THE KINDNESS AND PATIENCE OF GOD

ROMANS 2:4–5

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?

(Romans 2:4).

Does any believer really show contempt for God’s mercy? Well certainly not in the sense of trampling it underfoot. No, we enjoy God’s kindness and are grateful for His mercy. We don’t regard it as disgusting. On the other hand, however, as one translator has put it, we sometimes may tend to “think lightly” of God’s mercy or fail to take it seriously. It is not a matter of concern to us, and in that sense we do show contempt for it.

Taking God’s kindness for granted

Each of us can ask ourselves this question: “How much time do I give to thinking about or rejoicing in the kindness of God toward me?” I think that for the most part we take God’s kindness for granted, and therein lies a path of danger and destruction. Notice that Paul is not speaking of some stingy kindness that only comes once in a while. The apostle refers instead to the “riches of his [God’s] kindness.” He wants us to understand that there is a vast abundance of kindness that comes to us from God, and not only kindness but also tolerance and patience.

This patient kindness of God is designed to give us time to come to Him and to bring us to a proper state of repentance before Him. But just the opposite effect takes place, doesn’t it? Instead of taking advantage of God’s kindness by using the time He gives us to repent and come to Him, thanking Him for His patience and goodness, we tend to assume that it doesn’t really matter to God if we disobey His law. Presumptuously we think that it is no big deal for us to be involved in sin day after day. After all, we’ve lived this long, and nothing has happened yet.

The result of ignoring God’s patience

God leads men to repentance, but very few follow, and what is the result? The answer is in Romans 2:5, one of the most terrifying verses in all the apostolic writings: “But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed.”

CORAM DEO

Even as a Christian it is possible to presume upon the patient kindness of God, and perhaps there are areas in your life in which you are testing the limits of God’s patience. As you examine yourself, ask the Holy Spirit to uncover these areas and lead you to repent of any presumptuous attitudes that might be discovered.

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