Why do men need to be saved? An examination of Scripture (John 10:10; Eph. 2:4-5; Heb. 2:14-15; I John 4:9; etc.) clearly shows that the answer to this question is that man needs to be saved because he is dead. Man is separated and alienated from God (Eph. 4:8). He does not know God personally, and because he does not know the true God, he turns to false gods - to those things which are not God - and makes those into his gods (Gal. 4:8). The basic sin is idolatry (Ex. 20:2; Rom. 1:25), and man sins (chooses these false gods) because he is spiritually dead - separated from the true God.
All men have sinned because they are spiritually dead. As we will see later, this is what the Apostle Paul says in the last clause of Romans 5:12: "because of which [death] all sinned." Spiritual death which "spread to all men" along with physical death is not the result of each man's own personal sins. On the contrary, a man sins as a result of spiritual death, and he received this death from Adam, from his first parents. The historical origin of sin is the fall of Adam - the sin of the first man. Adam's sin brought death - spiritual and physical - on all his descendants (Rom. 5:12, 15, 17). [14] This spiritual death inherited from Adam is the personal, contemporary origin of each man's sin. Because he is spiritually dead, not knowing God personally, he chooses something other than the true God as his God; he thus sins.
This is why a man needs to be saved. He is dead spiritually and dying physically. Man needs life - he needs to be made alive - to be raised from the dead. And if he receives life, if he is made alive to God, death which leads to sin is removed. And if death which leads to sin is removed, then man will be saved from sin. Thus salvation must be understood to be primarily from death to life and secondarily from sin to righteousness. And since God's wrath - God's "no" or opposition to sin - is caused by sin (Rom. 1:18), the removal of sin brings with it also the removal of wrath. No sin, no wrath. Salvation is then thirdly from wrath to peace with God (Rom. 5:1).
Man needs the righteousness of God to deliver him from the wrath of God.
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heavenGod's attitude toward sin is expressed in the Scriptures by the concept of the wrath of God. In both the Old and New Testaments God's opposition to sin is expressed in terms also used in the description of human emotions of anger, indignation, and wrath. But the wrath of God should not be thought of as an unstable, capricious emotion. It is true that men's anger is so often such an impulsive passion, usually involving a large element of fickleness together with a lack of self-control. But the wrath of God is not to be so conceived. Neither is it to be thought of as like the anger of the heathen anthropomorphic deities. The writers of the Bible have nothing to do with the pagan concepts of a "capricious and vindictive diety, inflicting arbitrary punishments on offending worshippers, who must then bribe him back to a good mood by the appropriate offerings." [15]
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men,
who suppress the truth in unrighteousness."
(Rom. 1:18. Note the explanatory gar ["for"]
which connects this verse to the first part of verse 17.)
The Biblical concept of the wrath of God should be thought of as the stern and settled personal reaction of God's love against sin in man. God's wrath must be understood in terms of God's love. Love is that decision of a person loving to act for the good of the person loved. It is not just an emotion, an easy-going, good-natured sentimentalism or good feeling of attraction or fondness for someone. But rather it is a decision of the will. But since the will involves the emotions as well as the intellect, that is, the total person, love is a strong and intensive concern for the well being of the person loved. And it is because of this concern that love may be pictured as a purifying fire, blazing out in fiery wrath against everything evil that hinders the loved one from being the best (Psa. 119:74; Prov. 3:11-12; Heb, 12:5-10; Rev. 3:19). Because of this intense love which is jealous for the good of the loved one, God hates everything that is evil in man (Psa. 5:5; 11:5; Prov. 6:16-19; Jer. 44:4; Heb. 1:13; Zech. 8:16-17). Hence the wrath of God is not opposed to His love. But rather it is the reverse side of His love. God's wrath is the direct personal opposition of His love to the sin that would destroy man whom He loves.
The wrath of God is directed against sin in any form (Jer. 21:12; Ezek. 8:17-18; 22:29, 31; Rom. 1:18). But it is particularly directed against the sin of idolatry.
"6:14 You shall not go after other gods,
the gods of peoples who are round about you;
6:15 for the Lord your God in the midst of you is a jealous God;
lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you,
and he destroy you off the face of the earth." (Deut. 6:14-15;
See also Deut. 4:25-26; 29:25-28; Joshua 23:15-16;
Isa. 66:15-17; Jer. 11:11-13; 19:3-4; 44:2-6; Ex. 32:10,35;
Num. 25:3; Lam. 3:42-43; Judges 2:11-15; II Kings 17:9-12; 15-18.)
