of us are angry we got pulled over
and try to talk a cop into letting us off
the hook for speeding. And we often
come up with some real doozies for
why we shouldn’t get the tickets we
so richly deserve.
Unfortunately, we can be that way
with God. We make excuses for why
we sin so that God won’t discipline
us when we do. And sometimes we
go even farther off the rails by feeling
bitter and resentful when God finally
gives us “tickets.” We need to think
twice about being that way toward
God, as He is only trying to help us
grow and make the world a safer
place to live in when He disciplines
us for messing up. Our response to
God’s discipline, strangely enough,
should be to thank Him, given that
it is an expression of His love and
goodness (Prov. 3:11–12).
us with an incentive to obey Him.
If we are wise, we don’t want to
bring bad things on ourselves by
disobeying Him. Only a fool would
purposely incur the wrath of God by
being disobedient. Truly wise people
obey God so they not only avoid
His wrath but also bring about His
blessings.
God’s Wrath Expresses Itself
in Three Primary Ways
If you study the way God interacts
with people in the Bible who sinned,
you can make a case that there are
three basic ways God expresses His
wrath.
First, God’s wrath is expressed by
allowing natural consequences to
come your way. If you have a lead
foot as a driver, God will express His
righteous anger about your breaking
the speed limit by letting you receive
God’s Wrath Is an Incentive
an expensive ticket. If that is enough
for Us to Live Holy Lives
to get your attention and lead you
God expresses His wrath to try to
to slow down, that is as far as God’s
spur us to live holy and righteous lives. wrath will go on the matter.
Can you imagine what we would be
Second, God’s wrath is expressed
like as motorists if cops didn’t patrol
in that “the Lord disciplines the one
the highways? Would very many of us he loves” (Heb. 12:6). The following is
obey the speed limit? I don’t think so. an imperfect analogy, but if you get
Police officers who set up radar traps ten speeding tickets in a short span of
are giving us an incentive to drive in
time, the police will discipline you by
a more “holy” manner. We ought to
taking away your license so you can’t
thank them for that, not curse them.
drive. God is that way as well. If the
God is that way as well. God’s
natural consequences of a sin were
wrath is not His being a sadist who
not enough to get you to repent,
loves to inflict pain; it is His providing
God will bring some form of painful
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