“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil" (Eph. 4:26–27).
In Ephesians 4, we find the imperative, “Therefore, putting away lying, ‘Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,’ for we are members of one another. ‘Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath” (vv. 25–26). The main thrust of this verse is a warning concerning the misuse of anger, but notice the strange way in which Paul introduces the subject. He uses the imperative, “Be angry.” Obviously, God allows us to be angry, but that anger is qualified. Christian behavior is to be imitative of Christ, who Himself imitates the Father. Christian virtue, therefore, is a matter of being like Christ. There are times when Christ is angry, therefore, there are times when we should be angry.
This imperative is not a license to express any type of anger, rather, anger must also be imitative, it must be like the anger of Christ, which is righteous indignation. There are times when it is appropriate to be angry, when anger is justified and even required. There are things that occur in the world and in the church that ought to make us angry. When the truth of God is maligned or distorted, when human beings are violated, when Christ’s name is dishonored, we should be angry. If we don’t get angry, it shows a great indifference to sacred things.
The key to knowing when to be angry is the example of Christ. It is important to notice how Jesus interacted with different people. He treated the woman caught in adultery with gentleness and compassion. He rebuked her, but He was tender and free from anger. With the broken and the downtrodden, He was tender. But notice how He treated the Pharisees, those who pretended to be righteous, those who were the leaders, those in the seats of power and authority. With them, He expressed His wrath. It takes great wisdom to know when we should be angry with someone and when we should be tender.
If there is any emotion that is laced with danger and can destroy other people, it’s anger. Paul says, be angry and sin not. We must always guard against the power of anger. It is easy to overreact, to become bitter and hateful, to allow anger to eat away at our souls. The way we guard against this danger is not to harbor bitterness, and not to remain angry without dealing with in it in a biblical manner.
Are you an angry person? Have you allowed bitterness to eat away at your soul? Have you never dealt with anger by forgiving other people and putting their sin behind you? Do you overreact, tend to be defensive, explosive, even violent? Do you hold grudges? Examine yourself and heed to the admonition to be angry but sin not.