Idolatry is not just the worship of graven images made of wood, stone or metal (Col. 3:5; see also Eph. 5:5). The false gods whose worship is idolatry are not always so crude or absurd. Many things such as pleasure, wealth, power, education, the family, society, the state, democracy, experience, reason and science, which are good in their proper place, may become a person's god. One of these sophisticated deities has recently been given the following public confession:
"Men bet their lives on it [science] as they do on other gods,Science, of course, is not the only god to which modern man looks for deliverance. Today's pantheon is as full of gods as those of ancient Greece and Rome. The only difference is that these twentieth century gods are not so easily identified as such. They have become more sophisticated and civilized. But the absence of a label does not alter the content of the package. Although anonymous, they are none the less gods when they become the object of faith and trust in a man's life. If anything, they are more dangerous and deceptive because they are not generally recognized as gods.
and on the record, it functions no less divinely than any other....
'God' is no less fitting an appellation for this [science]
than for any that churchmem so name and require laymen to
bet their lives on, worship and adjure." [16]
What is a god? Martin Luther in his comments on the first commandment in his Large Catechism answers the question very clearly:
"A god is that to which we look for all good
and in which we find refuge in every time of need.
To have a god is nothing else than to trust
and believe in him with our whole heart.
As I have often said, the trust and faith of the heart alone
make both God and the idol...
For these two belong together, faith and God.
That to which your heart clings and entrusts itself is,
I say, really your God." [17]
Faith is the commitment and devotion of a person to some object which is for that person of ultimate significance and supreme importance. That object to which a person is committed and devoted is that person's "god." The term "god" need not refer to the personal triune God of the Christian religion nor to the object of faith and trust of any historical or formal religion. It is a functional term, that is, a term which takes its meaning from the particular function or operation performed by the object to which the term applies. A god performs the function of the object of supreme importance and ultimate significance to which a person or group of persons may commit and devote themselves.
"Taken by itself this word [god] carries
as little specific meaning as the word 'good.'
Both are empty receptacles whose content varies from man to man
and from religion to religion." [18]
At the suggestion that he worships a god the irreligious may be shocked and incredulous. But every man must have a god. By his very constitution, a man must necessarily have a god to which he can commit and devote himself, in which he can trust. This is apparent from an analysis of human freedom. There are three elements in every decision: an agent with the ability to choose, the alternatives to choose between, and the criterion by which the choice is to be made. This last element is often overlooked or ignored in the analysis of freedom. The choice between the alternatives is made with reference to some criterion of choice, and the choice cannot be made without this reference. That is, it is impossible to make any decision as to how to act or think without appealing to some criterion of the good and the true. Every human decision necessarily involves a relationship to something in or beyond the self as a criterion of decision. In other words, behind every decision as to what a person should do or think there must be a reason. And the ultimate reason for any decision, practical or theoretical, must be given in terms of some particular criterion, an ultimate reference or orientation point in or beyond the self or person making the decision. This ultimate criterion is that person's god. In this sense every man must have god, that is, an ultimate criterion of decision. Thus in the very exercise of his freedom - decision - man shows he is a creature who must have a god.
From this point of view no man is an atheist in the basic meaning of the word, that is, no god. Every man must have a god. Man is a religious animal who necessarily must have some object of ultimate allegiance and trust which functions as his guide of truth and his norm of conduct. Every man must choose a god. Though free to adopt the god of his choice, no man is free to advoid this decision. Every attempt to do so turns out to be not a denial of having a god but an exchange of gods. To ask whether one believes in the existence of God is to completely misunderstand the issue. The issue is not whether one should choose between theism or atheism, that is, to believe in the existence of God or not, but whether one should choose this god or that god as the true God.
Since everyone must have a god, the crucial question for every man is: which god is the true God? Or to put the question differently: how are we to distinguish between the one true God on the one hand, and the many false gods on the other? In other words, by what means can we determine which of all possible gods are pretenders and which is the true one? The clue to the answer to these questions may be found in a further analysis of freedom.
By freedom we do not mean purposeless caprice or chance, indeterminism, but rather the ability of choice, freedom of decision, self-determination. Neither is this freedom an abstract entity, "freedom-in-general," Freiheit, but rather the concrete decision of someone, of a free agent. The most appropriate word for such a being who has such freedom is the word "person." A person is a being that is self-determining, not determined, who has freedom, free will, the ability to choose. A person is to be distinguished from a non-person, a thing, an "it," a being that is determined, not self-determining, that has no freedom, no free will, no ability to choose.
