For many people, the very thing in which they place their hope, the goodness of God, is the very thing that will bring wrath and eternal torment. How many times have we heard someone say, "I cannot believe in a God who would punish those that [fill in the blank]." What these people are saying is that they cannot accept the God of the Bible who is awesome, majestic, glorious and yes, even wrathful. How can a good God also be a wrathful God?
The problem is that people confuse goodness with tolerance. They want to live a certain way or do whatever they please that brings them happiness. Surely, a good god would want for all to be happy, would he not? This however, would not be good but in fact, evil. Consider the following illustration.
A murderer is brought before a judge and found guilty. You might agree that a good judge should sentence him according to the law of the land which might be life imprisonment or possibly the death sentence. If that is so, then you understand that goodness and justice go hand in hand. We all sense the violation of justice when criminals get away with their crimes and this is particularly true when we are the victims. Imagine that this murderer killed a member of your family. Then imagine that he was set free on a technicality. You would feel that there was a grave injustice. This does not happen in God's economy. In fact, God is the one and only judge who can fully be trusted.
In the illustration above, there is a law, a violation of the law, a violator judge and a just punishment. The same is true in God's economy. There is God's Law (defined the bible), a violation, a violator and a just punishment. This Law is God's standard of righteousness; it is the standard according to which all are held. Any deviation from His eternal and holy Law demands that He act justly and pour His wrath out upon the offender.
According to the bible, there are none who meet God's standard of righteousness which is perfection, holiness, "“Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). He tells His people to, "be holy, for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16, Leviticus 11:44). Yet the psalmist tells us that nobody has met this standard:
there is no one who does good. God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands, who seeks after God. Every one of them has turned aside; together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. (Psalms 53:1-3)
Therefore, we are the violators. Even if you do not think that the bible has any relevance to your life, consider your own standards of goodness, righteousness and justice. You might include: honesty, fairness, and love for your fellow man. Then ask yourself if you honestly believe that you perfectly meet your own standard. Have you ever lied, have you ever done anything to your own benefit, have you ever hated somebody or stolen something?
The bible, however, is not concerned about your own definition of righteousness. It is concerned about God's standard. The bible says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). We all fall short and the reason is because we all fail to meet the standard of God's Law. The bible says, "Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness" (1 John 3:4). When we fail to meet the standard of God's Law, we fall short and that shortcoming is called SIN.
This is not good news because the penalty of sin is DEATH, "For the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23).
In summary:
- By definition, goodness and justice go hand in hand. God is both good and just.
- Man is incapable of meeting the standard God requires.
- Man's shortcomings are transgressions against God's Law. This is called sin.
- The penalty of sin is death. Therefore, every single living human being deserves death; God's wrath; eternal torment.
Conclusion: A good God is a wrathful God and because we fail to meet His standard, we are the objects of His wrath.
There are several possible responses to this bad news
- This is bogus, I therefore reject the notion of such a God.
- This is bogus, I will therefore create another God whom I can accept (pretty much the same as #1 but put differently).
- I am not sure whether I believe this to be true. I need to think about it.
- This logically and ethically seems right to me, but I am horrified at the implication.
To which I have the following responses:
- I am truly sorry about that. I hope you will continue to read track me with here. Truth, is, you are rejecting God and therefore He hates you and will surely judge you accordingly. The psalmists says specifically, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God,' They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice" (Psalm 53:1).
- This is the same thing as #1. You are rejecting God and creating an imaginary God. See my response to #1.
- Stay tuned because I will explain further.
- I have GOOD NEWS for you. Stay tuned or email me.
Chew on this for a bit as I prepare my upcoming post: Is There Any Hope with a Wrathful God?