The Fate Of Disobedience Series

“It was also about [lawless people] that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ‘Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgement on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.’” [1]

Undoubtedly, one of the saddest assignments for any minister of the Gospel is that of warning of the fate of disobedience. For this reason the subject is frequently neglected for pulpit discourse or even rejected as unworthy of consideration. Still, those passages which speak of the wrath of God remain in Scripture. Wishful thinking does not remove them from the Word, neither does ignoring them lessen the awesome impact when they are fulfilled.

Is God cruel if He punishes those who reject His overtures of grace and mercy? Is the minister sadistic because he warns of impending judgement for that man who persists in relentlessly pursuing his own way while turning from the perfect sacrifice which God has provided in His own Son. These questions are not new to our world. Nearly two thousand years ago the Apostle Paul dealt with these very issues. “What shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world” [ROMANS 3:5b-6]?

Some of the saddest passages in the entirety of Scripture bespeak God’s judgement against unbelief, warning of judgement of unbelievers. What is gained from a perusal of such passages? Why would the Holy Spirit include such material in the Word? The answers are as ancient as the questions, just as the sainted Apostle to the Gentiles has written: “[A]ll have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” [ROMANS 3:23].

Paul has compiled a number of passages revealing mankind’s character, writing,

“None is righteous, no, not one;

no one understands;

no one seeks for God.

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;

no one does good,

not even one.”

“Their throat is an open grave;

they use their tongues to deceive.”

“The venom of asps is under their lips.”

“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”

“Their feet are swift to shed blood;

in their paths are ruin and misery,

and the way of peace they have not known.”

[ROMANS 3:10-17]

Then, the Apostle adds the most damning accusation of all when he writes,

“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

[ROMANS 3:18].

Jude describes mankind as, “Wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever” [JUDE 13]. This description fits each of us, none being excluded.

No one is born a Christian, nor can anyone claim to be a Christian—a follower of the Christ—by virtue of association with national, cultural, or social institutions. You cannot claim to be a Christian—a follower of the Christ—because you are a member of a church. Catholics, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Baptists—people representing every denomination known to mankind, will be in Hell because they trusted in their church affiliation rather than trusting in Christ as Master over life. Jesus warned against trusting in one’s religious affiliation when He said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” [MATTHEW 7:21-23].

We must never forget that each individual is born in sin; and by nature we are all objects of wrath—not one of us is excluded from this awful condemnation. David, in his confession of his own sinfulness delivered after he had been confronted by God’s prophet, admitted a dark truth for all mankind, writing,

“Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,

and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

[PSALM 51:5]

It is not that the birth of a child is sinful, but the child that is born is contaminated by the unseen virus of sin. From first cry, each child is under sentence of death. Our children are sinners by virtue of humanity’s fallen condition. Babies are innocent, but they are still under sentence of death. This is the awful truth that we know instinctively.

What is not always recognised, and what must be declared by the redeemed of the Lord, is that our pitiful, broken condition elicited the love of God. And His divine love procured the means for our salvation and adoption into His eternal family through the sacrifice of Jesus Who is the Son of God.