This is our fifth sermon on just three verses. You might ask, “Pastor, why spend so much time here?” The answer is simple: if you don’t understand the depth of your depravity, you will never understand the height of your salvation. These verses are the foundation of the entire Bible.
Most of the lack of joy, peace, and worship in Christianity today exists because people refuse to believe these verses. 90% of modern “Christianity” argues that man is merely sick—someone in a hospital who needs a little help, a little medicine, or a “self-help” boost. But the Bible says we were dead—dead in a mortuary, unable to lift a finger toward God.
We have followed the W.O.R.S.T. steps of our past condition: Wholly dead, Only worldly, Roped by Satan, and Slaves to lust. Today, we reach the final, terrifying conclusion: Totally Under Wrath.
Understanding the W-RUN of Wrath
To grasp what it means to be “children of wrath,” we look at four headings:
1. W – Wrath: The Meaning
God’s wrath is not like human anger. Human anger is often an emotional outburst or a loss of control. God’s wrath is a judicial necessity. It is the settled, holy opposition of His infinite purity against sin.
- Holiness in Action: Because God is infinitely holy, He must be infinitely angry with sin. If He ignored sin, He would cease to be holy; He would be committing “character suicide.”
- A Consuming Fire: Because God is eternal, His wrath is eternal. Because He is infinite, His wrath is infinite.
2. R – Relationship: Treasuring Up Wrath
Why does it seem like nothing happens when people sin today? Why is the sky silent? Do not mistake God’s patience for powerlessness. Romans 2:4-5 tells us that the “goodness of God” is meant to lead us to repentance, but the impenitent heart is “treasuring up wrath” for the Day of Wrath.
Imagine a massive, invisible dam holding back an ocean of fire. Every day a person continues in unrepentant sin, they are adding more weight, more pressure, and more terror behind that wall. One day, the dam will burst.
3. U – Universality: Manifest Samples
God has given us “trailers” or previews of His wrath throughout history so that no one can say they weren’t warned:
- The banishment of Adam and Eve.
- The Great Flood that destroyed the ancient world.
- The fire that consumed Sodom and Gomorrah.
- The plagues of Egypt.
- Modern Warnings: Even in our time—Tsunamis, earthquakes, and global pandemics—are reminders that we live in a fallen world under the shadow of judgment.
4. N – Native: The Wrath of Abandonment
Perhaps the most terrifying form of wrath is described in Romans 1: The Wrath of Abandonment. When people repeatedly suppress the truth, God eventually says, “Thy will be done,” and He gives them up.
- He gives them up to uncleanness.
- He gives them up to vile passions.
- He gives them up to a debased mind.
If you can sin without any “check” in your conscience, if you can chase your lusts and “nothing happens,” you are in the most dangerous position. God is allowing you to fill your cup of sin to the brim so that He may reveal the full height of His justice in the end. This abandonment is a sample of Hell—a place where God’s restraining grace is completely removed.
The Divine Reversal
As terrible as this message is, it is the only path to the “But God” of verse 4. You must see the W-RUN to appreciate the B.E.S.T. * Wrath is what we deserved.
- Relationship with the Prince of Darkness was our reality.
- Universal depravity was our state.
- Native children of wrath was our identity.
But the Gospel is this: Jesus Christ took that infinite ocean of fire upon Himself. On the cross, the dam burst, and the fire of God’s wrath fell on the Son so that it would not have to fall on you.
Application:
- Stop Despising God’s Patience: If you are alive today, it is because God is giving you time to repent. Do not use His silence as an excuse to sin more.
- Examine Your Conscience: Are you in a state of “abandonment”? Does sin no longer bother you? If so, cry out to God to break your heart before the Day of Wrath arrives.
- Run to Christ: He is the only ark that can survive the flood of fire.
The weight of the water behind the dam is growing every second. Will you wait for it to burst, or will you seek the mercy found only in Christ today?
How does the reality of God’s stored-up wrath change the way you view His “silence” in your life right now?
