The Holiness of God - chapter 9: "God in the Hands of Angry Sinners"

The Holiness of God – By R. C. Sproul

"God in the Hands of Angry Sinners" – Chapter Nine

Out of Style

• The concept of a holy God who judges in divine wrath is unthinkable to most in modern society.
• Our age is more in tune with the quest for happiness, self-improvement, and the power of positive thinking.

Holy Wrath

• Holiness demands righteousness
• Righteousness demands justice.
• We violate his holiness; we insult his justice; we make light of his grace.
• How could a holy God be anything but angry with us?

Edwards on God’s Wrath

• God’s wrath is divine.
• Perfect and infinite.
• God’s wrath is fierce.
• No moderation or mercy in hell.
• God’s wrath is everlasting.
• No end to the anger of God directed at those in hell.

Ignorance Is Bliss

• Most are content to ignore or rationalize away the Bible’s teaching on the wrath of God and divine punishment.
• We are too good to go there.
• God is too loving to send anyone there.

God or god?

• What is our reaction to a holy God who exercises divine wrath?
• Most in our society are repelled by it; they would rather believe in a God of love who never shows wrath.
• But who gets to decide what God is like or what attributes he has?

Hating God

• If we hate the wrath of God, it is because we hate God himself.
• The unconverted naturally hate God. We are God’s enemies.
• By nature, we oppose God’s government and refuse His rule over us. The love of God is not in us.

For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (Romans 5:10, NIV)

The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. (Romans 8:7, NIV)

Killing God

• Because of our desire to rule ourselves, God is our natural mortal enemy.
• When given the opportunity, people murdered God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, by crucifying him as a criminal.

Vestiges of the Old Mind

• But what about us as believers? Don’t we love God because of his grace shown to us?
• Yes, but there remain vestiges of our fallen nature. We continue to struggle with delighting in God and loving him with all our heart.

Who raises the dead?

• Many believe that sinners dead in trespasses and sins have the power to raise themselves by choosing to be born again.
• But only God has the power to raise dead sinners. New birth is a gift of the Spirit granted by grace.

Amazing Grace

• “We may dislike giving our attention to God’s wrath and justice, but until we incline ourselves to these aspects of God’s nature, we will never appreciate what has been wrought for us by grace.”