Scriptorium
The New Testament is filled with teaching against anger:
(1) anger is to be put away (Ephesians 4:31; Colossians 3:8);
(2) whoever is angry is in danger of judgment (Matthew 5:22);
(3) anger is one of the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-20);
(4) anger does not bring out God’s righteousness (James 1:20);
(5) anger is the prerogative of God, not man (Romans 12:19); and
(6) anger must not cause us to sin (Ephesians 4:26).
Yet, you may be thinking, “but Jesus was angry.” This is true as we learn from Mark 3:5: “He looked around at them in anger….” In spite of this, I do not want to concentrate on God’s anger, for it surely is not the same as our anger considering that God is completely holy and we wholly corrupt. The anger of God is a deliberate reaction to all that violates his holy nature whereas our anger is retributive.
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In conclusion, we must now answer the question, how do we overcome the vice of anger with the virtue of justice? Well, the answer is quite simple: we must always remember that when we become angry it is because of sin – whether our own or someone else’s. Our anger is never (or rarely) righteous and is motivated out of a desire for revenge. God, on the other hand, acts against people who have offended his holy and righteous nature. God’s response to anger is always just. This is illustrated well in Psalm 73. (more)
