macrothumia – Ministry of Grace Church

Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

Truth to Learn

Our salvation is a result of God’s goodness, not ours.

Behind the Words

The word translated “despise” is kataphroneō, which is made up of kata, meaning “against” or denoting evil and phroneō, meaning “to think.” Hence, kataphroneō means “to think evil of.”

“Riches” is translated from ploutos, based on a root meaning “fullness.” It refers to the fullness of possessions.

The word “kindness” is from krēstotēs, meaning “moral excellence, kindness, or goodness.”

“Forbearance” is from anochēs, which is based on the word anechō, made up of ana, meaning “up” and echō, meaning “to have or hold.” Anochēs means “forbearance, self-restraint, or patience.”

The word “longsuffering” is from macrothumia, which is composed of macros, meaning “long” and thumos, which refers to “anger, fierceness or wrath.” This word refers to God’s ability to hold back His fierce wrath for a long time.

“Repentance” is translated from a form of metanoeō, made up of meta indicating “a change of place or condition” and noeō, meaning “to think or comprehend.” Hence we see that this word refers to a change in the way we think about something.

Meaning Explained

Now, putting this all together we find that Paul is asking, “Do you think evil of the great value of God’s moral excellence, His self-restraint, and His holding back His wrath, ignoring the fact that God’s moral excellence is what leads you to repentance?” What Paul is saying is, “God is very patient and suffers the pain of our sin against Him. And because He is so good, instead of squashing us like ants, He actually takes us by the hand and leads us to an attitude of repentance!”

The picture is like that of a loving father who, when his son or daughter has done something wrong, takes the time and effort to lovingly explain the effect of their wrongful action so that they realize they have done wrong and tell their father they’re sorry, asking for forgiveness. The real beauty of this is the fact that without God’s longsuffering and patience and His loving, leading way, we would not repent. For, as Paul says, “the kindness of God leads you to repentance.”

Our sin nature is ever present and it is powerful. Without the greater power of God through His kindness and without His willingness to hold back His righteous anger against our sins, we would not repent of our sinfulness. And without this repentance we would not be saved from our sins.

Praise be to God for His kindness!

Application

If this doesn’t cause you to fall to your knees with a prayer of thankfulness to God for His kindness, then you don’t underestimate the effect of your sinfulness in the presence of a holy God. God must judge sin, but He loves you as His precious child.

In God's service, for His glory,

The Lord of the promise is not slow as some consider slowness, but is long-suffering with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Truth to Learn

God is very patient with sinners, but His patience will end one day, and many will suffer His wrath on that day.

Behind the Words

The word in today’s verse translated “slow” (“slack” in some translations) is the Greek word bradunō, which means “to be slow or to be delayed.” I think a word in our modern vernacular which expresses it well is “tardy.”

“Long-suffering” is translated from the Greek word macrothumia, which is a compound word made up of macro, meaning “large or long” and thumos, meaning “strong feeling or passion, either good or bad (as if breathing hard).” Hence, “long-suffering” and “patient” are both good translations of this word.

The word translated “wanting” is boulomai, meaning “to be desirous” or “to be willing.” There is another word translated “wish” or “will” in the New Testament. It is the word thelō, but it includes the implication of intention and action. Thus we can say that boulomai refers to “desirous will,” whereas thelō refers to “determined will.” You see, God is not desirous that any should perish, but He has determined that many will.

Meaning Explained

Now, to answer your question, “Why is God taking so long, and what is He waiting for?” The answer is, “He loves all of mankind and is desirous that all should be saved.” Now, let’s see what this really means.

Peter tells us in this verse that God is not tardy in carrying out His promise. And what is the “promise” that Peter is referring to? It is the promise of the coming of the Messiah, the Christ, on the Day of Judgment.

Now, if He is not tardy, why hasn’t it happened yet? Peter says that it is because God is very patient. The implication is that God is holding his wrath in check, wrath that would destroy all of sinful mankind. And Peter tells us why God is holding back. He is “not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” The word “wanting” is a key word in this verse. As was pointed out in Behind the Words, this refers to God’s desirous will. It is not God’s desire that any should perish, He wants all mankind to repent of their sins, and He is holding back His wrath to give everyone the greatest possible opportunity to repent and submit to Him. So, what is it that will prevent God’s wrath from destroying us? Faith. That is, belief in the sacrificial death of the Son of God as payment for our sins. The Apostle John says it in his gospel account, through the words of Jesus, Himself:

The one believing in him is not condemned, but the one not believing has already been condemned because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. (John 3:18)

Application

We should be proclaiming the gospel message to everyone. The good news that all men are sinful and guilty before God but that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died on the cross to pay for that sin. Let us not be ashamed of it! Let us proclaim it from the roof tops because His patience will not last forever!

In God's service, for His glory,

Ministry of Grace Church

Tag: macrothumia

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2 Peter 3:9 – Merciful Patience