image of God as a loving parent with that of God as a stern, courtroom judge.’…

Does God hate the wicked?

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You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
with you the wicked cannot dwell.
the arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.

(Psalm 5:5)

The Lord examines the righteous,
but the wicked and those who love violence his soul hates.

(Psalm 11:5)

Writing in Hard Sayings of the Bible, Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser comments:

‘Our problem with any description of God’s displeasure with sin, unrighteousness or wickedness is that we define all anger as Aristotle defined it: “the desire for retaliation.”…

Was ‘the wrath of God satisfied’ on the cross?

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‘In Christ alone’ (Stuart Townend and Keith Getty) is a fine Christian song.

But what about the words that stick in the throats of many:-

Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied.

Please don’t tell me you won’t sing these words because you unwilling to think or speak of God’s wrath, and wish to sing only of his love.  The song as a whole does a great job in exploring the various dimensions of Christ’s death and resurrection. …

Is divine wrath personal?

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For years, scholars have debated whether God’s wrath, as taught in the New Testament is personal or impersonal.  That is to say, whether ‘wrath’ is some that can be ascribed directly to God, describing something of his hostility towards sin, or that it merely describes the inevitable consequences of sin, the misery and self-destruction that it brings.

Writing in Aspects of the Atonement, I. Howard Marshall, finds the following points ‘decisive’:-

1. To allow that sinners bring calamity upon themselves does not exclude the idea that the calamity is not from God. …

The New Testament concept of future judgment

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In Aspects of the Atonement, I.H. Marshall discusses the NT terminology of judgment, wrath and punishment.

1. The language of punishment features occasionally (Matt. 24:43–51; Luke 12:45–48; Matt. 25:46; 2 Thess. 1:9; Heb. 10:29; 2 Pet. 2:9.

2. Vengeance, or revenge, occurs in Luke 18:1–8; Rom. 12:19 (citing Deut. 32:35); 1 Thessalonians 4:6; Luke 21:22; and 2 Thessalonians 1:8.

3. More frequent is the use of wrath or anger.  Orgē and related terms are found in Matt.…

The wrath of God in the New Testament

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It is often assumed that the picture of God in the Old Testament is that of a wrathful despot, while the God of the New Testament is nothing but love.

This is seriously mistaken.  Not only does the OT have much to say about God’s love (see, for example, Deuteronomy 7:7,8; and Hosea 3:1; 14:4), the NT has rather a lot to say about god’s wrath.  Let Roger D. Campbell summarise for us:-

First of all, in the New Testament there are a number of verses which make direct reference to “the wrath of God.”
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Does God ‘hate the sin, but love the sinner’?

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It is a well-worn cliche to attempt to separate the sin from the sinner, and to say that God hates the former, but loves the latter.

As with most cliches, there is an important measure of truth here.  We can certainly say that God hates the sin, and yet loves them in the sense that he reaches out to the worst of sinners with the offer of grace and forgiveness.

But the cliche is still only a half-truth.  …

Wrath in Romans

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1.  What does it mean? God’s wrath is his ‘resolute action in punishing sin’.  It is the active expression of his hatred toward irreligion and moral evil.  ‘The wrath’ (Rom 2:5; 5:9) may refer to the future ‘day of wrath’, or to ‘present providential events and processes in which divine retribution for sin may be discerned’ (such as the action of the law in stirring up latent sin, Rom 5:20; 7:7-13, and the role of the magistrate in sentencing criminals, Rom 13:4f.) …

The wrath of God

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The idea of divine wrath has pretty much become taboo in modern preaching and evangelism. It is not considered polite to mention it in public. But here I would like to give it an airing, and consider it in relation to the teaching of the Bible, in relation to God’s character as revealed in Scripture, and in relation to his mercy.

Here goes.

1.  Biblical teaching

The Bible throughout teaches that there can be no truce between God and sin.…