A god that is a thing has less freedom than the person who chooses it. Such a god does not have as much freedom as its worshippers. Now a god who does not have at least the same freedom as man himself cannot be the true God. For if a god has less freedom than its worshippers, it cannot do any more for them than they can do for themselves. Such a god is only the projection of the whims and fancies of the worshippers because it is in reality inferior to its worshippers. As a minimum criterion, therefore, a god can be recognized as a false god if it has less freedom than man himself. An impersonal or non-personal god is, therefore, a false god. The true God, on the other hand, must be at least a person in order to have at least as much freedom as the one who chooses him as his god. But the true God must not only be a person, He must also have unlimited freedom if He is to be able to do the things that He has promises and to deiver the one who cries to Him in trouble and need. A god without unlimited freedom might not be able to keep his promises or to save the one who cries to Him for help. Therefore, a god that does not have unlimited freedom must be a false god. The prophet Isaiah applies this criterion to the denumciation of idolatry.
"46:6 Those who lavish gold from the purse,The true God, on the other hand, has unlimited freedom; He can do whatever He pleases (Psa. 115:3; 135:6); He can save when He is called upon (Isa. 43:11; 45:15-17). The true God, therefore, is a person (or persons) with unlimited freedom.
and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith,
and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship!
46:7 They lift it upon their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place. If one cries to it,
it does not answer or save him from his trouble." (Isa. 46:6-7)
(See also Isa. 44:18-20; 45:20-21; Psa. 115:2-7; 135:5-7,15-17)
The classic illustration of the application of these criteria for determining which god is the true God is found in the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. (I Kings 18:17-39) After challenging the apostate people of Israel to make up their minds between Jehovah and Baal: "If Jehovah be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." (verse 21, ARV), Elijah proposed a very concrete test by which the true God may be known and the false god be exposed as a fraud.
"18:23 Now let them give us two oxen;The test is to see which god can produce. For a false god cannot answer when it is called upon; it cannot act to deliver the one who cries to it in trouble or need.
and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up,
and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it;
and I will prepare the other ox, and lay it on the wood,
and I will not put a fire under it.
18:24 Then you call on the name of your god,
and I will call on the name of the Lord,
and the God who answers by fire, He is God."
(I Kings 18:23-24)
"18:26 Then they [the prophets of Baal] took the oxBy this test all false gods may be detected: a false god cannot produce, cannot respond when called upon. Elijah's proposal was the application of this test to determine which of the two rival gods, Jehovah or Baal, was the pretender and which was the true God. Elijah, like the other prophets of the true God, Jehovah, did not hesitate to apply this test because he knew what the true God could do.
which was given to them and they prepared it and
called on the name of Baal, from morning until noon
saying, 'O Baal, answer us.'
But there was no voice and no one answered...
18:29 And it came about when midday was past,
that they raved until the time
of the offering of the evening sacrifice;
but there was no voice, no one answered,
and no one paid attention." (I Kings 18:26, 29)
"18:36 Then it came about at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice,Not only are false gods unable to produce, but they visit their worshippers with the opposite of what they promise. They entice their worshippers with glittering prospects, but then visit them with cruel disillusionment. The worshippers of a false god are betrayed into the opposite of what they want.
that Elijah the prophet came near and said,
'O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Isarel,
today let it be known that Thou art God in Israel,
and that I am Thy servant,
and that I have done all these things at Thy word!
18:37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may
know Thou, O Lord, art God, and that Thou hast
turned their hearts back again.'
18:38 Then fire of the Lord fell,
and consumed the burnt offering
and the wood and the stones and the dust,
and licked up the water that was in the trench.
18:39 And when all the people saw it,
they fell on their faces; and they said,
'The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.'"
(I Kings 18:36-39; see also Isa. 46:1-11; 40:18-26; Jer. 10:6-16)
"Then Elijah said to them,The modern sophisticated gods also disappoint their worshippers. For example, the god of Reason betrays its followers into blind irrationalism. Witness the irrationalism of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution which was carried on in the name of Reason.
'Seize the prophets of Baal;
do not let one of them escape.'
So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down
to the brook Kishon, and slew them there." (I Kings 18:40)
Why cannot false gods produce? Some false gods cannot produce because they are non-persons, things. This is the point of Elijah's taunts of the prophets of Baal.
