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? Rom 2:4
Wait- didn't we just read about God's judgement and wrath? And as we continue on in Romans 2, don't we continue to read about it? Where do we see God's kindness at all?
Maybe it's in the fact that he turns people over to let them reap the consequences of their actions. Letting them do what they want and not interfering with their free will is being kind, right?
Maybe it's in the fact that even though justice would say," the soul that sins shall die", or" the penalty of sin is death", or "the day you eat of it you will surely die" - and yet we don't - that's kind, right?
Maybe it's in the fact that as the depravity spirals downward, God has promised that He will never again start over like He did with the flood. That's kind, right?
The other day I was watching 6 year olds play Upward Basketball. The whistle could have been blown every 5 seconds(not exaggerating) for rule violations. When facing defense, kids would stop dribbling, then start again. (double dribble). Sometimes they would just say to themselves, "If I dribble, they will steal it so I am just going to pick up the ball and run with it." (travelling) When they passed the ball in, never was their foot behind the line. The best way to avoid getting the ball stolen - return to your side of the court because no pressing is allowed (Over and Back) And the best way to prevent a score was to grab a kid's arm so he couldn't shoot. (personal foul). If the ref called everything, the game would have been unwatchable. No points would have been scored, the kids would have felt like failures, no one would have had fun, and frankly no one would have signed up next year. However, the refs, by their kindness and mercy brought enjoyment. By calling the occasional flagrant abuse of the rules, the kids did learn that there is a right and wrong way to play and there was slight improvement by the end of the season. It will be amazing to see the improvement by next year, even without playing, just from the physical maturation of the kids.
Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 18 about a king who forgives his satrap an insurmountable debt he owed rather than sending him to debtors prison. Like the verse in Romans or the refs in Upward, you would hope that the kindness of the king would lead to a change in the Satrap. Unfortunately, the forgiven one goes to one of his subordinates who owes him money and beats him and sends him to prison when he can't pay. When word of this reaches the king, he is irate and sends his satrap to debtors prison because I think the king felt used. I have a grandchild who uses fake crying to get whatever (s)he wants. It drives me CRAZY! This is how the king must have felt. "There's no real sorrow here!" "I've been duped. I've been used!" As the point of the parable goes, imagine people trying to use God. Not so hard to imagine - we do it every day. The king (God) would say, "If you were truly thankful (Rom.1:21) for the debt (sin) I absorbed myself (the cross), your actions would have demonstrated it. Since your actions (works) didn't prove it, I will call in the debt you owe. (judgement). This is what we read in the following verses of Romans 2;
God “will repay each person according to what they have done.”those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: Rom. 2:6,8-10
Has God's kindness to you led you to a changed life? Are you giving people grace? You know, there were some fans in the stands yelling, "That's travelling. Come on ref get in the game!!" Is that you in life? Do you realize that you too were a fellow "traveler" who has been shown kindness and forgiveness? Let your good deeds prove that you have been changed.
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