154 – SAVED FROM THE WRATH
Does Jesus Christ save man from the wrath of god or from the wrath of the devil? He cannot save from the wrath of the devil, for the devil is a seducer (2 Cor.11:14; Luke 4:5-8). We see the example of Adam and Eve (Gen.3:1-6). Jehovah is the one who punishes with wrath (Gen.3:22-24; Ps.6:1; 38:1-2). “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says Jehovah” (Rom.12:19; Deut.32:35). No one surrenders to the devil for fear, but for pleasure (2 Tim.2:25-26). Those who surrender to Jehovah do it for fear, so it is written, “The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov.1:7; 9:10; Ps.111:10).
The method of Jehovah to draw persons to him is by threats. “God is a righteous judge, and a God who has indignation every day. If a man does not repent, He will sharpen His sword; he has bent His bow and made it ready. He has also prepared for Himself deadly weapons; He makes His arrows fiery shafts” (Ps.7:11-13).
To save from the devil is to save from alcohol, smoking, drugs, prostitution, lying, injustice, sodomy and crime. These things are the works of darkness (Eph.5:3-8). Jesus sent Paul to “open their eyes to turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God” (Acts 26:18).
Jesus delivers the lost, which the devil deceived and seduced, from the condemnation of Jehovah. Those who do not accept the deliverance of Jesus remain under the wrath of Jehovah (John 3:36). Jehovah said, “And I will execute vengeance in anger against the nations which have not obeyed” (Mic. 5:15). “He who is far off will die by the plague, and he who is near will fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged will die by the famine. Thus shall I spend My wrath on them” (Ezek.6:12). Jehovah saves up his wrath, and the fury of it accumulates to be spent in cruel vengeance(Nah.1:2).
The wrath of Jehovah passes on to the New Testament: “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3:36). “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Eph.5:6; Col.3:5; 1 Thess.2:14-16). The wrath of Jehovah is eternal and does not give place to love. John the Baptist said, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matt.3:7). The evil men gather wrath for the day of wrath in the future (Rom.2:5). Jesus delivers us from the future wrath (1 Thess.1:10). It is proven that Jesus does not deliver from the wrath of the devil, rather, from the wrath of Jehovah.
We read in Revelations: “He also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb” (Rev.14:10). Jehovah will tread under foot, in the winepress of his anger, those who are condemned (Rev.14:19-20; Is.63:3-4). In the heat of his anger, at the end of this world, Jehovah will pour out his plagues (Rev.15:1; 16:19).
In the cross, Christ made void the curses of the Law, which include the plagues of wrath, the pestilences, etc. But Jehovah will make void the expiatory sacrifice of Christ, and he will return with double wrath, fury, pestilences, plagues and curses. If the curses and plagues of Jehovah are stronger than the work of Christ on the cross, God is not love, but anger and hatred. How does John affirm that God is love? “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and every one who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). The love of God the Father did not reach the Old Testament. There, there was only wrath, fury and vengeance: every one was dead and condemned: “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already” (John 3:18; Rom.5:17).
Nevertheless, the wrath and the fury of Jehovah reached the New Testament. We conclude that god is not love, but wrath. At the end of everything, wrath will triumph over the works of love. “And the nations were enraged, and Thy wrath came, and the time came for the dead” (Rev.11:18; 15:1).
Why is it written that God is love? Because Jesus came to save from the wrath of Jehovah. “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him” (Rom.5:9). We conclude that, if to the ones saved by Jesus Christ, Jehovah is love, and to the ones who are not saved, Jehovah is wrath and fury, god does not show charity, and he is two-faced. God is partial. To the ones in the Old Testament, he reserved wrath and vengeance. To the ones of the New Testament, only the saved ones will enjoy his love; the rest, that is almost the totality, is under wrath. God is not love, for he loves only those of the inner circle.
We take the side of John, who declared that God the Father is love, and because he is love, he loved the world—that is, sinners—and sent his Son to save them (John 3:16-17). “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom.5:8). God loves sinners, and he does not feel anger towards them, but compassion. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
Jehovah is the god of this world, the god of wrath, fury vengeance, and destruction and death (2 Cor.4:4).
The Father is not the God of this polluted, foul, dark and cruel world, for his kingdom is not in here. Paul knew this: “The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim.4:18).
Peter knew it: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Pet.1:3-4). Jesus taught it: “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3). And this wonderful kingdom of God is not the kingdom of wrath, but of love. “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Col.1:12-13).
The one who believes in the Gospel and has abandoned the wrath of Jehovah, being transferred to the arms of God the Father through Jesus (John 14:6), is a Christian and belongs to Christ. Whoever continues believing in the wrath belongs to Jehovah, and has not been delivered by Jesus, being still in the hands of Satan.
By Pastor Olavo Silveira Pereira