"And it came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said,Baal could not answer because he was not a person who could. It was not because he was preoccupied with musing, journeying, sleeping or anything else that he did not answer. He could not because he was not a being that could. A person is a being that is self-determining, that has free will. And Baal was not that kind of being. It did not even have as much freedom as its worshippers. Here we have our first and minimum criterion for determining which of all possible gods are pretenders and which is the true God - a god is a false god if it does not have as much freedom as man himself; that is, if it is not self-determining, if it is a thing. But other gods who are persons cannot produce because their freedom is limited. They do not have any more freedom than their worshippers and hence cannot do any more than their followers. Here we have our second criterion for determining which god is the true God: a god is a false god if it does not have more freedom than man himself, a false god has limited freedom. It should now obvious why false gods cannot produce. They either do not have freedom, self-determination, or their freedom is limited. The true God, since he has freedom - he is a person or persons - and his freedom is unlimited - he is all powerful and can fulfill the promises he can make; he can answer when he is called upon and deliver the one who cries to him in trouble and need.
'Call out with a loud voice, for he is god;
either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey,
or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.'" (I Kings 18:27)
The Apostle Paul in the first chapter of his letter to the Romans also refers to these same criteria to show that man is without excuse for his idolatry.
"1:19 Because that which is known of God is manifest in them;In verse 19 Paul refers to a knowledge of God which all men have and in verse 20 he says two things about this knowledge:
for God manifested it to them.
1:20 For since the creation of the world
the invisible things of Him,
both His eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made,
so that they are without excuse." (Rom. 1:19-20 ERS)
"Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think thatBeing created by God in His image, man's nature must be similar to God's nature, and the nature of God must be at least as personal as our nature. Therefore, the true God cannot be a non-person, a thing made of gold or silver or stone, an image made by man. God's being must be as personal as our being, if we are the offspring of God, that is, if we are created in His image.
the Divine nature is like gold or silver or stone,
an image formed by the art and thought of man."
(Acts 17:29 NAS;
Compare to theion translated "divine nature" in this verse
with theiotes in Rom. 1:20 also translate "divine nature".)
But not only is it true that in man alone is there found that which is like God's being, but it is also true that in man alone is there found that which is the best analogy of God's eternal power. The human will in its limited power and freedom is the best analogy in all creation of the divine will with its unlimited power and freedom. (Note that power, dunamis, means "to be able", dunamai.) What greater created power is there than the power to bless or destroy? In this sense the human power to choose to use the nuclear bomb is greater than the power of the bomb itself. The power of human freedom of decision is greater than the power of physical energy. In man therefore we find that which is the analogy in creation of God's eternal power and His divine personal nature. The mind of man employing these analogies of being perceives the invisible things of Him through the things that are made or created by God. Thus "God manifest it [the truth] unto them" (verse 19). The unseen things of God are clearly seen because that which is known of God is manifested in them. So man is without excuse for his idolatry, exchanging the truth about God for a lie and worshipping and serving the creature rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:25). Man has no excuse for choosing a false god. He knows that it is not the true God because a false god is impersonal and/or powerless; it is less of a person than he is and has as little or less power or freedom than he has.
It is this knowledge of what the true God must be like that lies behind all primitive religions, with their anthropomorphic gods. Primitive man knows what a god must be like in order to be the true God. This knowledge derived intuitively from the nature of his freedom makes him uneasy about the things that he worships as god. He knows that the true God must be a living God. But having failed to encounter such a God, he fills the vacuum with what he imagines to be facsimile of Him. And since the highest living being that he knows is himself, he makes gods in his own image. He also knows that the true God must be a God of unlimited power, not limited like himself. He therefore identifies these anthropomorphic creations with the powerful forces that he sees in the physical world about him. Beyond the simple and profound suspicion that such a God does exist, he is at the end of his knowledge ("...whom ye ignorantly worship..." Acts 17:23 KJV).
In what way can man find any additional knowledge of the true God? In the same
way in which he gets knowledge about another person: by what the other person
says and does. But the initiative lies with the other person.
If he remains silent and inactive, no knowledge is available in addition to
the fact that he is there. Therefore, if man is to know anything additional
about the true God, God must take the initiative and reveal Himself in word
and/or deed. And God has taken the initiative and has revealed Himself in
word and deed. The Bible is a record of the "words and the mighty acts of
God." The true God is not silent and He is not inactive; He has spoken and He
has acted. This is recorded for us in a book, the Bible. And we know that
these are the words and deeds of the true God because they are the words and
the acts of a God who is a personal being and has unlimited freedom. The God
who is revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament is the living
God who created all things.
