ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Tusite Novema 16, 2021 

ko e anga‘ofa ‘a e ‘Otua ‘oku ne fai ha taki ki he fakatomala

the goodness of God leads you to repentance 

Loma 2 (Romans 2)

 (v. 4-5) Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,

(v. 4-5) Ka na‘a ko ho‘o ta‘etoka‘i ‘a e koloa na ko ‘ene anga‘ofa, kae‘uma‘ā ‘ene fakatofutofu mo anga mokomoko; ‘o ‘ikai te ke ‘ilo, ko e anga‘ofa ‘a e ‘Otua ‘oku ne fai ha taki ki he fakatomala? Ka ke fai‘aki ho loto fefeka mo ta‘efakatomala na, ‘o ke fokotu‘u houhau ma‘au, ‘oka hoko mai ‘a e ‘aho fai houhau mo fakae‘a ‘a e fakamaau ‘au‘autotonu ‘a e ‘Otua:

 

David Guzik :: Study Guide for Romans 2

Paul points out that the moralist himself presumes upon the goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering of God, which all should bring the moralist into a humble repentance instead of an attitude of superiority.

Goodness may be considered God’s kindness to us in regard to our past sin. He has been good to us because He has not judged us yet though we deserve it.

Forbearance may be considered God’s kindness to us in regard to our present sin. This very day – indeed, this very hour – we have fallen short of His glory, yet He holds back His judgment against us.

Longsuffering may be considered God’s kindness to us in regard to our future sin. He knows that we will sin tomorrow and the next day, yet He holds back His judgment against us.

Considering all this, it is no surprise that Paul describes these three aspects of God’s kindness to us as riches. The riches of God’s mercy may be measured by four considerations:

· His greatness – to wrong a great man is a great wrong and God is greatest of all – yet He shows mercy

· His omniscience – if someone knew all our sin, would they show mercy? Yet God shows mercy

· His power – sometimes wrongs are not settled because they are out of our power, yet God is able to settle every wrong against Him – yet He is rich in mercy

· The object of His mercy: mere man – would we show mercy to an ant? Yet God is rich in mercy

v. Knowing how great God’s kindness is, it is a great sin to presume upon the graciousness of God, and we easily come to believe that we deserve it.

Forbearance and longsuffering: Men of think of this as weakness in God. They say things like “If there is a God in heaven, let Him strike me dead!” When it doesn’t happen, they will say, “See, I told you there was no God.” Men misinterpret God’s forbearance and longsuffering as His approval, and they refuse to repent.

“It seems to me that every morning when a man wakes up still impenitent, and finds himself out of hell, the sunlight seems to say, ‘I shine on thee yet another day, as that in this day thou mayest repent.’ When your bed receives you at night I think it seems to say, ‘I will give you another night’s rest, that you may live to turn from your sins and trust in Jesus.’ Every mouthful of bread that comes to the table says, ‘I have to support your body that still you may have space for repentance.’ Every time you open the Bible the pages say, ‘We speak with you that you may repent.’ Every time you hear a sermon, if it be such a sermon as God would have us preach, it pleads with you to turn unto the Lord and live.” (Spurgeon)

Not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance: Many people misunderstand the goodness of God towards the wicked. They don’t understand the entire reason for it is to lead them to repentance.

Men should see the goodness of God and understand:

· God has been better to them than they deserve

· God has shown them kindness when they have ignored Him

· God has shown them kindness when they have mocked Him

· God is not a cruel master and they may safely surrender to Him

· God is perfectly willing to forgive them

· God should be served out of simple gratitude

ii. Are you waiting for God to drive you to repentance? He doesn’t work like that; God leads you to repentance. “Notice, dear friends, that the Lord does not drive you to repentance. Cain was driven away, as a fugitive and a vagabond, when he had killed his righteous brother Abel; Judas went and hanged himself, being driven by an anguish of remorse because of what he had done in betraying his Lord; but the sweetest and best repentance is that which comes, not by driving, but by drawing: ‘The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.'” (Spurgeon)

“In the New Testament, repentance is not simply negative. It means turning to a new life in Christ, a life of active service to God. It should not be confused with remorse, which is a deep sorrow for sin but lacks the positive note in repentance.” (Morris)

You are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God: Because of this presumption on God’s graciousness, Paul can rightly say that the moralist is treasuring up... wrath in the day of wrath.

The moralist thinks he treasures up merit with God as he condemns the “sinners” around him. Actually, he only treasures up the wrath of God. “Just as men add to their treasure of wealth, so dost thou add to the treasures of punishment.” (Poole)

“As men treasure up the wrath of God against them, what holds back the flood of wrath? God Himself! He holds it back out of His forbearance and longsuffering! “The figure is that of a load that God bears, which men heap up more and more, making heavier and heavier. The wonder of it all is that God holds any of it up even for a day; yet he holds up all its weight and does not let it crash down on the sinner’s head.” (Lenski)

In the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God: In the first coming of Jesus the loving character of God was revealed with greatest emphasis. At the second coming of Jesus the righteous judgment of God will be revealed most clearly.