Kindness and Tolerance
"Do you suppose, O man…that you will escape the judgment of God?” (Romans 2:3)
Paul is talking to everyone here, both believers and unbelievers. So, what judgment is he talking about that they will not escape? The Scripture says that the judgment of God on sinners is death.
"For the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23a)
The only reason we are not dead yet is His "kindness, tolerance and patience."
"Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4)
Understanding and acknowledging this "kindness of God" leads us to repentance in this present age. Repentance includes thinking differently about God. To think of Him as our Father who loves us and provides the final sacrifice for our sin. In Old Testament times, God laid all the sin of Israel upon a sacrificial animal once a year on the Day of Atonement, which cleansed them all from year to year. But the blood of Jesus, the true lamb of God "that takes away the sin of the WORLD", has washed every sinner, both Jew and Gentile, clean for all time.
"Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world…not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place ONCE FOR ALL, having obtained eternal redemption." (John 1:29; Hebrews 9:12-26)
Repent of sin, sure, but also think differently about our Father God. He is not the stern, angry, false god of man made religions. Rather, He is a loving Father, full of GRACE whose "kindness and tolerance and patience...leads you to repentance". And this "lovingkindness is everlasting" - a phrase repeated 26 times in Psalm 136 alone.
"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting...the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ of Lord" (Psalm 136:1; Romans 6:26b)"
Paul is talking to everyone here, both believers and unbelievers. So, what judgment is he talking about that they will not escape? The Scripture says that the judgment of God on sinners is death.
"For the wages of sin is death..." (Romans 6:23a)
The only reason we are not dead yet is His "kindness, tolerance and patience."
"Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4)
Understanding and acknowledging this "kindness of God" leads us to repentance in this present age. Repentance includes thinking differently about God. To think of Him as our Father who loves us and provides the final sacrifice for our sin. In Old Testament times, God laid all the sin of Israel upon a sacrificial animal once a year on the Day of Atonement, which cleansed them all from year to year. But the blood of Jesus, the true lamb of God "that takes away the sin of the WORLD", has washed every sinner, both Jew and Gentile, clean for all time.
"Behold the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world…not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place ONCE FOR ALL, having obtained eternal redemption." (John 1:29; Hebrews 9:12-26)
Repent of sin, sure, but also think differently about our Father God. He is not the stern, angry, false god of man made religions. Rather, He is a loving Father, full of GRACE whose "kindness and tolerance and patience...leads you to repentance". And this "lovingkindness is everlasting" - a phrase repeated 26 times in Psalm 136 alone.
"Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting...the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ of Lord" (Psalm 136:1; Romans 6:26b)"