The Christian Life and Anger

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Peter Chace. September 6, 2026. Ephesians 4:17-32.

Summary

We conclude our series with anger, a misunderstood emotion that God has given us for our good and the good of the world. The angriest person in the Bible is God: two thirds of its roughly 750 instances of anger are his. Because God is love and holy, he is angry with sin. “Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good” (Romans 12:9). As Pastor Nate has taught us, God’s wrath is his motivated love. Yet “the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:20). So when is anger right?

In Ephesians 4:17-32 Paul tells us to put off the old life like old clothing and put on the new. Verses 26 and 27 say, “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.” Christians often assume all human anger is wrong; the world assumes it is all justified. Neither is right. The big idea: anger tells us that something is wrong and motivates us to make it right. It is not an end; it demands a response. Jay Adams: “Anger is a strong force that God built into man for the purpose of moving him to biblical action.” The passage gives three steps: name the anger, judge it, confront the problem.

First, name the anger. When God is angry, he gives his reasons, as at the golden calf (Exodus 32:7-10). We are not to be generally angry either. So say why: I am angry because this traffic will make me late; because of my coworker’s passive-aggressive comment; because I stubbed my toe. For some this is the hardest step, because admitting anger feels like failure. But if we cannot name it, we cannot guard against sin.

Second, judge the anger. Anger is a moral emotion; it says, this is wrong. But our feelings are not the standard; God’s word is. Jonah was angry because God was merciful to Nineveh, angry enough to die (Jonah 4). Cain was angry because God had regard for Abel’s offering and not his, and sin was crouching at his door (Genesis 4:6-7). Name it honestly: I am angry because she got recognition and nobody recognizes my work. Good, now you know envy is the source, and the answer is repentance. The most likely culprit is always our own heart. God is most angry about false worship, and the Westminster Larger Catechism reminds us that the second commandment reaches far beyond wood and stone. David’s anger was kindled at Nathan’s parable, only to hear, “You are the man” (2 Samuel 12). If the nations cannot tell the difference between a Christian and a nice pagan, that is a problem. And downstream from false worship and disobedience is every manner of disorder and chaos: oppression of the poor, injustice against the vulnerable, whether that is the widow, the sojourner, the fatherless, or the unborn, greed and unjust gain, dishonest business practices, and the hardness of heart of self-righteous Pharisees. All of this makes God angry. Sin makes God angry; that is our standard. What the Bible calls sin and evil, we must call sin and evil. Chrysostom is quoted saying, “He who is not angry, whereas he has cause to be, sins.” Yet God is slow to anger, and so must we be.

Third, confront the problem. The Christian never gets angry and does nothing. A stubbed toe? Let the pain subside and do not sin. Your own heart? Repent. Say you blew up at your wife after a hard day: repent before the Lord, then go to her, and ask forgiveness. Keep short accounts, like taking out the trash every day. But what if the anger is righteous? We are most vulnerable when we are right. Suppose the wife nurses the wound instead and grows inwardly bitter and outwardly cold; give our sinful hearts an inch of justification and we take a mile. She too must go and ask forgiveness. Simple, not easy. Unresolved offenses are the commonest problem among Christians. In Matthew 5:23-24 the one who caused the hurt leaves his gift at the altar and goes to be reconciled; in Matthew 18:15-17 the offended party goes to his brother. Neither may wait; ideally each meets the other on the road.

So do not waste your anger. The church has far too many Christians stuck in the anger of man and far too few motivated by God’s righteous anger. And God did not waste his anger with you. On the cross his wrath at your sin was poured out upon Christ, the only man who ever had a true right to be angry, who did not lash out but took the lashes for us. He confronted sin once for all, so that you would be free from sin, idolatry, and unrighteous anger. The proper end of anger is the putting away of sin and the putting on of Christ; its ultimate end is forgiveness. So when it is time to be angry alongside God, march headlong into the fray. When you are angry, look to the cross and remember that God did not waste his.

Key texts: Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 4:26-27; Romans 12:9; James 1:19-20; Exodus 32:7-10; Jonah 4; Genesis 4:6-7; Matthew 21:13; 2 Samuel 12:1-7; Matthew 5:21-24; Matthew 18:15-17; Matthew 5:14

For reflection

• The next time you are angry, can you finish the sentence, I am angry because, honestly and specifically? What does naming it reveal?
• Are you angry at the same things that make God angry, or is your anger more often the anger of man? Where is Jonah or Cain in your own heart?
• Is there an unreconciled relationship where you are waiting for the other person to act? What would it mean to go first, as both Matthew 5 and Matthew 18 require?