“Vengeance is mine; I will repay.”
(Hebrews 10:30)
God is infinitely and perfectly good and merciful and gracious… while being infinitely and perfectly holy and just. One of God’s attribute does not supersede any other; they are at once all completely consistent and congruent with each other.
So, while God is patient with the wicked for a time, those who persist in being enemies of God will one day meet with God’s vengeance and wrath. God’s justice demands that men who reject the truth of the gospel of God suffer proper punishment for their sin. As Hebrews 10:30 says, “vengeance is God’s alone.” He will properly execute judgment due to such a one in His time because He is God.
The writer of Hebrews also adds, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” In Deuteronomy 32:40, God says “I lift my hand to heaven, and say, I live forever.” The reason God is in no hurry to punish those who reject Him now is because when they die, they simply fall into the hands of a God who lives forever, to suffer the vengeance He has promised.
Because God lives forever, and His power is limitless, His determination and ability to render vengeance on His enemies is unmatched. He will, when He is ready, render a punishment equal to their crimes.
William Ames rightly explained this justice of God against sinners when he said, “The revenging justice of God here shines forth. It is that by which He inflicts evil on those who do evil (2 Thess. 1:6), for it is just for God to render affliction to those that afflict you. God’s justice that burns against sin is called wrath (Rom 1:18; Eph. 5:6). As His wrath grows hotter, it is called fury (Deut. 29.28). As it pronounces the sentence to be executed against a sinner, it is called judgment (Rom. 2:5). As it executes the sentence given, it is properly called revenge or vengeance (Heb. 10:30).”
Within themselves, the wicked have no recourse against the Judge of all the earth. The only avenue of escaping the wrath of God is to be born again by the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
God will not punish those He loves in Christ. He is, instead, merciful to them because He has punished Jesus Christ on their behalf. Christ fulfilled the law for those who believe on Him by faith, so that by Him and through Him the redeemed are saved from God’s wrath and obtain peace with God. But those who choose to remain in their sin will most assuredly suffer the judgment of the eternal Judge.
- O Lord, You judge uprightly in all You do, for You see everything just as it is, without any passion, prejudice, or partiality. As sin is disgusting to You, so it should be to me. But I am a sinner who still sins, and this grieves me as it grieves Your Spirit that is within me. Help me be victorious in Your Spirit over sin, that I might not come into the condemnation that Christ died for.
- When will You avenge Yourself Lord? When will the end come? When will You bring every sin into judgment before the throne of Christ? Your own beloved Son had to be punished for my sin. Why, then, should that sin be so light to me, when it was death to the soul of Christ?
- Two very primary attributes are Your mercy and Your justice. Your mercy encourages me to purity and holiness. In the Word and the work of Your Son, the goodness of God leads me to repentance. A mercy that is so ready to pardon sin places me under a great obligation to restrain from sinning. Do I consider this as I should? Does Your justice deter me from sinning against You? Do I love Your justice as much as I love Your mercy?
- All those who reject the merciful compassion of a loving God invites the judgment of the most Holy One. And yet, I sin as well, and that daily! What am I doing but casting aside Your free mercy, when I should be holding onto it for dear life!
Further References for Hebrew 10:30
Deut. 32:35, 36; Rom. 12:19; Ps. 135:14, 94:1, 50:4
