“4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? 5 Because of your hardened and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed.”
Have you ever felt like the unrighteous sometimes prosper while the righteous suffer? The Bible provides a clear picture of this through the life of Job or in the book of Ecclesiastes. As Christians, this can sometimes be difficult to understand. King David, throughout the Psalms, cries out repeatedly to God about how his enemies seem to live lives of luxury and ease, while he is suffering and in constant need. In Romans, Paul gives us a glimpse at what God is doing in the lives of the unrighteous when things seem to be backward like this. The grace and mercy that God has shown to the unrighteous is not without purpose. The grace God chooses to have upon the unrighteous is a means of mercy by which he is calling them to repent.
The unrighteous will often correlate God’s grace, or at least the absence of His wrath, with approval from God for their unrighteous conduct. They will use this to justify behavior that is completely contrary to God’s Word. As Christians, we must stand firm and insist that God would never approve of sinful thoughts or behaviors.
“For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil cannot dwell with you. The boastful cannot stand in your sight; you hate all evildoers.” — Psalms 5:4-5
“Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.” — 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
In the same way Paul writes to the Romans, Peter, in his second letter, writes this to his readers.
“The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.” — 2 Peter 3:9
God’s patience with the unrighteous is not an approval of their way of life, but rather, a merciful way of calling them to repent and follow the one true God. Be warned, however, as Peter points out, the Lord may tarry now, allowing the unrighteous time to repent, but it will not always be this way. Repent now, before it’s too late! God is giving you the opportunity now to repent of your sin, confess, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in His resurrection. If you ignore this warning long enough, you and your hardened, unrepentant heart will be judged with God’s wrath in the day of God’s righteous judgment.
“Therefore, consider God’s kindness and severity: severity toward those who have fallen but God’s kindness toward you — if you remain in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.” — Romans 11:22
God is not a passive, uncaring God. He cares deeply about all sin and has an immense hatred for it. He cannot stand to be near it. When it comes to the unrighteous, they will not go unpunished, but in God’s perfect timing, He will judge them and they will feel the wrath of God, the wrath which they have been storing up for themselves.
What is this day of wrath that Paul talks about? When is it? That may not be for us to know now, but we can know for sure that it is coming. We must not delay in our repentance, lest we be judged in our unrighteousness and face the wrath of God. Jesus tells a parable of the watchful servants, those who are faithful in their constant readiness for Jesus’ second coming.
“‘Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.’” — Luke 12:35-40 ESV
Notice the last part of verse 40. “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” It is not for us to know when God’s wrath will be revealed upon the unrighteous, we just need to know that it will happen and that it could happen at any moment, so we must be prepared. We must be made right with God by repenting of our sin, confessing that Jesus is Lord, and by having faith in Jesus who will save us from the coming wrath.
Amen brother……amen! Great lesson today. Years ago, I had a big argument with a Bible study teacher who stated that the word reconciliation meant that God was going to judge the world but without any wrath at all. Needless to say, I took issue with him.