3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 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? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. Romans 2:3-5
In verse three here, I just can’t help re-reading this in a way I might say what Paul said.
You dummy, do you really think you can draw conclusions on other people relative to their sin and drum up an angle on God that has Him turn a blind eye to your own sinfulness?
To a pure and Holy God, all sin, no matter what kind, separates us from Him…not only that, any and all sin requires punishment. As Paul said, no one will escape God’s judgement…including believers. So, as a believer, if I take this same stance in ignoring the impact of my own sin, I will have to answer for it when the books are open at the Judgement seat. When Paul says, “do you presume on the riches and kindness”, the Greek word for ‘presume’ means “to think down on”. In other words, be careful how you see the restrained hand of God in terms of His kindness, forbearance, and patience with you…These things are not a release of God’s wrath upon you, but a merciful pause to lead you to seeing how grievous you should be with your behavior in relation to what Jesus has done for you. In other words, that grace should lead you to repentance.
Oh but then the great hammer of Paul’s words falls – because you are so calloused and your heart has become so hard, you are literally storing up heaps of God’s wrath that will soon catch up with you when God’s judgement for that sin, which has not been confessed and repented of, is read in front of the throngs, and you are charged for it. This is super scary!
APPLICATION
As a believer in Christ, I am not immune from the consequences of sin…BUT, when I am humble and recognize my sin, confess it before it before the Lord, and then turn a 180-degree pivot from that sin for the rest of my life, I receive forgiveness and am able to enter back into a close relationship with the Father because the Blood of Christ has washed it away. Woe to those who are not transformed by the power of the Gospel!