The Doctrine of God’s Wrath and Total Depravity
I submit to you, brothers and sisters, this very brief but terrible doctrine of God’s wrath. If you understood even 1% of the wrath of God, you would do everything to RUN from it. To help us grasp this, we look at the acronym W-RUN:
- W – Meaning of Wrath
- R – Relationship to Wrath
- U – Universality of Wrath
- N – Native of Wrath
1. The Relationship to Wrath (R)
What was our relationship with wrath? When we were wholly dead, worldly, roped by Satan, and slaves to lust, did God look at us with pity or a smile of indulgence? No. Verse 3 says we were “children of wrath.” In Hebrew thought, to be a “child of” something means it is the thing you are destined for. Just as believers are children of the resurrection (Luke 20:36), we were so intimate with wrath that it was like a mother to us. We were conceived in it, raised by it, and it was our eternal inheritance. We were destined to experience the maximum wrath of a holy God for all eternity. God allowed us to fill the “cup of wrath” so He could pour it out on us in hell.
2. The Universality of Wrath (U)
Some might think this only applies to the “worst” sinners—murderers or thieves. But notice the end of Verse 3: we were by nature children of wrath, “just as the others.” > சுபாவத்தினாலே மற்றவர்களைப்போலக் கோபாக்கினையின் பிள்ளைகளாயிருந்தோம்.
This includes Paul himself—a morally upright, religious Jew. It applies to everyone: religious Jews, idolatrous Gentiles, Ephesians, Tamilians, Kannadigas, North Indians, and South Indians. Whether in the jungles of Africa or developed cities in America or Japan, underneath the superficial outward differences, spiritual “laser light” reveals the same truth: all are children of wrath. Even those who are kind, generous, and build hospitals are in this category if they are not born again, for whatsoever is not from faith is sin (Romans 14:23).
3. The Native of Wrath (N)
How did we get this way? Paul says we were “by nature” children of wrath. This means it is habitual and inherent from birth. We say someone “lies naturally” or “sings naturally” because it requires no training; it is part of their constitution.
From the moment we existed, we were liable to God’s wrath. As David said: “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive” (Psalm 51:5).
இதோ, நான் துர்க்குணத்தில் உருவானேன்; என் தாய் என்னைப் பாவத்தில் கர்ப்பந்தரித்தாள்.
Romans 5:12-21 gives the answer: we all sinned in Adam. God dealt with humanity through Adam as our federal head. His first sin became the sin of the human race. Sin runs in our genealogy and our spiritual genes. We are not just under wrath because of what we do, but because of what we are by nature.
The Application: WWW (Worship, Wisdom, Weapon)
The world and much of modern Christianity reject the doctrine of Total Depravity (TD) because it is humbling and unflattering. However, without grasping this “dark backdrop,” you cannot have true Worship, Wisdom, or Weapons.
I. Worship
True worship begins when you realize you were in the W.O.R.S.T. condition. It makes the diamond of God’s grace shine.
- Wonder: Why would a God of infinite wrath save someone who, by nature, only made Him angry?
- The Cross: The greatest display of wrath is not hell; it is Calvary. At the cross, the Father presented the cup of wrath to His Son. Jesus bore the righteous indignation of God so that we wouldn’t have to.
- Response: Worship becomes a heartfelt response to being pulled from the grave, rather than a performance ritual or a “thank you” for being a “good person.”
II. Wisdom
Believing in TD allows you to understand the world.
- Removing Fear: You aren’t shocked by wars, greed, or the “Epstein files” because you know the world is exactly what the Bible says it is.
- God’s Patience: You realize that the reason God doesn’t destroy the world immediately is because of His restraining power and patience, even as sinners “fill their cup” of wrath.
- Patience with Others: It gives you wisdom in parenting and dealing with unbelievers, seeing them as “dead” and in need of a Savior rather than just “bad.”
III. Weapon
TD is a fortress against spiritual enemies and false teachings:
- Against Satan: When he whispers “Look at your failure,” you respond: “I already know I am a total wreck; that is why I am hidden in Christ.”
- Against the World: You aren’t lured by the world’s “glamour” because you know it is under judgment.
- Against False Teaching: * Pelagianism/Decisionism: If man isn’t “dead,” he doesn’t need a divine Savior or a “New Birth.”
- Prosperity Gospel: If sin isn’t the problem, then “lack” or “poverty” becomes the problem, and God becomes a vending machine.
- Universalism: If people are “basically good,” then eternal wrath seems “unfair.”
Conclusion: RUN
Man is dead. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith in Christ alone. Denying this truth is the womb for all false teaching.
If you do not believe in Christ today, the wrath of God abides on you. There is only one place to run: to the Cross, where God’s wrath was poured on His own Son.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.