On God's wrath, and doing apologetics without being apologetic
The Bible doesn’t apologize for God’s wrath. The Bible rejoices in God’s wrath.
I know that in our day and age, the discussion of God’s anger or wrath can cause many of us to be apologetic rather than to do apologetics.
Apologetics refers to the defense of the faith. The word apologetics comes from the Greek word apologia which means “defense.”
That’s very different from a related word which we use today - “apology.” This is when we say we are sorry for something we wish wasn’t true.
I don’t want you to feel like you have to apologize for God’s wrath, but rather I want you to feel equipped to give an apologetic, a defense, of God’s wrath.
When it comes to God’s wrath, I want you to do apologetics, not be apologetic.
The wrath, anger, and justice of God can definitely be a stumbling block for unbelievers and believers alike. That’s why we need apologetics.
So, while I don’t want you feeling like you have to apologize for God, I also don’t want you to simply brush off people’s genuine obstacles and concerns when it comes to God’s wrath.
We must show them that God’s wrath is a reality. But we must also show people why it is a good reality.
First, listen to the way the Bible speaks of God’s wrath and justice, and then compare that with how you speak of it.
Exodus 15:6–7 – Song of Moses after the Red Sea
“Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.”
Psalm 58:10–11
“The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. Mankind will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.’”
Revelation 11:17–18
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged… and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
The bible presents the wrath and justice of God as a good thing.
Why is this?
Because in displaying His wrath, God is glorified.
The reason the world exists, the reason you exist, is that God may be glorified. And what does that mean exactly?
That’s a Christianse phrase if there ever was one. What is the glory of God, and what does it mean for God to “be glorified?”
Louis Berkhof (Systematic Theology)
“The glory of God is the recognition of the excellence of His divine perfections, the manifestation of His attributes, and the honor ascribed to Him by His creatures.”
God is glorified when His attributes are manifested, made known, clearly apprehended and then rightly treasured and enjoyed.
And what are God’s attributes?
Holiness, Grace, Love, Mercy, Power, Justice, Wrath, Wisdom, Patience, Power - you could go on.
But notice that the display of many of those attributes requires the presence of sin. Hang with me.
In a world without sin, there is no grace.
In a world without suffering, there is no expression of divine mercy.
In a world without evil, there is no expression of divine justice.
God is being glorified in and through this broken world, because through our sin, His full range of attributes is put on full display.
And this includes His wrath. His justice.
In displaying His wrath, God is glorified, and seen to be holy, righteous, just, and all powerful.
When we see God judge the wicked, we praise Him for this expression of His character. He is thus glorified.
The wrath of God is a good thing because it brings relief to sufferers.
In a world without a just God, sufferers would never receive divine relief.
This is why the Israelites rejoiced in God’s wrath after crossing the red sea. Pharaoh and his armies had been crushed, granting relief to God’s people.
This is why the christians in Revelation rejoice at Satan and sin being destroyed, because it is then that those Christians experience ultimate and final release from the suffering of sin and satan.
In parts of the world where the persecution is severe, people don’t have trouble with God’s justice and wrath like we do.
But we are learning. As we suffer more and more for our beliefs, we will begin to find great relief in knowing that all causes of satanic or sinful suffering will one day be destroyed.
The wrath of God is a good thing because it means no evil will go unpunished
You may have heard the famous MLK quote: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
He meant that, one day, everybody is gonna pay for their sin. Justice will be served. All wrongs will be made right.
But without a holy and righteous and wrathful God, that’s just not true.
Without a consistently just judge of the universe, there are countless abusers and murderers and tyrants who will escape their sin soaked lives with no consequences.
But there is a just judge over the universe.
And all who do not repent of their sins and receive Christ will stand before Him one day so that, as Paul says, “each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
You’ve heard the phrase “no good deed goes unpunished.” That’s a clever way for us to complain about not getting what we think we deserve for doing the right thing.
