IS GOD ANGRY WITH SINNERS?

On July 8, 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached the most famous sermon ever delivered in the history of America.  It was entitled, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”.  This sermon painted God as full of anger and vengeful toward sinners.  Let’s read an excerpt from this sermon:

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours.

Is this view of God accurate?  Jonathan Edwards said, “God holds you over hell, that He abhors(HATES) you, that His wrath towards you burns like fire”.  What?  Is this the “Father” that Jesus showed us?  Absolutely Not!  Until the incarnation of Christ no man had ever truly seen or known God.  No, not even Moses, David, Elijah, or even Jacob.  They had caught glimpses of Him, but none of them really knew Him as Father.  Remember Phillip asked Jesus to show us the Father, Jesus replied, you’re looking at Him (John 14:8-9).  Jesus paints the Father as anything but angry.  According to Jesus, He is a God who does not condemn a woman caught in the very act of adultery (even though she didn’t repent or ask for forgiveness), He goes out of His way to converse with sinners, turns water into wine to keep the party going, and who takes tax collectors as His disciples, and dines with sinners.

Prior to Jesus’ coming, there was wrath from God against mankind for his sins. Once the Law was given by Moses, the Old Testament writers record a brutal history of God’s wrath upon sin and disobedience.  But all that changed at the cross of Jesus Christ.  Prior to the death of Jesus, people’s sins were held against them. But when Jesus died, God stopped holding people’s sins against them. This is exactly what the Bible teaches:

Hebrews 8:12 (NKJV) ¹²  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

Hebrews 10:17 (NKJV) ¹⁷  then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”

Isaiah spoke about this glorious New Covenant that would bring God’s anger to an end:

Isaiah 54:8-10 (NKJV) ⁸  With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” Says the LORD, your Redeemer. ⁹  “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. ¹⁰  For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,” Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.

2 Corinthians 5:19 (NKJV) ¹⁹  that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

The word “reconciliation” is talking about making peace. God was no longer holding our sins against us.   Instead, He imputed our sins to Jesus, making Jesus accountable for our sins. Thank God for Jesus!  This is why God is not angry with unbelievers.  At the cross, more than 2000 years ago, the sin of the whole world was forgiven by God and His grace was extended to all men.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. (Tit 2:11 NKJV)

However, a person must put their faith in this grace to receive it.  God has already reconciled the entire world to Himself through Jesus.  God has already allowed all punishment against sin to be poured out on the body of Jesus and has also forgiven everybody’s sin, but people have to believe in Jesus to receive the benefit of that forgiveness.  Because of Jesus, the wrath of God towards sin has been fully satisfied. I’m not saying there are no consequences for sin, because they are, it’s just not God punishing you.  Nor am I saying all are saved, because forgiveness does not equal salvation.  Salvation of course includes forgiveness of sin, but salvation is much more than mere forgiveness, it is eternal life.  Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life”.  It was not just that we sinned and needed forgiveness, it was that we were dead and needed life!

Christians have misconceptions about what the Christian life is all about.  Many Christians think that when they are going through hard and difficult circumstances that they’re being punished by God for some past sins.  This way of thinking is so pervasive in the church.  Nothing about “punishment” is part of our relationship with God.  Jesus took that all away when He was punished for us on the cross.  We are always forgiven, continuously, perpetually, and eternally forgiven, and accepted by Him.  His death has rendered us un-punishable! (Not un-discipline-able.)

No matter what your preacher tells you, God is not punishing you for your sin, nor is He judging America or any other nation for their sin.  I’ve heard preachers say, “If God doesn’t judge America, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.” The truth is that if God judges America for her sin, He will have to apologize to Jesus.  He would be saying, “sorry Son, your sacrifice was not enough, you didn’t take away their sin”.

God is extending His grace and goodness towards everybody on the planet (believers and unbelievers alike) because He wants them to see that He is good and that He loves them. It is the goodness of God that leads people to repentance, not holding people over hell:

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the

goodness of God leads you to repentance? (Rom 2:4 NKJV)

Our job is to show them the love of God, not condemn and judge them.  We are to do what                      2 Corinthians 5:20 tells us to do: “we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”  Could it be that what God wants from us is to experience His love and grace as people that are unpunishable— and then manifest that love and grace toward one another.  The sin debt has been paid. That’s why Jesus came. He suffered all of God’s wrath against all the sin of all of mankind. Those who receive God’s grace by accepting salvation as a gift by faith in Jesus no longer have any wrath against them. The Lord will never be angry with us again.  Jesus forever changed the way God relates to mankind.  Hallelujah!