Anger

Anger

Anger is a work of the flesh committed by the old man with the body of the sins of the flesh. The old man and his works (the body of the sins of the flesh which is the body of the old man) and the works of the flesh (which are the works of the old man) can and must be put off. Eph. 4:22; Col. 3:8-9; Col. 2:11; Gal. 5:19-21.

Then the question arises whether all kinds of anger can and shall be put off. We find the answer to this question in Ephesians 4:31: “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.”

We see that anger in all cases and degrees is sin that must be put off and put away. However, when it says in the same chapter, verse 26: “Be angry, and do not sin,” and, “do not let the sun go down on your wrath,” we understand that this is not to be taken as a defense of anger in any way whatsoever, but that it is an exhortation: if it has already gone badly, do not let it unfold further to even more sin.

The word in Romans 12:19, “Do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath,” must not be understood to mean that we shall give place to our own wrath, for it shall not be given a place; on the contrary, it is to be driven far away. It is the others’ wrath against me that I shall make room for, which means that I shall not draw back from it but be willing to let them pour out their anger over me. This is prudent for two good reasons. 1) By listening attentively, I can possibly find something to correct in my own life, even if it were ever so little, despite the fact that the other person’s anger could be entirely without cause. 2) Likewise, by listening patiently, I can find an especially good opportunity to help the person immediately or later.

You have already become angry when it storms and boils within. Then it is important to stop the anger so that you do not add sin to sin. You have already fallen in the one temptation, and now it is vital that you do not fall further. The perfect thing is to overcome in all things from the very beginning so that you do not even sin in thought. Temptation also manifests itself as a thought; but it is Satan’s thought; it is his proposal to me. If I reject this proposal immediately, I have overcome perfectly and have not sinned in thought. Then I have gained complete victory over anger.

All anger, in all variations, which is sin, is caused by my own will being opposed; for example, I lose honor or some money. It is therefore impossible to gain the victory over anger unless I am willing to lose honor and goods and all of my self-will. If I cannot manage to do it “with flying colors,” I must, by definition, become angry. Praying to be rid of all anger is therefore the same as saying farewell to all of my self-will.

Therefore victory over anger presupposes victory over conceit, covetousness, love of money, wantonness, pride, love of pleasure, willfulness, wanting to rule, vanity, contention, jealousy and envy, besides worrying about the day tomorrow.

In Psalm 7:11 it is written that God is a God who is angry every day. From this we understand that there is also an anger of a different kind than the one we know as natural beings, a kind of anger that is part of God’s nature. When we then, according to the promise, partake of divine nature, we will also partake of His anger. Then we are not angry because we ourselves are suffering the loss of anything, but we are angry out of love and care for the person with whom we are angry because we so fervently want the person to do what is right in God’s eyes so that it might go well with him. This anger or wrath is thus a labor on the others’ salvation; it manifests itself because it is necessary for the other person to wake up and become serious.

Then we do not think of ourselves, but we think exclusively of the other’s salvation. This holy wrath manifests itself from God to all of us and from shepherds, guides, and those who watch over the ones they oversee, guide, and mentor. It manifests itself from the parents’ side toward their children. It is easy to confuse holy and unholy anger, but it is also easy to understand the difference. It is a sinful anger if you think of yourself. If you think exclusively of the other’s personal best, it is holy anger. Holy anger does not manifest itself from subordinates toward superiors since the subordinate is not the superior’s mentor, thus he does not have the superior’s confidence. It would be unreasonable to expect that, and whatever is holy is not unreasonable.

When the children are shouting, the father can correct them with a holy anger because it is his desire that they clothe themselves with a meek and quiet spirit which is very precious before God and men. One can easily misunderstand this point and tell the father that he should bear the noise and not get angry for such a trifle, even though he didn’t spend a single thought on himself but thought exclusively of the children’s upbringing, of their well-being.

When it is written that all anger should be put away from us, then it is all anger in the usual sense of the word.