The Wrath of Man and the Righteousness of God

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 01:19-20, NKJV).

James, the half-brother of Jesus, was transformed from a skeptic sibling to a “pillar of the Jerusalem church”.

He became one of the leaders of the First Jerusalem Council, and helped author the vitally important 1^st century encyclical that stands to this day, declaring that Gentiles do not need to become Jews to become Christians.

I suspect that his transformation in the Lord was stark and vivid, meaning that what kind of man he was before belief, versus afterwards, was obvious and very different. I throw this out there as speculation on my part, based on my studies in the books of Acts and James. You can just throw it out if you wish.

In any event, I believe that he writes about the wrath of man from the perspective of someone well-versed in his own anger, and his conclusion is that it is, in general, a bad thing. Paul echoes the same thought when he writes in Romans to “give place to wrath”, meaning to literally put it away where it belongs.

The Greek word for wrath in the focus verse above is more an action verb than a state of being. It is orge (or-gay'), coincidentally reminiscent of Ogre, a mythical man-eating giant of notoriously bad temperament.

Now this same active emotion, when applied to God, as it often is in Scripture, has an entirely different connotation, since God is of an entirely different nature. He is pure, holy and righteous, while we, at the very core of our natural being, are none of those things. In fact, we are their antithesis.

God's wrath is never separated from His judgment and rightful punishment of sin. It is held in check, for now, by His own choice, because He is long-suffering, and chooses to forestall pouring out His wrath until the appointed time; a future day and hour ordained from before the foundation of the world.

When that time comes, God's wrath will be sustained, inevitable, and utterly effective in accomplishing His purpose of cleansing the world of evil. His wrath will produce His righteousness.

Human wrath is altogether different. It is characterized by outbursts: uncontrolled (or barely controlled) explosions of self-serving anger that, without exception, produces bad results.

This is not to say that there is never cause for justified anger, but the difference between the two emotional contexts is crucial, and it is simply this - anger solely on behalf of oneself, for whatever reason, is what James calls the wrath of man and does not result in right behavior or outcomes.

Righteous anger on behalf of someone else, because they are being treated unjustly, leading to a controlled and judicious response, is good. It is what motivates humans to protect the weak and rescue the helpless.

Without that latter kind of anger, the world would be far worse than it already is.

Ironically, it is often the results of self-serving human wrath that necessitates responding with anger for the benefit of others. In large part, without the first kind, their would be little need for the second.

So what is the remedy? How do you and me inoculate ourselves from our own natural rage? In James words, how do we become slow to wrath?

Think “3 R's”: Recognize who we really are; Respond to provocation (real or imagined) on the basis of that recognition, and; leave whatever Revenge may be called for in the Lord's hands.

So who are we really? Depraved, debased sinners, so blinded by our own wickedness that we have no clue as to how bad we really are.

While this flies in the face of our own undeserved and delusional pride (which is, itself, a foundational part of our evil nature), the evidence of human depravity is incontrovertible.

History is filled to overflowing with it, like an ancient Roman vomitorium. Current events are replete with it, and unless you are insane, or incapable of perception, these statements are self-evident.

Collectively and individually, our thoughts, motives, and sinful actions are fueled by this depravity. While it is true that many of us are not as depraved as we could be, it is equally true, that given the “right” circumstances, even that thin veneer of civility and rationality can be ripped away like the gossamer strands of a spider's web.

What we are powered by is an almost unassailable sense of entitlement, when all we actually deserve is God's wrathful, righteous judgment against sin. For the wages of sin is death.

When we accept the Lord as our Savior and King, He begins to transform us into His image, refining us in the fire of His Holy Spirit indwelling us, but that process of sanctification remains unfinished until our death, or His return. Day by day we live at war within ourselves, old nature against new, and far more often than we realize, we surrender in that fight with little resistance.

So Recognizing who we really are leads to understanding what we really deserve, and puts whatever offenses that come our way in truthful perspective.

Someone cognizant of their own death sentence, or fatal disease (for that's what sin is), will be less inclined to lose self-control over what, in comparison to the ultimate judgment being carried out, turns out to be a minor slight.

In other words, in Response to our self-recognition, we can temper our natural inclination to outbursts of wrath. It is similar to the lesson an infant learns as he or she matures into toddlerhood and then older childhood.

As infants, everything is self. There is no differentiation between me and not me. My rage at unsatisfied physical and emotional needs as a baby is expressed in full force, without reservation, as if the world were all mine.

Toddlers with any sense at all, learn to mitigate that natural expression by taking a longer view. They know from experience and increasing self-awareness that unbridled rage at not getting what they want is mostly counterproductive, unless parented by weak-minded adults who themselves have no sense and retreat and surrender in the face of their little ones' tantrums.

Older children recognize their own limitations even further, and especially when given a truthful view of themselves and the world, understand that what they want, and what they actually deserve, can be two very different things, indeed.

(There is nothing more blessed than a child's sweetly reasonable response to being told, “No,” by a duly authorized caregiver.)

That leaves only those offenses and injustices that come our way that may, objectively, require retribution. How do we, in our own strength, handle the natural outpouring of wrath that threatens to overwhelm us at those times?

We who walk with the Lord can respond with this assurance: “'Vengeance is mine, I will repay!' says the LORD.”

That is the third R in the Recognition, Response and Revenge formula. Leave revenge in His hands. He is infinitely better at it than you or I will ever be, and He promises repeatedly to avenge the evil done to His children.

So rather than an debased, wrathful response to the world and others, we can Relax (the resulting 4^th R of the proposed spiritual equation), at least a little. And in the end, that's really all it takes, for when the metaphorical finger is removed just a little bit away from that hair-trigger of wrath, the Lord can work within us, taking our thought captive, and allowing Him to work through us.

It's like the gospel itself in a way, easy to understand, but unless we surrender to its truth, impossible to accomplish in our own strength.