"The idea of a wrathful God goes against the wishful thinking of fallen human nature and is even a stumbling block to many Christians. Much contemporary evangelism talks only about abundant life in Christ, the joy and blessings of salvation, and the peace with God that faith in Christ brings. All of those benefits do result from true faith, but they are not the whole picture of God’s plan of salvation. The corollary truth of God’s judgment against sin and those who participate in it must also be heard.

For Paul, fear of eternal condemnation was the first motivation he offered for coming to Christ, the first pressure he applied to evil men. He was determined that they understand the reality of being under God’s wrath before he offered them the way of escape from it. That approach makes both logical and theological sense. A person cannot appreciate the wonder of God’s grace until he knows about the perfect demands of God’s law, and he cannot appreciate the fullness of God’s love for him until he knows something about the fierceness of God’s anger against his sinful failure to perfectly obey that law. He cannot appreciate God’s forgiveness until he knows about the eternal consequences of the sins that require a penalty and need forgiving." 

 

John MacArthur Commentary on

Romans1:18

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in ungodliness" 

 (Chicago: Moody Press) 1983.

 

" Isa 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:"

  Jesus said: " Mt 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Mr 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

Excerpt from the book:

"God’s love is holy love.  The God whom Jesus made known is not a God who is indifferent to moral distinctions, but a God who loves righteousness and HATES INIQUITY, a God whose ideal for His children is that they should be ‘PERFECT’ (Matt 5:48) He will not take into His company any person, however orthodox in mind, who will not follow after holiness of life, and those whom He does accept He exposes to DRASTIC DISCIPLINE, in order that they may attain what they seek.  ‘Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.... for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness....it (chastening) yeildeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby’ (Hebrews 12:6-11)

 God’s love is STERN, for it expresses holiness in the lover and seeks holiness for the beloved.  Scripture does not allow us to suppose that because God is love we may look to Him to confer happiness on people who will not seek holiness, or to shield His loved ones from trouble when He knows that they need trouble to further their sanctification."

Page 110, J.I. Paker, Knowing God.

"St. John’s twice repeated statement, ‘God is love’ (1John 4:8,16), is one of the most misunderstood utterances in the Bible.  False ideas have grown up round it like a hedge of thorns, hiding its real meaning from view, and it is no small task cutting through this tangle of mental undergrowth.” J.I. Packer Knowing God page 106

 To say that ‘God is love” is not the complete truth about God so far as the Bible is concerned.  It is not an abstract definition which stands alone, but a summing up, from the believer’s standpoint, of what the whole revelation set forth in scripture tells us about its Author.  This statement ‘God is love’, presupposes all the rest of the biblical witness to God.  The God of whom John is speaking is the God who judged the world by the Flood, who chastened people in the Old Testament by conquest, captivity, and exile, who cast off unbelieving Israel, destroyed Jerusalem and is coming back again to judge the world in righteousness.  It is this God who is love.  It is perverse to quote “God is love” as some do in order to call into question the biblical witness to both the severity and justice of God.  It is not possible to argue that a God who is love cannot also be a God who condemns and punishes sinners... .” J.I. Packer Knowing God page 108

The God who is love is first and foremost light, sentimental ideas of His LOVE as an indulgent, benevolent softness, divorced from moral standards and concerns, must therefore be ruled out from the start.  

John 8:12  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

 John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.