(The living God - Joshua 3:10; I Sam. 17:26; Psa. 84:2; Jer. 10:10;
Matt. 16:16; Acts 14:15; I Thess. 1:9; I Tim. 3:15; Heb. 10:31;
The Creator - Gen. 1:1; 2:3-4; Ex. 4:11; Neh. 9:6; Job 38:4;
Psa. 90:2; 102:25; 104:1-5,24; Isa. 40:28; 44:24; 45:11-12, 18; 48:12-13;
Jer. 10:11-12; John 1:1-3; Acts 17:24; I Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2, 10;
11:3; Rev. 4:11).
Because He is a person, He is alive; and because He has unlimited freedom,
He is the all powerful Creator of all things. The God of the Bible is
the true God, and all other gods are false.
The choice of any other god than this one is idolatry.
Idolatry is the basic sin. This may be clearly seen from the Ten Commandments of the Mosaic law. For the first two commandments are about the sin of idolatry (Exodus 20:3-6). This is because a false god usurps the place of the true God in a man's life. In a sense all sins are against God (Compare II Sam. 12:13; Job 7:20; Psa. 41:4; 51:4), but the sin of idolatry is very clearly directed against God Himself. It is a direct repudiation of the Creator for the creature; it is a direct insult to the true God and an affront to His divine majesty. No more serious sin could be imagined than this one. Since it is the most serious sin, it is also the most basic.
The basic sin is not only not to trust in the true God but to trust in something other than the true God. This is the sin of sins. Rebellion against, unbelief in, and disobedience to the Creator, bad as they are, are only negative sins - rebellion is the rejection of God's authority; unbelief is not to trust in God's love; and disobedience is not to obey God's commands. But idolatry is a positive sin which turns to an alternate and replacement for the true God. It is to give one's allegiance, trust and obedience to something other than the One who should have that allegiance, trust and obedience. It is the more serious sin. As Samuel said to Saul: "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolary." (I Sam. 15:23). Samuel compares rebellion and insubordination with the more serious sin of idolatry. (Divination in the Old Testament times was almost always asscociated with idolatry [Deut. 4:19; 17:3; 18:9-14; II Kings 17:16-17; Isa. 41:21-24; Ezek. 13:17-23; 21:21-22]. The parallelism in I Sam. 15:23 shows that idolatry and divination are nearly synonymous.) Rebellion and insubordination are only the negative side of the sin of idolatry; that is, the act of turning against the true God is only negative part of the act of turning to a false god. Idolatry is the more serious sin and hence the more basic sin.
But idolatry is also the basic sin because this sin leads to other sins. It leads to other sins because a person's god, being his ultimate criterion of decision, ultimately controls the direction and character of a man's decisions. The choice of a wrong god will lead to other wrong choices. That is, the god to which a person commits and devotes himself will determine the quality of his whole life. It furnishes him with an entire set of values and these values will in turn govern his every specific decision, intellectual and practical. Thus every god stamps its worshippers with its own trademark. In fact the worshipper becomes like the god he worships. As the Psalmist says concerning the idolater,
"115:4 Their idols are silver and gold,Since out of the heart are the issues of life (Prov. 4:23), and as a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Prov. 23:7), then what a man has set up in his heart as his god will affect the quality and character of his whole life. It is what a man believes in his heart that determines what he says and does. As Jesus said, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matt. 12:33-35; Luke 6:43-45). Thus if a man sets up an idol in his heart (Ezek. 14:3-5), then out of the heart will come all manner of sins. Jesus recognized this when he declared,
the work of men's hands.
115:5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
115:6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
115:7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
115:8 Those who make them are like them;
so are all who trust in them."
(Psa. 115:4-8; see also Psa. 135:15-18)
"7:21 For from within, out of the heart of man,Thus if in his heart a man clings to a false god, his actions and speech will show it. In this way also idolatry is the basic sin.
come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery,
7:22 coveting, wickedness, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.
7:23 All these evil things come from within,
and they defile a man."
(Mark 7:21-23; compare Matt. 15:15-20)
From the discussion of idolatry as the basic sin it should be clear that sin in general must be defined in terms of the true God. Accordingly, sin should be defined as any free, uncoerced act of the will (decision, choice) that is contrary to ultimate personal allegiance to the true God. That is, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Rom. 14:23 KJV). In other words, sin is any choice that is contrary to faith and trust in the true God (John 16:9; compare John 3:18). According to this definition, unbelief (infidelity, not incredulity) is sin. But so are disobedience and rebellion sins. It is not just any unbelief that is sin but unbelief in God. Unbelief as such is not sin. Unbelief is sin only in reference to God; it is sin only when it is God who is not trusted. Similarly with respect to disobedience and rebellion. Disobedience as such is not sin, neither is rebellion. They are sin only in reference to God. Disobedience is sin only when it is God who is disobeyed; and rebellion is sin only when it is God who is rebelled against. Sin in all cases must be defined in terms of true God.
