The Richness of God's Mercy

the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? Romans 2:4

How different God is to us.

He is rich in the qualities that we need. Rather than driving us, God's grace leads us to repentance - literally to a change of mind.

Let's consider the three qualities Paul highlights in this verse.

God's kindness is the way in which he shows his grace to us. His dealings with sinners are based on this quality. He shows restraint, respect and generosity in his interaction with the human race, despite our rebellion against him and his laws. Perhaps a supreme example of God's kindness is shown in the way his Son dealt with a woman caught in the very act of adultery by religious people who wanted to punish her. After dealing with the hypocrisy of her accusers, Christ said to her, "Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin." Christ's compassion is, quite literally, life-changing.

God's tolerance refers to his restraint in dealing justly with sinners. He does not pick up on our every fault and punish us at every step. His tolerance means that people appear to get away with their sin - for a while. You will sometimes hear people say as they prepare to sin, "Let's see if God strikes me down now." The fact that he rarely does so in the moment is not an endorsement of the sin but an expression of God's tolerance.

Similarly, God's patience is that quality by which he continues to wait for people to repent. It is his long-suffering. Every day he endures blasphemy from planet earth and would be just in wiping us out tomorrow. God's patience, however, is an expression of his grace and provides the space we need to come to our senses and repent.

These amazing qualities of God are routinely misunderstood as God's endorsement of our sin. Nothing could be further from the truth. They are a window in time and space allowing us to repent and seek his mercy before the judgment which is already partially being outworked in human society reaches its fulfillment on the Day of Judgment.

Until then, mankind has an opportunity.

the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? Romans 2:4

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