Wrath Vs. Mercy

In our church and culture today, God’s love is the main point of focus. Sermons like “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” are frowned upon, and the idea that God is displeased, let alone upset, by anything is taboo. The idea of God’s wrath is being taken out of doctrine and hymn alike. Is that biblical? Is there danger in straying so far to one side?

Psalm 78:21, 38 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Therefore the Lord heard and was full of wrath;
And a fire was kindled against Jacob
And anger also mounted against Israel,…

But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them;
And often He restrained His anger
And did not arouse all His wrath.

There are two problems that come with favoring one attribute of God above another, especially to the extent that one is completely ignored. We must take God completely as He is, otherwise we will know a god of our own creation instead of the Almighty God as He is. We would not know or understand God and would therefore be living in a faulty religion. The Bible clearly talks about God’s wrath as well as His mercy. In fact, the word wrath is used twice as many times in the Bible as the word mercy.

Romans 1:17-19 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

The other problem with focusing on God’s love or mercy while ignoring His wrath is that we lose the reason for mercy. Mercy is not having to pay a debt we owe, being forgiven when we don’t deserve it. That debt is the cause of God’s wrath. If God did not have wrath over our debt, if He were not troubled with the sin we commit, there would be no reason for His mercy and no need for a Savior. It is only because of God’s holy wrath toward sin that we were condemned to eternal death and needed a Savior to die in our place.

Isaiah 59:18 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

According to their deeds, so He will repay,
Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will make recompense.

John 3:36 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

Our sin and rebellion against God necessitates His wrath. If He were not wrathful against our spiritual treason (for that is what all sin is) then He would not be the Almighty King of the universe or a God worth worshipping. We reap what we sow. If we choose to disobey God, we will reap the consequences of our rebellion and that is His wrath.

But that is not the end! God provided a propitiation for His wrath, a way for us to not have to pay it, and that is Christ. Only by His perfect blood can our sins be forgiven. It was on the cross that Jesus took on the full measure of God’s wrath for all sin so that we don’t have to.

Romans 5:8-10 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

It is only because of God’s wrath toward sin that the Good News is so good! Without God’s wrath, the Good News wouldn’t be good, or even news. We wouldn’t need it. That is why we must accept God’s wrath along side His mercy and love. We cannot have one without the other. Wrath without mercy is fearful, but mercy without wrath is meaningless.

Colossians 3:5-7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience, and in them you also once walked, when you were living in them.

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. (emphasis added)

We all were destined for wrath, and it is only by accepting the sacrifice of Christ and submitting our lives to Him that we can avoid it. That is the Good News! That is why we are alive! We need to be grateful for His mercy, but also seek to warn others of His wrath to come that they also may experience His mercy, for without acknowledging His wrath, they cannot have His mercy.