Wrath Turned Aside | 1 John 2:1-6 | This Week’s Devotions
This week's devotions grow out of our sermon on 1 John 2:1-6, Wrath Turned Aside, where we considered two words at the heart of the gospel: advocate and propitiation. Sin rightly deserves the wrath of God, and the question every person must face is where that wrath will land. Over the next five days, we'll trace that question through Scripture, beginning with the holiness and wrath of God, moving through the advocacy and propitiating work of Christ, and ending with what it means to keep his commands and walk as he walked. Each day includes a short reflection and questions meant to help you sit with the text, not just read past it. Watch the sermon first if you haven't already, then work through these devotions at whatever pace lets the truth settle in.
Day 1: The Wrath of a Holy God
Scripture Readings: Romans 1:18, Nahum 1:2-8, and John 3:36
Reflection:
The wrath of God is one of the most neglected doctrines in contemporary Christianity, not because the Bible is silent on it, but because we are uncomfortable with it. Yet Paul opens his great argument in Romans with this declaration: "the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." This is not background noise. It is the first thing Paul needs you to understand before the gospel makes any sense.
Nahum's portrait of God is equally unsparing. The Lord is a jealous and avenging God. His way is in the whirlwind and the storm. The mountains quake and the hills melt before him. This is not the wrath of an irritable deity prone to tantrums. It is the settled, righteous, and necessary response of a perfectly holy God to everything that corrupts and destroys what he has made and loves. God's wrath is not the opposite of his love. God’s wrath is the expression of it, directed against whatever threatens those he loves.
Jesus himself confirms the stakes in John 3:36. The word "remains" in this verse is critical. It is not that God is angry at some people and neutral toward others. Apart from Christ, the wrath of God is not a future threat, it is a present reality. This is not meant to produce terror but clarity. Before you can treasure the propitiation John describes in chapter 2, you must understand what you were rescued from.
Questions to Consider:
Many people today are more comfortable with a God of love than a God of wrath. Why do you think that is, and what does it reveal about what we actually believe about sin?
Nahum depicts God's wrath as the expression of his character—holy, jealous, and just. How does that framing differ from thinking of wrath as mere anger, and why does the distinction matter?
John 3:36 says wrath 'remains' on those who do not believe. How does grasping the present reality of God's wrath deepen your gratitude for what Christ has done for you?
Day 2: The Advocate We Have
Scripture Reading: Romans 8:31-34 and Hebrews 7:23-25
Reflection:
Paul asks a question in Romans 8 that he clearly expects to be unanswerable: "Who shall bring any charge against God's elect?" And then he answers it himself. The answer is no one. This is not because the charges could not be drawn up, but because the one who has the authority to condemn is the one who died, was raised, and now intercedes for us at the right hand of God. The prosecutor and the defense attorney are not equally matched. The defense attorney is also the judge's son.
The writer of Hebrews makes this even more explicit. The Levitical priests had to offer sacrifices repeatedly because they kept dying. There was always a new priest who had to learn the role. But Jesus "holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever." And because he lives, he is able to save "to the uttermost" those who draw near to God through him.
When John writes that "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous," every word is load-bearing. We have him. This is a present reality. He is with the Father in the place of highest authority and relationship. He is Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son, who knows what it is to be human. And he is righteous, not merely sympathetic. He is not interceding by pleading your virtue. He is interceding by presenting his own righteousness on your behalf. Your standing before God today rests not on how well you have done since last Sunday, but on the perfect advocacy of the one who never fails.
Questions to Consider:
Paul says no one can bring a charge against God's elect because Christ intercedes. How does that truth change the way you respond to shame, accusation, or a sense of spiritual failure?
Hebrews says Jesus saves 'to the uttermost' because he always lives to intercede. What does it mean to you personally that your salvation has no gaps and no expiration date?
Jesus intercedes not by appealing to your righteousness but to his own. How does that shift the foundation of your confidence in prayer and in approaching God?
Day 3: The Wrath-Bearing Substitute
Scripture Reading: Romans 3:21-26 and Isaiah 53:4-11
Reflection:
Romans 3:25 contains one of the densest and most important sentences in the New Testament: God put forward Christ Jesus "as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith." The word "propitiation" has fallen out of common use, but its meaning is irreplaceable. It refers to the turning aside of wrath through the provision of a satisfying sacrifice. Not the appeasing of a capricious god, but the just and holy satisfaction of a righteous God's righteous anger against sin. This satisfaction is accomplished by God himself, at God's own initiative, at God's own cost.
