Judgment is not merely cause and effect, but is God’s holy wrath against sin, which must be distinguished from sinful human anger. God’s anger against sin represents his personal response to sin. Paul argues that God is “just” to punish people forever for their sin. The retributive nature of judgment is as clear as it gets in 2 Thessalonians 1:5–9.
Paul often refers to God’s eschatological judgment (Rom. Human beings are summoned to repent before the coming judgment arrives (Acts 2:14–39 3:12–26 4:8–12). John the Baptist warns people to flee the coming judgment of the Lord (Matt. God’s judgment is evident in the flood of Noah, the judgment of pagan nations in the OT, and the judgment of Israel for its sin. 19:2) he judges those who transgress his law. Sin represents a flagrant refusal to submit to God’s lordship, and those who sin rightly deserve the retributive judgment of God. The heart of sin is the failure to glorify God and to give thanks to him (Rom. Breaking the law is not merely an impersonal reality, for sin represents rebellion against God himself (1 John 3:4). Sin deserves punishment because God is holy.
As Galatians 3:10 says, “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed.” The curse falls upon those who transgress God’s commands, and no one is exempted (Rom. Only perfect obedience will satisfy God’s justice, and we see this in that Adam and Eve were severed from God for one sin. Sin separates human beings from God as we see from the sin of Adam and Eve in the garden. Human beings need a substitute since “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. Penal substitution means that Christ died in the place of sinners, taking upon himself the penalty and punishment they deserved. Penal substitution is the anchor for other truths about the atonement, whether we are talking about Christus Victor, Christ as an example, or the healing that comes in the atonement.
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