But because man must have a god, sin is more than not trusting in the true God; it is trusting in a false god. A man must make his decision with reference to the true God or some false one. No middle ground exists. To be is to choose, and to choose is to have a god. To be, therefore, is to have a god. By the structure of his freedom, the being of man is necessarily linked to some god. Therefore, if a man does not trust in the true God, he will trust in a false god. In fact, a man does not trust in the true God because he has put his trust in a false god. In general, the rejection of one god can only be done in the name of another. Accordingly, sin is more than unbelief, not trusting in God; it is trusting in a false god. Similarly, sin is more disobedience, not obeying God; it is obedience to a false god. Likewise, sin is more than rebellion against God; it is allegiance to a false god. Sin, in general, is not only any choice contrary to faith and trust in true God, but it is also any choice that implies faith and trust in a false god.
The choice of a false god leads to bondage, the bondage of sin.
Idolatry results in the bondage of sin in two senses.
The wrath of God is directed particularly against the sin of idolatry because
it is the basic sin. But more fundamentally it is directed against this sin
because of the effect that a false god has upon the one who chooses it as his
god. A false god destroys the freedom of its worshipper by putting him into
bondage. The true God, on the other hand, not only sets the worshipper of a
false god free from its bondage, but also preserves and fulfills the
freedom of the one who chooses and worships Him. Since the true God is a
living God (Jer. 10:5-15; I Thess. 1:9), that is, a being that has the power
of self-determination, with unlimited freedom, He can preserve His
worshipper's freedom. When this Being who has such freedom is made the
ultimate criterion of one's decisions, one's freedom of choice may be
exercised without restriction or frustrating limitation. But more
importantly, the true God not only preserves the freedom of the one who
chooses and worships Him but also fulfills the freedom of the one who
commits and devotes himself to Him. This He does by loving him, that is, by
acting toward him for his highest good. Now man's highest good is the true
God; He alone can preserve the freedom of the one who chooses Him. For when
a man chooses the true God as his God, he has found his highest good and
obtained true happiness (Prov. 16:20; Psa. 40:4; 84:12; 144:15; Jer. 17:7,
etc.). Because the true God is love (I John 4:8,16), He acts toward man in
such a way as to bring man to the choice of man's highest good, that is, the
true God, and hence the fulfillment of his freedom. One way He does this is
by directly opposing (i.e., the wrath of God) man's choice of a false god
(the sin of idolatry). Since idolatry not only destroys man's freedom but
is an obstacle to God's love which would fulfill man's freedom, the wrath of
God is directed against this particular sin.
But wrath is not the only way that God in His love deals with man's sin. The
wrath of God is not the only nor the last word about what God has said or
done concerning man's sin. God's wrath is His strange work.
Therefore, the wrath of God is not opposed to His love. But rather it is one
of the two ways in which God in His love deals with man's sin. God's wrath
as well as His grace is an expression of His love. There is no eternal
principle of divine retribution (justice) in God which causes His wrath.
Since God is love, the wrath of God must be understood in terms of His love
as the direct personal opposition of His love to sin that would destroy the
one whom He loves. Wrath is the reaction of His love to sin. The cause of
God's wrath is not in God; it is external to God and in the sin of man. And
as long as man remains in sin, so long does the wrath of God remain upon him
(John 3:36).
Man is under the wrath of God because of his sin of idolatry (Rom. 1:18-25);
that is, the wrath of God is caused by sin; it is a direct consequence of
each man's own sin. But since man is a sinner as a consequence of Adam's sin
(Rom. 5:19a), then the wrath of God is also a result of Adam's sin (Rom.
5:18a; note that condemnation is the same as wrath). But it is only
indirectly, not directly, a result of Adam's sin. For all men are
sinners only indirectly as a consequence of Adam's sin. They are
sinners directly because of the spiritual death (Rom. 5:12d; Gal.4:8), which
they have received from Adam (Rom. 5:12c; I Cor. 15:22). Sin is the direct
consequence of spiritual death and hence only an indirect consequence of
Adam's sin (the spiritual and physical death only came directly from Adam).
And since man is a sinner as an indirect consequence of Adam's sin, then the
wrath of God (condemnation) is also an indirect consequence of Adam's sin.
