"Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?"
{Romans 2:4} (NIV)
This is a question worth considering: do we show contempt for the kindness, forbearance and patience of God? Paul lists two behaviours that demonstrate that we are in contempt.
The first behaviour is judgment of the wicked. To make clear what he means by judgment, Paul talks about condemning. This judgment is not the recognition or identification that a person is committing sin and is therefore a wicked person. That type of judgment is wisdom and discernment. But the judgment that Paul is speaking of is the “writing off” of a person; the condemning of a person. As long as that person is alive, God has not given up on them; He is still showering them with kindness forbearance and patience, just as He waited for us to turn. If God acts like that, so should we.
The second behaviour is lack of repentance on our part. To not turn away from our sin and turn towards God is to show contempt for His kindness, forbearance and patience. It is to waste the time God has given us. It is to take a precious gift from our Creator and spit on it. Friend, the purpose of our alive time is repentance. In repentance and rest is our salvation (Isa 30:15). If we say we haven’t sinned, we lie and make God out to be a liar (1 Jn 1:9).
Everyone one of us needs to repent. We need inner change. We need to surrender and to ask the Spirit to make us more like our Lord. May we honour our God, and redeem this time He has given us today.
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