Isaiah 53 is the Old Testament preview of exactly this transaction. The Servant bears our griefs, carries our sorrows, is wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. And then the most stunning line of all: "it was the will of the LORD to crush him." The Father did not reluctantly permit the Son's suffering. He ordained it, because it was the only way that justice could be fully satisfied and sinners fully saved. The wrath that should have fallen on you fell on him instead. Not because God stopped caring about sin, but because he cared so much about you.
This is the heart of 1 John 2:2: Jesus Christ "is the propitiation for our sins." Not was—is. The completed work of the cross has permanent, present effect. The wrath that once remained on you has been turned aside. The account has been settled. You do not owe a debt that has already been paid in full, and you are not standing in the shadow of a condemnation that has already been lifted. The cross was not just the worst day in history. It was the day the ledger was closed.
Questions to Consider:
The word 'propitiation' means wrath-bearing, not just forgiveness. Why does it matter that God's wrath was actually satisfied rather than simply set aside or overlooked?
Isaiah says it was God's will to crush the Servant. Some people find that troubling. How do you understand the Father's role in the crucifixion in a way that honors both his justice and his love?
John says Christ is the propitiation 'for our sins'—and then adds 'also for the whole world.' What does that phrase tell you about the scope and sufficiency of what Christ accomplished?
Day 4: Keeping His Commands
Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and John 14:15-21
Reflection:
"Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one" was more than a creed to be recited. It was a summons to a whole-life response: love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and might. And this love was to be embodied in keeping the commandments, teaching them to children, binding them on hands and foreheads, writing them on doorposts. The point was that genuine love for God is never purely interior. It takes visible shape in the way you live.
Jesus says the same thing with even greater intimacy in John 14: "If you love me, you will keep my commandments." Notice the direction. He does not say obedience produces love, as if you could work your way into affection. He says love produces obedience. The keeping flows from the loving. And the reward is not abstract. The one who keeps Christ's commands is the one to whom the Father and Son will come and make their home. Obedience is not a wall that keeps you at a distance from God. It is the door through which fellowship deepens.
This is exactly what John is getting at in 2:3–5: we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. The person who claims to know God but does not keep his commandments is not just inconsistent, he is a liar. That is a hard word, but a merciful one. It prevents you from constructing a false assurance built on nothing more than intellectual agreement and religious habit. True knowledge of God always produces transformation producing a life that is moving toward Christ, not away from him.
Questions to Consider:
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 calls for loving God with all your heart, soul, and might—a whole-life, embodied love. What would it look like for your love for God to take more visible, practical shape in your daily routines?
Jesus says 'if you love me, you will keep my commandments'. Love produces obedience rather than the reverse. How does that sequence change the way you approach spiritual discipline and rule-keeping?
John says the person who claims to know God but ignores his commands is a liar. How do you distinguish between genuine obedience that flows from love and performance-based rule-keeping that flows from fear?
Day 5: Walking as He Walked
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2:21-25 and Philippians 2:5-11
Reflection:
Peter tells his suffering readers that Christ left them an example, so they would follow in his steps. The word Peter uses for "example" is the word for a writing template that children would trace over when learning to form letters. The implication is both humbling and clarifying. The Christian life is not primarily about discovering your own authentic path. It is about learning to trace the outline of someone else's life. Someone whose steps are worth following because they lead somewhere worth going.
Philippians 2 gives the fullest picture of what those steps look like. The Son of God, who had every right to hold on to the privileges of his divine glory, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. He emptied himself, took the form of a servant, was born in human likeness, and humbled himself to the point of death. Death on a cross. This is not just admirable. It is the shape of the life you are being conformed into. The mind of Christ, which Paul urges on the Philippians, is a mind oriented toward others rather than self, toward service rather than status.
John closes this section of his letter with a clean, concrete test: "whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked." Jesus was truthful when it cost him. He was compassionate toward the overlooked. He was obedient even when it meant suffering. He forgave the undeserving. These are not suggestions for a certain kind of Christian personality. They are the contours of the life that the Spirit is shaping in every believer who genuinely abides in Christ. Sanctification is simply becoming more like the one you claim to know.
Questions to Consider:
Peter says Christ left an 'example' to follow—a template to trace. Which specific aspect of how Jesus walked do you find hardest to trace in your own life right now, and why?
Paul says Jesus did not count equality with God something to be grasped but emptied himself. Where in your own life are you most tempted to grasp status, comfort, or recognition rather than following Christ's pattern of self-giving?
John says that abiding in Christ produces walking like Christ. In this week's devotions as we looked at God's holiness and wrath,the advocacy of Christ, and the call to obey and follow. How would you summarize what it means to you personally to walk in the light?
Continue the Journey
We hope this week in the Word has been a blessing to you. If you'd like to continue through 1 John with us, the full Walking in the Light series is available on our website. And if you are new here and curious about the faith and convictions that shape our preaching and teaching, we warmly invite you to explore what we believe.
