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? (Rom 2:4)We live in a culture that worships “nonjudgmentalism” and “tolerance” and “inclusivity” (all while judging, not tolerating, and excluding those who aren’t up to our standards of those things). So we love this “prooftext.” “See?” we say. “It’s not His wrath or judgment or any such thing that leads to repentance. It’s His kindness that makes people want to repent.” Right there in the Bible. But is that really what it’s saying? Before we can answer that question, we need to notice where Paul starts his entire discussion. The thought begins in the first chapter of Romans, where Paul says he’s not ashamed of the gospel because it puts God’s righteousness on display (Rom 1:16–17). And strikingly, the very first way Paul shows God’s righteousness is not through kindness but through wrath (Rom 1:18). So if it’s His kindness that leads us to repentance, what’s Paul doing? In the flow of thought, Paul lays out the sin decay of the human race (Rom 1:18–32). But Paul refuses to let his audience treat chapter 1 as a spectator sport. In chapter 2 he turns to the reader and says, essentially, “If you can see it, you’re guilty of it” (Rom 2:1–2). At this point Paul isn’t talking about kindness at all — he’s talking about guilt.
So what does Paul mean when he says that “the kindness of God leads you to repentance”? Only after establishing universal guilt does Paul explain what he means by “kindness.” He explains that God’s judgment “rightly falls on those who practice such things” (Rom 2:2) … and yet, we aren’t immediately judged. Paul refers to God’s “forbearance” (Rom 2:4). That is the kindness the verse refers to. Paul’s verb, ἄγει (“leads”), does not describe internal motivation but external opportunity. Once we understand “kindness” as forbearance, the whole passage snaps into focus.
If God did not practice forbearance for sin, we would all perish — and rightly so. Instead, He practices “kindness and tolerance and patience” — justice delayed. It is this kindness that gives us room to repent. It’s this kindness that leads us to repentance. This kindness isn’t what causes us to repent; it’s what gives us the opportunity at all. Remember, the topic is how the gospel puts God’s righteousness on display. He’s righteously angry at sin. We’ve righteously earned His wrath. He would be completely right in judging us immediately, but He is right to show forbearance and kindness, and that displays His grace and mercy — His further righteousness. It’s not about how God, being nice, is what makes us want to repent. Scripture certainly speaks elsewhere of God’s kindness softening the heart, but that is not Paul’s point in Romans 2. It’s about God’s righteousness giving us the opportunity to repent. That’s the kindness in view, and it is a magnificent kindness. Not kindness as sentiment, but kindness as suspended judgment. Not kindness that makes repentance easy, but kindness that makes repentance possible.
I noticed a few overlapping terms in today’s post and Monday’s post, where you wrote that God’s mercy is “justice suspended” and “justice restrained,” while God’s kindness is “justice delayed” and “suspended judgment.” Paul certainly painted a very clear picture of how God (rightly) views the rebellious actions of humankind and the great patience the Lord demonstrates in light of that. As Peter also wrote in 2 Peter 3:9, God truly suffers long with His stubborn and disobedient creatures--all the while offering them full forgiveness and restitution through Jesus Christ. The skeptics might read your recent post titles, “Amazing Mercy” and “The Magnificent Kindness of God,” and scoff, insisting that God is vengeful and punitive; however, this is a shortsighted and incomplete view. They are only seeing the Bad News and not receiving the Good News that follows it: “Repent and believe in the gospel, and you will be saved.” That is the heart of our God: kind, patient, tolerant, forbearing, longsuffering, forgiving, gracious, generous, compassionate, merciful, benevolent, and loving. How can people miss this??
ReplyDeleteI immediately thought of the kindness meaning God's kindness of changing our hearts so that we are capable of repentance. I saw it more as leading like on a leash, not leading as like a persuasion.
ReplyDeleteIt's less about leading or persuading than simply not judging, which is the entire context of the verse. Paul has laid out that we're all sinners and God is angry. The natural conclusion is that it's all over for us and it should be, but Paul says God is kind enough to give forbearance to allow those who will repent to be able to. That's the kindness ... His delay of our just punishment.
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