Condemnation is not the direct result of Adam's sin; that is, man is not
condemned because of Adam's sin but because of his own personal sin, his own
choice of a false god. The cause of the wrath of God is the sin of each
individual man (Ezek. 18:1-4, 14-20).
The activity of the wrath of God is not an impersonal law of retribution or
the inevitable moral effect of sin, as advocated by C. H. Dodd.
[19]
The wrath of God is God's personal reaction to man's sin. This is
seen in the Old Testament writers' use of strong personal terms when
speaking of the wrath of God.
"7:8 Now I will shortly pour out My wrath on you, and
And because God is so personally active in His deeds of wrath, He can
exercise His mercy, allowing His wrath to be turned away.
"85:2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people;
"7:18 Who is a God like Thee, who pardons iniquity
The means by which God's wrath may be turned aside involves the purging of the
sin. This may be done, for example, by completely destroying the offending
city (Deut. 13:15-17), slaying those who had sinned as at Baal-Peor (Num.
25:4), releasing captives (II Chron. 28:11-13), putting away heathen wives
(Ezra 10:14). The putting away of sin involves a change of heart attitude,
repentance (Jonah 3:7,10), humbling oneself (II Chron. 12:7), circumcising
the heart (Jer. 4:4) and doing judgment (Jer. 21:12). It is the absence of
this inward change of heart and attitude and the corresponding outward change
in actions that brought about the rejection and condemnation by the psalmists
and prophets of the divinely appointed system of offerings and sacrifices.
"51:16 For Thou dost not delight in sacrifice,
"For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice,
The Old Testament sacrifices could never take away sin (Heb. 10:4,11). On
the contrary, there is in those sacrifices a continual remembrance of sin
year by year (Heb. 10:3). That is, the worshippers, not having been cleansed
of their sins, still have a consciousness of sin (Heb. 10:2). Therefore,
those that draw near could never be made perfect by those sacrifices (Heb.
10:1). But Christ has put away sin once for all by the sacrifice of Himself
(Heb. 9:26; 10:12), and has made perfect them that are being sanctified or
set apart to God (Heb. 10:14). Now there is no more remembrance of sins
(Heb. 10:17), since those drawing near having been cleansed from their sins
have no more consciousness of sins (Heb. 10:22). It was to accomplish our
cleansing for sin that Christ "gave Himself for our sins" (Gal. 1:4) and
"died for our sins" (I Cor. 15:3). God acted in Jesus Christ to to
redeem us from sin.
Because God has redeemed us from sin, we also are delivered from the wrath of
God. Salvation is not only deliverance from sin but also deliverance from
the wrath of God (Rom. 5:9). God put forth Jesus Christ as a propitiation
through faith in His blood (Rom. 3:25). The death of Jesus Christ is a
propitiation because it is the means that God has appointed for
turning away His wrath from man. While God in His love could have mercy on
man and turn away His wrath from man (Psa. 78:38; Exodus 34:6; Numbers
14:19-20), He has appointed means whereby His wrath will be turned away. In
the Old Testament God's appointed means for turning away His wrath were the
sacrifices and offerings. When these sacrifices were offered in true
repentance and faith, they were an atonement or propitiation. But these
sacrifices could never take away sin (Heb. 10:4,11), that is, they could not
bring about repentance and faith, because they could not make alive
(Gal. 3:21). The Old Testament sacrifices could not reconcile man to God.
But through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ man is reconciled to
God and his sins are taken away. And since there are no sins to cause wrath,
the wrath of God is turned away. Thus Christ's death is the perfect
sacrifice for turning away God's wrath because by it man is redeemed from
sin. Christ's death is a propitiation because it is a redemption; it is both
a propitiation and a redemption. Propitiation is the sacrifical aspect of
Christ's work of salvation and redemption is the liberation aspect of His
work. And it is a propitiation and a redemption because it is a
reconciliation to God. Being made alive to God, the cause of sin and wrath
has been removed.
To Continue, Click here.
[15] Leon Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross
[16] Horace M. Kallen, Democracy's True Religion
[17] Martin Luther, The Large Catechism of Martin Luther,
[18] Cherbonnier, Hardness of Heart, p. 40.
[19] C. H. Dodd, The Epistle of Paul to the Romans
THE BONDAGE OF SIN
WRATH AND IDOLATRY
"The Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim,
It is that act of His love that is alien to the way God wishes to act. He
desires to act toward man in mercy and grace (Psa. 103:9-12; Micah 7:18-19).
In mercy He desires to turn away His wrath and forgive man's sin
(Psa. 85:2-3). And in grace He desires to remove the sin which causes His
wrath. This is the other way that God in His love deals with man's sin.
