Does the wrath of man work not the righteousness of God?  It would seem that this was true because of James 1:20 and it’s saying that explicitly:  “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.”  How could anyone question that?  It’s the entire verse.

You see someone get angry, this verse comes to mind, and you quote it to the angry person.  Yet, what if I saw that you weren’t angry, and I quoted instead, Ephesians 4:26, “Be ye angry, and sin not”?  This verse seems to require anger not to sin.  James 1:20 seems to require no anger not to sin.  Are they contradicting one another?

2 Corinthians 7:11, a classic passage on repentance, includes as part of repentance over sin, “indignation.”  It’s obvious that the indignation is over someone’s personal sin, which is also what Ephesians 4:26 is about.  Anger at one’s own sin is useful for not sinning.

John 2 doesn’t say that Jesus was angry when He cleansed the temple, but of his disciples, who were present and witnessing this occurrence, John 2:17 says, “And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.”  Jesus reached down, picked up strands of leather to form into a make-shift whip, and started whipping people, animals, and overturning tables.  It looked like He was angry.  The Greek word translated, “zeal,” which is a quotation of Psalm 69:9, BDAG calls “an intense negative feeling.”  There was sin all over that temple, and Jesus was angry over it.  He had an intense negative feeling about it.

Let’s return to James 1:20 and look more at the context, seeing verses 18-22:

18 Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. 19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. 21 Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. 22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

James lays out tests of faith so that someone can know that he’s been converted, that he has saving faith.  Saving faith proceeds from the “word of truth.”  See that in verse 18?  God begat us “with the word of truth.”  A test of faith is what someone does with the word of truth.  The context is about hearing scripture and doing it.  It is obvious that the hearing of scripture is the preaching of the Word of God.

In the context, when the Word of God is preached, since it is the agent of our regeneration, our conversion, turning us into a ‘firstfruits of God’s creatures,’ every man should “be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath” (v. 19).  There is one positive and there are two negatives.  If someone is receptive to the Word of God being preached in a positive way, he is “swift to hear,” and then in a negative way, he is “slow to speak” and “slow to wrath.”  He is listening and not debating or getting angry with what he is hearing.

James directs his writing to “beloved brethren.”  Are these saved people?  I believe they are unsaved and saved Jews, a mixed multitude attending a church.  “Brethren” in this case refers to Jewish brethren, people in the nation Israel.  Some of them are saved and some of them are unsaved.  If they are unsaved, listening to the preaching of God’s Word could result in their being saved, or in other words, ‘work the righteousness of God.”  On the other hand, if they were to debate and get angry with the preaching of scripture, that would not work the saving righteousness of God.

If these are saved Jews hearing James’s epistle, they could acknowledge that they have a saving response to preaching.  They are swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.  Their response to scripture is a test of their faith, and they pass that test.

The “wrath” of verse 20, that “worketh not the righteousness of God,” is the wrath of verse 19, “slow to wrath.”  It’s not just any wrath.  It is anger at the preaching of scripture.  That anger, that wrath, worketh not the righteousness of God.  It results in a person not receiving imputed righteousness by faith.  If this is a saved person, it results in his not receiving sanctifying righteousness.

A man, who is angry with the preaching of scripture, will not “lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness” (v. 21).  As a result, he will not receive the saving of his soul.  He’s not listening to scripture.  He’s arguing with it and angry with it.  As a result, he is not begotten by the Word of Truth.

James continues in verse 22 on the same theme.  A true believer will not just hear but also do what the Bible says.  He will hear it and practice it.  This all connects to his relationship to God.  God is the source of every good and perfect gift (v. 17a).  He spoke the world into existence by His Word and He doesn’t change (v. 17b), so He is still giving good things through His Word, including His righteousness.

When someone uses James 1:20 in a general way to say that no wrath works the righteousness of God, that is false.  We know that some wrath, righteous indignation, does work the righteousness of God.  This is the wrath of man against the Word of God when it is preached. That is the wrath of James 1:20 and that is how James 1:20 should be used or applied.  When it is isn’t used that way, it is being twisted or perverted.  You could even say it isn’t working the righteousness of God.