Romans 2:1-29
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (v. 4) The first half of this verse reminds me of our pastor back in Richmond whom Carol and I heard say one Sunday morning in a small group lesson time that he did not believe in hell, that a loving God would never assign someone to hell for all eternity. At that point we knew that we had to leave. Unfortunately it took us another three years before we joined St. Andrew’s.
There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil … but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good… (vv. 9a, 10a). These verses sound like truth when our final judgment arrives, but it’s a bit troublesome in our natural world. That is, there are two books, When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold Kushner and Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People by David Arnold that suggest just the opposite, that tribulation and distress fall on good people. Naturally the second half also applies, that glory and honor and peace fall on bad people. Be that as it may, Paul was clearly speaking in the present tense, because after both of these phrases he adds “the Jew first and also the Greek”. I know (in my head, but maybe not in my heart) that trying times for us are meant to teach us something – that if God is allowing difficulties in our lives, He who could right all wrongs is allowing those occasions to happen. So I take these verses as eternal truths with a full understanding in our natural world that God is God and I’m not!
See also: June 10 / Romans 2:1-16; June 11 / Romans 2:17-29