Rage and anger against a brother are judged by Christ as damnable (see Matthew 5:22). Such hardness of the heart focuses not on justice or mercy, but on revenge and is frequently accompanied by a curse. I suspect that those in hell are locked into that posture and cannot escape. They can never say they are sorry. There is no healing. Their own self-hatred is projected upon God and everyone else.
Given that the sin of wrath or out-of-control anger is a damning sin, it must assuredly have a role to play in hell, no doubt polluting the atmosphere more than the smoke of any ordinary fire. While it might be directed toward God, it is a type of anger that is always diffusive, violently assaulting everyone and anything around the enraged person. The loss of control makes any type of meditative composure or resignation utterly impossible. The hearts of hell are forever restless or agitated. The irony is that the damned can never be whole or truly free. Their anger betrays a self-hatred that evades any semblance of supernatural love. The subject experiencing wrath always believes that he has been wronged and that his anger is justified. However, it allows for no levelheaded analysis. There can be no dialogue or reasoned accommodation. Note that stories of possessions often portray the demoniac as similarly explosive toward any efforts at exorcism. They act like cornered wild animals. Hell would constitute their ultimate cage. Unable to get their way, many souls might resemble wild beasts more than rational men and women. Wrath in hell is a demonic occupation, wrestling against a darkness that has nested in the human soul. There can be no exorcism for those in hell so infested. The soul strikes out and seeks to expel an invader and yet it no longer has any strength to do so. It is property. One cannot both hate or reject divine power and call upon it for help. Like an old battery left in a flashlight, the acid of wrath has eaten away at the insides. The light can never again be switched on.
Wrath eclipses the soul and casts hell in eternal twilight. This anger is literally hatred itself. It impacts upon the two properties of identity in the soul, intellect and will. The fire of wrath buries any possibility of good judgment and a humble heart. While in this world, the fiery tentacles of wrath would reach out to draw all within its reach into the embrace of hell. It desires harm and the downfall of others, even the most innocent.
While we are still pilgrims in this world, we should replace the raging lava of hate that threatens to consume hearts with the calming waters of Christ. The antidote to wrath in this world is the mystery of Christ’s Cross and the selfless love of Jesus in enduring his passion. If he could accept a death so outrageous, then why can we not embrace with docility the heavenly Father’s will in our lives? It is humility that can keep us from the grips of this sin. Oddly enough, Christ’s victory in the Cross is also the focus for the rage of Satan and his minions on the other side of the divide. The devil has allowed himself to be duped.
We often speak of contrition as the precondition for faith and saving grace. However, even more foundational is humility. The acceptance of God’s providence voids any claims at self-justification before the Lord. It makes possible clarity of judgment and resignation of spirit. If we want mercy, then we must also be vehicles for forgiveness and healing.
Rage is irrational and out-of-control. It is associated with vengeance and murder. It signifies an anti-gospel. The good news of Christ is about the acquisition of the truth, the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. While the abode of hell is an expression of God’s justice; the horror stories about hell are due to its denizens, themselves. It is not the just punishment of God but the rage of sinners that leads to the excessive chastisement of the damned.
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