But the opposite of that phrase is actually a very important truth that needs to shape your worldview:
Because there is a just and holy God, no bad deed will go unpunished.
But where does that leave us, people who are guilty of bad deeds?
The wrath of God is a good thing because it magnifies the grace of God through the cross
When you truly understand God’s burning anger towards sin, you will begin to truly marvel at the cross of Christ.
When you understand just what our sin deserves, you will rejoice more fully and freely at what we receive through Jesus Chrsit and His sacrificial death.
At the cross, God is glorified in the clearest way possible, because at the cross, the full range of His attributes is on display.
In the brutality of Christ’s death, we see the true ugliness of sin as well as the Father’s hatred of it.
We see God’s justice in that He does not merely sweep sin under the rug, He nails it to the cross in the bloody body of Jesus.
And in light of that justice and anger on display through the cross, we see more clearly God’s grace.
RC Sproul said: “The most violent expression of God’s wrath and justice is seen in the cross. If ever a person had room to complain of injustice, it was Jesus. He was the only innocent man ever to be punished by God. If we stagger at the wrath of God, let us stagger at the cross. Here is where our astonishment should be focused.”
The wrath of God, the justice of God, the anger of God towards sin, it is a good thing.
At the cross, God is glorified because His range of divine attributes are made manifest.
At the cross, the love of God delivers you from the wrath of God through the Son of God.
Know this: all sins will be paid for, either by a sinner in hell or a Savior on the cross.
God is offering us all a glorious and gracious way of escape. Jesus is the way out of wrath and into reconciliation.
When it comes to the wrath of God, may we always be ready to do apologetics, but may we never apologize, because in the wrath of God:
God is glorified.
Sufferers are delivered.
All wrongs are made right.
And the grace of God is clearly displayed through the wrath-removing sacrifice of Jesus at the cross.
I know that in our day and age, the discussion of God’s anger or wrath can cause many of us to be apologetic rather than to do apologetics.
Apologetics refers to the defense of the faith. The word apologetics comes from the Greek word apologia which means “defense.”
That’s very different from a related word which we use today - “apology.” This is when we say we are sorry for something we wish wasn’t true.
I don’t want you to feel like you have to apologize for God’s wrath, but rather I want you to feel equipped to give an apologetic, a defense, of God’s wrath.
When it comes to God’s wrath, I want you to do apologetics, not be apologetic.
The wrath, anger, and justice of God can definitely be a stumbling block for unbelievers and believers alike. That’s why we need apologetics.
So, while I don’t want you feeling like you have to apologize for God, I also don’t want you to simply brush off people’s genuine obstacles and concerns when it comes to God’s wrath.
We must show them that God’s wrath is a reality. But we must also show people why it is a good reality.
First, listen to the way the Bible speaks of God’s wrath and justice, and then compare that with how you speak of it.
Exodus 15:6–7 – Song of Moses after the Red Sea
“Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.”
Psalm 58:10–11
“The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. Mankind will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.’”
Revelation 11:17–18
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged… and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”
The bible presents the wrath and justice of God as a good thing.
Why is this?
Because in displaying His wrath, God is glorified.
The reason the world exists, the reason you exist, is that God may be glorified. And what does that mean exactly?
That’s a Christianse phrase if there ever was one. What is the glory of God, and what does it mean for God to “be glorified?”
Louis Berkhof (Systematic Theology)
“The glory of God is the recognition of the excellence of His divine perfections, the manifestation of His attributes, and the honor ascribed to Him by His creatures.”
God is glorified when His attributes are manifested, made known, clearly apprehended and then rightly treasured and enjoyed.
And what are God’s attributes?
Holiness, Grace, Love, Mercy, Power, Justice, Wrath, Wisdom, Patience, Power - you could go on.
But notice that the display of many of those attributes requires the presence of sin. Hang with me.
In a world without sin, there is no grace.
