Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” Romans 12:19
Peace is a truth widely loved, and wrath is a truth widely loathed. Many in the history of the church have been embarrassed by God’s wrath and have wanted to revise this biblical truth.
In the 2nd century, Tertullian spoke of revisionists who said that “A better god has been discovered, one who is neither offended nor angry nor inflicts punishment, who has no fire warming up in hell, and no outer darkness wherein there is shuddering and gnashing of teeth: he is merely kind.”
Consider the hymn “In Christ Alone” that includes these lines:
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied.
One denomination wanted to change it to:
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The love of God was magnified.
This is wonderfully true—the love of God was poured out at the cross: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). But the reason is that he dealt with the most fundamental human problem there. Here’s how: On that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.
This theme is clearly and widely taught in the Bible. And this truth is so interwoven with the hope of our peace with one another and with God that if we lose our grasp on the one, we lose our hope of the other. This is critical for the peace of any person, family, school, community, or nation.
Are you tempted to let go of the wrath of God? What would be lost if you did?
