We modern-day Christians have never met Jesus Christ in the flesh, and we have never seen Him in His glorified resurrected body, yet we believe that He is the Son of God and He has been exalted to the right hand of God, the Father, in Heaven. These are ideas that we Christians accept as being true. Our faith is a gift from God. It is the result or product of a Spirit to spirit communication, meaning God’s Spirit to our human spirit. Remember, we humans are composed of body, soul and spirit (1 Thess. 5:23). At Ephesians 2:8-9, we read:
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
(Emphasis added.)
Faith is a gift to any human willing to receive the gift, and through this gift we are saved. We are also being saved as we continue to walk in faith. The Greek verb sōzō is defined as to “save, deliver or rescue from danger.”[1] So, what are we Christians delivered from? Simply put, we Christians have been delivered from, are being delivered from, and will be delivered from the wrath of God.[2] However, we must seek to be obedient in our walk of faith. The “wrath of God” is a powerful Biblical Image of God’s righteous, punitive judgment. Romans 5:8 reads, “having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” God’s wrath is His holy and righteous response to sin, evil, and rebellion. The reader may relate God’s wrath to the wrath experienced from a parent when he or she rebelled as a child or teenager. Parents know that uncorrected rebellion in a child is detrimental to the character of the child. Therefore, parents often display righteous anger (wrath) toward rebellious children. Holding all authority and having superior knowledge, the parent feels concurrent anger toward the rebellion and love for the rebellious child, prompting both a reaction to the rebellion (discipline) and mercy. Such is the nature of God.
God often communicates to us humans through Biblical Images. Biblical Imagery is a type of language that communicates to the whole person. Biblical Imagery communicates to the heart, soul, mind, imagination, and conscience. Logical propositions standing alone would not penetrate the hardness of the human heart. Ideas and Biblical Images like the “wrath of God” penetrate the hardness of the human heart, reaching to the depths of the human soul.
At the moment of first believing, our destiny is changed. Then, when we die, we will go to Heaven as opposed to the lower parts of Sheol (a/k/a Hades) (2 Cor. 5:1-8). However, having believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, we are thereafter required to walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7) and we are required to grow in faith (2 Thess. 1:3). The author of Hebrews warned us not to “drift away from” our walk of faith (Heb. 2:1). If we fall away or “drift away” from our walk of faith, we believers will experience the wrath of God (Heb. 10:26-31; Heb 6:4-8; Rom. 11:20-22; 2 Peter 2:20-21; Luke 12:46).
The Heroes of Faith mentioned in Hebrews, Chapter 11, are provided as our example. At Hebrews 11:6, we read:
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for the one who comes to God must believe that He exists, and that He proves to be One who rewards those who seek Him.
As we continue in our walk of faith, our faith must precede our works. We must seek to speak and act only in ways that are pleasing to God. As an example, the Old Testament Hero of Faith, Abel, “by faith… offered to God a better sacrifice” (Heb. 11:4). Note that Abel’s faith preceded his works or actions. Before we speak or act, we should believe that we are speaking or acting in a way that is pleasing to God.
We Christians are called to a new, supernatural way of being. Now, we must seek to walk by the Spirit and Word, dependent on the providence of God. At Galatians 5:16, we read, “But I say walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” At Psalm 119:105, we read, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” At Deuteronomy 5:33, we read, “You shall walk in all the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live.” At John 2:6, we read, “The one who says he remains in Him ought himself, also, to walk just as He walked.”
Jesus Christ is our model of how to walk or live our new, supernatural way of being. Of course, none of us are sinless like Jesus Christ. From time to time, we all stumble and sin. If we do sin, we are taught to “confess our sins, [and] He [God] is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Of course, verses like 1 John 1:9 do not give us a license to sin. Despite occasional failures, we are called to continue in our walk of faith and to more and more seek to live in a way that is pleasing to God. There are numerous verses that remind us that we do not have a license to abandon our walk of faith (Gal. 5:13; 1 Peter 2:16; Titus 2:1-12; Rom. 3:8; Heb. 10:26-27). The writer of Hebrews warned us:
For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.
(Heb. 10:26-27)
Please note that “fire” is used as a powerful Biblical Image of God’s punitive judgment. Also, please note that the writer of Hebrews is specifically addressing believers. This verse is not warning that apostate believers will lose their salvation and go to Sheol (Hades) after death. Instead, we are being warned that if we abandon our journey of faith, we are liable to the wrath of God (i.e., the righteous judgment of God).
At Hebrews 12:6-7, we read:
It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
In summary, every believer is encouraged to continue in his or her journey of faith, and in doing so, be delivered from God’s wrath. Occasionally, we all stumble and sin. When we do, we must acknowledge our sin and failure to God (1 John 1:9), and then, forgiven, we must continue in our journey of faith and “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:14). We are encouraged to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 3:19).
Finally, every believer should pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). Also, remember this important clarification provided by Jesus, “For I say to you, from now on you will not see me until you say, “BLESSED IS THE ONE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!” (Matt. 23:39). We must yearn for His return and accept Him as our Lord and King. To come “in the name of the Lord” is to come in God’s authority, representation, and in accordance with God’s will.
[1] “G4982 – sōzō – Strong’s Greek Lexicon (nasb20).” Blue Letter Bible. Web. 28 Jul, 2025. <https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g4982/nasb20/mgnt/0-1/>.
[2] For more information on this concept, see my prior blog post “Biblical Imagery: Salvation,” https://eyestoseetherevelation.com/biblical-imagery-salvation/