In a world without suffering, there is no expression of divine mercy.
In a world without evil, there is no expression of divine justice.
God is being glorified in and through this broken world, because through our sin, His full range of attributes is put on full display.
And this includes His wrath. His justice.
In displaying His wrath, God is glorified, and seen to be holy, righteous, just, and all powerful.
When we see God judge the wicked, we praise Him for this expression of His character. He is thus glorified.
The wrath of God is a good thing because it brings relief to sufferers.
In a world without a just God, sufferers would never receive divine relief.
This is why the Israelites rejoiced in God’s wrath after crossing the red sea. Pharaoh and his armies had been crushed, granting relief to God’s people.
This is why the christians in Revelation rejoice at Satan and sin being destroyed, because it is then that those Christians experience ultimate and final release from the suffering of sin and satan.
In parts of the world where the persecution is severe, people don’t have trouble with God’s justice and wrath like we do.
But we are learning. As we suffer more and more for our beliefs, we will begin to find great relief in knowing that all causes of satanic or sinful suffering will one day be destroyed.
The wrath of God is a good thing because it means no evil will go unpunished
You may have heard the famous MLK quote: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
He meant that, one day, everybody is gonna pay for their sin. Justice will be served. All wrongs will be made right.
But without a holy and righteous and wrathful God, that’s just not true.
Without a consistently just judge of the universe, there are countless abusers and murderers and tyrants who will escape their sin soaked lives with no consequences.
But there is a just judge over the universe.
And all who do not repent of their sins and receive Christ will stand before Him one day so that, as Paul says, “each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
You’ve heard the phrase “no good deed goes unpunished.” That’s a clever way for us to complain about not getting what we think we deserve for doing the right thing.
But the opposite of that phrase is actually a very important truth that needs to shape your worldview:
Because there is a just and holy God, no bad deed will go unpunished.
But where does that leave us, people who are guilty of bad deeds?
The wrath of God is a good thing because it magnifies the grace of God through the cross
When you truly understand God’s burning anger towards sin, you will begin to truly marvel at the cross of Christ.
When you understand just what our sin deserves, you will rejoice more fully and freely at what we receive through Jesus Chrsit and His sacrificial death.
At the cross, God is glorified in the clearest way possible, because at the cross, the full range of His attributes is on display.
In the brutality of Christ’s death, we see the true ugliness of sin as well as the Father’s hatred of it.
We see God’s justice in that He does not merely sweep sin under the rug, He nails it to the cross in the bloody body of Jesus.
And in light of that justice and anger on display through the cross, we see more clearly God’s grace.
RC Sproul said: “The most violent expression of God’s wrath and justice is seen in the cross. If ever a person had room to complain of injustice, it was Jesus. He was the only innocent man ever to be punished by God. If we stagger at the wrath of God, let us stagger at the cross. Here is where our astonishment should be focused.”
The wrath of God, the justice of God, the anger of God towards sin, it is a good thing.
At the cross, God is glorified because His range of divine attributes are made manifest.
At the cross, the love of God delivers you from the wrath of God through the Son of God.
Know this: all sins will be paid for, either by a sinner in hell or a Savior on the cross.
God is offering us all a glorious and gracious way of escape. Jesus is the way out of wrath and into reconciliation.
When it comes to the wrath of God, may we always be ready to do apologetics, but may we never apologize, because in the wrath of God:
God is glorified.
Sufferers are delivered.
All wrongs are made right.
And the grace of God is clearly displayed through the wrath-removing sacrifice of Jesus at the cross.
Recent
On God's wrath, and doing apologetics without being apologetic
June 26th, 2026
On Bad News, Charlie Kirk, September 11th, and the Crucifixion
June 26th, 2026
15 Tactics for Cultivating a Fruitful Devotional Life
June 26th, 2026
On SBC 26
June 26th, 2026
Cutting Room Floor - David and Goliath
June 26th, 2026