LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Anger vs. Peace and Joy
"For the law produces anger... And the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing..." (Rom. 4:15; 15:13).
The law produces anger. This is an amazing "by-product" of the law, apart from many others that Paul lists in Romans, such as the knowledge of sin (3:20), the propagation of sin (5:20), the revival of sin (7:9 ), etc.
How does the law produce anger? The way in which the law operates can be summed up in these words of Paul in Galatians: "He who does these things will live by them" (3:12). Now, doing "these things" is no small feat. Millions of Israelites tried for long centuries (and perhaps are still trying), and have never succeeded. Others have been added to them, who without being Israelites claim to be, and have not succeeded either. What will be, then, the only possible reaction to impotence and the failure of not being able to comply? What will be the sad reaction to not being able to stand before God with the satisfaction of the task accomplished?
The law produces anger. And Moses himself shows us a button of this in that episode of the waters of Meribah (Num. 20). The meekest man who walked the earth (Num. 12:3), could not help falling into anger, because he himself was under the law. He saw with dismay that the people were incredulous and reacted with zeal. However, his zeal was no better than the disbelief of the people, because he did not know how to sanctify God. The wrath of Moses in that episode was prophetic of the wrath that the law would produce in all the others.
Why are there so many moody Christians? It is not just a matter of character, but of unbelief. They have abandoned the exercise of faith, and therefore the peace and joy that Paul wishes for the Romans (15:13) is gone. They look at themselves and sink into helplessness. They try to please God and fail. They do not understand why, if they do not believe they are as bad as others, they cannot be as good as God wants. And then anger arises. The outbursts follow one after the other, and against everyone. The heart is troubled. The law has accomplished its mission.
The purpose of the law is to show us how bad we are, so that we take refuge in the grace of God in Christ through faith. When we believe God, and we know we are justified by faith, sanctified by faith, and freed from the law by faith, then praise rises as pleasing incense to God. Anger has disappeared from our hearts, and in its place is now abundant joy and peace.
That is why Paul, almost at the end of his epistle, wishes for the brothers in Rome, that "the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing" (15:13). This is the natural consequence of hearing with faith, that is, of believing, Paul's previous exposition concerning the gospel.
The writer of Hebrews tells us that Israel could not enter into rest because of unbelief. They "did not profit from hearing the word, because it was not accompanied by faith in those who heard it" (4:2). What is rest, if not the state of peace and joy in the heart when we appropriate what God offers us freely in Christ, by faith? Rest is the product of seeing the sufficiency of Christ for all our needs, and of knowing that it is through faith – and not through works – that we please God.