Examining "A More Christlike Word"
by Brad Jersak
Day 46
“For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.” (Paul’s concern from 2 Corinthians 11:4)
|
The False Filter |
The Biblical Filter |
|
The word OR the Word |
The Word THROUGH the word |
- What does
Romans 5:9 mean in speaking about “the wrath”? Is this the “wrath of God”
as translated, or is it someone else’s wrath?
For
ease of reference, here is Romans 5:9 in the five translations BJ used:
|
Romans 5:9 ESV |
Romans 5:9 NIV |
Romans 5:9 NTE |
Romans 5:9 NASB |
Romans 5:9 NET |
|
Since, therefore, we have now been justified
by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. |
Since we have now been justified by his
blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! |
How much more, in that case—since we have
been declared to be in the right by his blood—are we going to be saved by him
from God’s coming anger! |
Much more then, having now been justified by
His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. |
Much more then, because we have now been
declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s
wrath. |
We
left the first question as “uncertain” because I do not have the knowledge or
resources to find out if the word ὀργῆς (orge) includes “of God” or not. We also saw there is nothing remotely
suggesting it refers to our wrath against Jesus. We moved on to the second
question, which is,
2. How does Paul speak of “wrath” in
Romans, and then in his other epistles?
We
discovered right away that Romans 1:18 answers whether Paul’s reference to
wrath means “wrath of God” because it says, “For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their
unrighteousness suppress the truth” and that is what the Greek clearly states.
Let’s
now look at the other references to wrath in Romans and see what else we learn.
I will use a simple format to consider what the verse says, what the Greek
says, and what it means to Romans 5:9. I will stick with the ESV, but feel free
to compare translations.
|
|
Romans 1:18 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. |
“orge theou” = “wrath of God” |
Supports “wrath of God” in 5:9 |
|
|
Romans 2:5 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath
for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be
revealed. |
“orge” = “wrath” “righteous judgment” = “just condemnation” |
The wrath is God’s since it comes on “the day of wrath” when it is
“God’s judgment” that is revealed. |
|
|
Romans 2:8 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey
unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. |
“wrath” is again “orge” “fury” is “punishment ⇔ fury n. — the punitive outworking of God’s righteous indignation at sin;
perhaps describing an anger quickly kindled” (BSL) |
This is God’s wrath because it rhymes with the previous verse that
refers to God giving eternal life to those who serve him. He gives wrath and
fury to those who do not. |
|
|
Romans 3:5 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God,
what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak
in a human way.) |
“wrath” = “orge” |
This supports wrath “of God” since it again pictures wrath as something
God inflicts. |
|
|
Romans 4:15 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no
transgression. |
“wrath” = “orge” |
Supports wrath “of God” since God gave the law that “brings wrath”. |
|
|
Romans 5:9 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more
shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. |
“wrath” = “orge” |
So far, all other references support wrath “of God”. |
|
|
Romans 9:22 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power,
has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, |
“wrath” = “orge” in both instances |
This supports wrath “of God” since Paul speaks of “his wrath”. This
also debunks the claim that Jeremiah 17:9 speaks of God adoring us
criminal-hearted sinners. Those who do not know Christ are “vessels of wrath
prepared for destruction". |
|
|
Romans 12:19 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God,
for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” |
“wrath” = “orge” This is another instance where the “of God” is not explicitly stated
but the “vengeance is mine” says it is the meaning. |
Leaving vengeance to “the wrath” can only mean “the wrath of God” as
is affirmed by the “vengeance is mine” which can only apply to “the Lord”. |
|
|
Romans 13:4 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
or he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid,
for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an
avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. |
“wrath” = “orge” |
It is “God’s servant” avenging wrath as God’s wrath. |
|
|
Romans 13:5 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but
also for the sake of conscience. |
“wrath = “orge” |
Whose wrath is in question goes back to “God’s servant” |
The
last two references used wrath in relation to earthly punishments from earthly
leaders. However, even in that, it is pointing back to God as the master.
