Articles
God Is …(6)
God Is …(6)
Greg King
God is a God of justice and wrath. God’s justice is based upon His immutable, Divine nature. In the NT, the words “just” and “righteous” are used to convey the idea of justice. So, when we consider God’s justice, we are also considering His “righteousness”. God in every situation will always do what is right. God loves righteousness, so He executes absolute justice and judgment. God’s holiness will not permit Him to look upon sin. Because God hates sin (Psa. 5:5), and is just in dealing with man, He must by His very nature of holiness punish the evil doer. It is shallow thinking and close-mindedness to conclude that God’s goodness and holiness must cancel out His justice. Godliness and holiness demand justice. God would not be good nor holy if He failed to render justice toward the righteous and unrighteous. Who is ready to call a judge good that never renders a verdict to punish the evildoer? Only the criminal!
The Bible makes it clear that God is a God of justice and wrath. Romans 1:18 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” The Hebrew writer tells us in chapter 10 verse 31, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” He also states in chapter 12 verse 29, “For our God is a consuming fire.”
We must be careful not to think of God as altogether as we are, especially in the area of justice and wrath. The sin of Adam and Eve illustrates God’s justice. After creating them God gave them a positive divine law which also included penalty for violating the law (Gen. 2:16-17). It is an illustration to us that while God is loving, merciful, gracious, and longsuffering; He said what He meant and means what He said. Are you listening?