Thus, God deals with man's sin in two ways. In His wrath He opposes the sin,
and in His grace He removes it: the grace of God is the love of God in action
to bring man salvation (Titus 2:11; Eph. 2:8). In this second way God
fulfills man's freedom; He removes the idolatry which would destroy man's
freedom. And this He does by removing the cause of sin - death - through the
death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon;
to do his deed - strange is his deed! and
to work his work - alien is his work!" (Isa. 28:21)
"60:1 O God, Thou has rejected us.
Thou hast broken us;
Thou has been angry;...
60:2 Thou hast made the land quake;...
60:3 Thou hast made Thy people experience hardship;
Thou hast given us wine to drink that make us stagger."
(Psa. 60:1-3 NAS)
"30:27 Behold, the name of the Lord comes from a remote place;
Burning is His anger, and dense is His smoke;
His lips are filled with indignation,
And His tongue is like a consuming fire;
30:28 And His breath is like an overflowing torrent,
Which reaches to the neck,
To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve,
And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle
which leads to ruin..."
30:30 "And the Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard.
And the descending of His arm to be seen,
And in the flame of a consuming fire,
In a cloudburst, downpour, and hailstones,
30:31 For at the voice of the Lord
Assyria will be terrified,
When He strikes with the rod."
(Isa. 30:27-28, 30-31 NAS)
"The anger of the Lord will not turn back
The psalmist and prophets could hardly have expressed more strongly the
personal aspect of God's wrath. The wrath of God in these passages is
definitely not an impersonal, inexorable law of moral retribution. God
personally wills His deeds of wrath against man's sin.
Until He has performed and carried out the
purposes of His heart;..." (Jer. 23:20)
send My anger against you,
judge you according to your ways,
and bring on you all your abominations.
7:9 And My eye will show no pity, nor will I spare.
I will repay you according to your ways,
while your abominations are in your midst;
then you will know that I, the Lord, do the smiting."
(Ezek. 7:8-9 NAS).
"103:9 He will not always chide,
That God will have mercy, turning away His wrath, is not contradicted by the
statement that "the anger of the Lord will not turn back" (Jer. 23:10), for
this does not mean that He is implacable, only that He is not diverted from
His purposes by puny man. "The anger of the Lord will not be turned back
until He has performed and carried out the purpose of His heart..." (Jer.
23:20). This statement is just a denial of the pagan idea that God will
accept a bribe to appease His anger.
nor will He keep His anger forever.
103:10 He does not deal with us according to our sin,
nor requite us according to our iniquities.
103:11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him;
103:12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us."
(Psa. 103:9-12)
thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.
85:3 Thou hast taken away all thy wrath:
thou hast turned thyself from the fierness of thine anger."
(Psa. 85:2-3 KJV)
And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
He does not retain His anger forever,
Because He delights in unchangeing love.
7:19 He will again have compassion on us;
He will tread our iniquities underfoot.
Yes, Thou wilt cast all our sins
Into the depth of the sea." (Micah 7:18-19 NAS)
(See also Exodus 34:6-7; Numbers 14:18; Neh. 9:17;
Psa. 30:5; 86:15; 145:8; Isa. 57:16; Lam. 3:22-23;
Joel 2:12-13; Jonah 4:2; Nahum 1:2-3.)
WRATH AND PROPITIATION
"And Samuel said,
These divinely appointed offerings and sacrifices were intended to be a means
of turning away God's wrath, but the absence of a correct inward heart
attitude and the corresponding correct outward actions made them into an
empty ritual and an abomination to God. Without repentance and faith they
ceased to be an atonement or means of propitiation.
'Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed than the fat of rams.'"
(I Sam. 15:22)
otherwise I would give it;
Thou art not pleased with burnt offerings.
51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart, O God,
Thou wilt not despise." (Psa. 51:16-17 NAS)
and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."
(Hosea 6:6)
(See also Psa. 4:5; 40:6-8; 50:7-23; 69:30-31;
Prov. 15:8; 21:3; Isa. 1:11-17; Jer. 7:21-26;
Amos 5:21-24; Micah 6:6-8.)
END NOTES
(Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1956), p. 181.
(Boston: The Beacon Press, 1951), p. 10,
quoted in E. LaB. Cherbonnier, Hardness of Heart
(New York: Doubleday & Co., 1955), p. 153.
trans. Robert H. Fischer (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1959), p. 9.
(London: Fontana Books, 1960), pp. 49-50.