All
the rest are agreed that Paul’s focus on “wrath” is in reference to the wrath
of God that is to come in the judgment. There is no getting around the fact
that God is a God of wrath, judgment, vengeance, and condemnation on sinners
who do not receive his Son. There is no inherent goodness in our deceived and
deceiving little hearts to merit God’s adoring gaze. His love for his beloved
children stands out quite differently from that.
The second part of this question is to focus on how Paul refers to “the wrath” in the rest of his epistles. This will help us get a sense of how significant this is to our understanding of our sinful condition, the judgment awaiting the lost, what Jesus endured for us on the cross, and what an amazing thing it is that Jesus has propitiated that wrath in order that we could be justified by his blood.
|
|
Ephesians 2:3 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying
out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath, like the rest of mankind. |
“wrath” = “orge” |
This supports the translation regarding our deceitful hearts very
clearly and shows that “children of wrath” means children deserving the wrath
of God as described in God’s word. |
|
|
Ephesians 4:31 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put
away from you, along with all malice. |
“wrath” = “fury” “anger” = “orge/wrath” |
This is appropriate that believers would not give way to such intense
anger and wrath as Jesus has delivered us from! |
|
|
Ephesians 5:6 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things
the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. |
“wrath of God” = “orge tou Theou”, which clearly means, “wrath of
God”. |
The “wrath of God” is coming on the unredeemed, and the only reason it
is not coming on Jesus’ brothers is that Jesus has already propitiated that
wrath. |
|
|
Colossians 3:6 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
On account of these the wrath of God is coming. |
“wrath of God” = “orge tou Theou” (wrath of God) |
Same warning that sinners are awaiting the day of God’s wrath. |
|
|
Colossians 3:8 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and
obscene talk from your mouth. |
“anger” = “orge” “wrath” = “fury” |
Again, when applied to believers, there is no place for wrath, anger,
and fury when Jesus has delivered us from such things by his blood. |
|
|
1 Thessalonians 1:10 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead,
Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. |
“wrath” = “orge” |
Simply repeating the message that God’s wrath is “to come”, but Jesus
delivers us from this event. |
|
|
1 Thessalonians 2:16 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
by hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles that they might be
saved—so as always to fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come
upon them at last! |
“wrath” = “orge” |
It was the Jews who tried to hinder the gospel from getting to the
Gentiles. Paul spoke of the wrath/punishment that was coming to them. |
|
|
1 Thessalonians 5:9 |
|
|
What the verse says |
What the Greek says |
How it applies |
|
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through
our Lord Jesus Christ, |
“wrath” = “orge” |
Paul has already made clear that this is the “wrath of God” that is to
come. He doesn’t say it won’t happen, but that believers are not destined for
it because of Christ. |
I will
close this look at Paul’s focus on “wrath” with a description of “the wrath to
come” that describes what it will be like for the lost. I do not share this
because I like the sound of God’s justice against sinners. It horrifies me to
think of what people will bear as the just condemnation for their sins. I am only
addressing that BJ is lying that “wrath” is not “the wrath of God” because he
used a verse from Paul’s letters that did not specify the “of God” part and
hoped no one would go looking at the context. The context says God will express
his wrath against the unredeemed, and the only reason he will not express it
against the redeemed is because he already has! On his Son!
This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering— since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed (II Thessalonians 1:5-10).
I will
let this speak for itself. It is why we MUST reject, renounce, and forsake the
“another Jesus”, the “different spirit”, and the “different gospel” of the BJs
because only in the gospel found in the Bible, taken as literally as it is
described, do we have the “good news of great joy” that we now have “a Savior,
who is Christ the Lord.” There is still time to make Jesus known, but not the
“another Jesus” of Brad Jersak and his kin.
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text
Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.)
A More Christlike Word © 2021 by Bradley Jersak Whitaker House 1030 Hunt
Valley Circle • New Kensington, PA 15068 www.whitakerhouse.com
Jersak, Bradley. A More Christlike Word: Reading Scripture the
Emmaus Way. Whitaker House. Kindle Edition.
Definitions from the Bible Sense Lexicon (BSL) in Logos Bible
Systems
No comments:
Post a Comment