God’s Patience Toward Us

Most of us know what patience is. We all really appreciate it when someone is patient with us. But for some reason we have a hard time remembering to be patient with others. Who is someone we can hold up as the supreme example of patience? Our Creator of course. Most of us know that a good God would be patient. We would be drawn to a God like that.

What is God’s patience like? We see it in nature—the slow weathering of a mountain side, the eons of time that pass while his creation slowly changes. But more importantly, we see the patience of God in his dealings with the human race. If he can wait for eons while the processes of nature produce their effect, then he can certainly wait a few years for his plans to be fulfilled in us humans.

God is slow to anger

Patience seems to be a rare quality in people today. People lose their patience and let their anger fly at the smallest offenses. Is God like this? Does God punish people because he can’t control his anger? Let’s see what Scripture has to say about the patience of God.

The Psalmist David revealed God’s true heart towards us:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.  (Psalm 103:8-10)

To believers and unbelievers alike, God is slow to get angry. His default attitude toward us is patience and kindness.

The apostle Paul states that “love is patient” (1 Corinthians 13:4). So, we are assured that God’s love toward us is also patient. Believers in Christ especially come to know God’s patience as we grow to be like Christ. Although God expects us to mature, he doesn’t demand immediate change, but allows us time to grow, as a good Father would do.

The good news of the Messiah

The prophet Isaiah beautifully described the ministry of the coming Messiah and all who would minister in his name:

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God…. (Isaiah 61:1-2)

This prophecy describes the good news that the Messiah and his followers were to preach.  The basic elements of this gospel message were to be:

• Freedom for captives: freedom from the burdens of sin and guilt through faith in the Messiah.
• Release from darkness for the prisoners: deliverance from Satan’s kingdom of darkness for those held in bondage to hate and fear.
• A year of the Lord’s favor: God’s promises of the availability of his grace, mercy, and salvation as long as a person is alive.
• The day of vengeance of our God: a final day of judgment and punishment for all who flagrantly disobey God’s commands by rejecting God’s kindness and grace, ignoring or hating God and hating other people.

A year of God’s favor and a day of vengeance

Note that the Lord provides a whole year of his favor, but only a day for his punishment. Here, the words year and day are not to be taken literally. For those who are yet to believe, God provides for each person a “year”—a lifetime actually—of opportunity to respond to his grace and mercy. But those who refuse God’s grace will be judged and severely punished. But this will only last a “day,” in other words, it will be short not prolonged. In other Bible verses this is called the Day of Judgment.

David’s Psalm says the same thing:

Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime…  (Psalm 30:4-5)

God’s kindness leads us to repentance

God’s intent is to give us abundant opportunities to choose the right path. He doesn’t keep narrowing the window so that he can punish us as soon as possible. He’s fine with waiting, if it gives us more opportunity to change. As the apostle Paul wrote:

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

God’s patient kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. He’s patient with all people. He gives everyone many opportunities to respond to his love and to repent of wrong.

God’s Patience is our Salvation

The apostle Peter explained why God is patient with us:

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

God is patient with us because he doesn’t want anyone to perish. It’s a good thing, because if he were not, we would have no hope—we’d all be doomed. It’s not in his nature to carry out the most severe sentence possible just so he can prove his power or holiness. He gives everyone the benefit of the doubt and won’t close the door if there’s still a chance we’ll respond to his grace. Peter underscores the same point in a following verse:

 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.             (2 Peter 3:15)

Of course, Peter didn’t mean that because of God’s patience, then everyone will eventually be saved. Verse 9 provides clarity and context for this statement, that God is patiently waiting for all to repent so they can be saved. But both Peter and Paul understood the patience of God: that he could justly judge and punish everyone now, but then no one would be saved. So, because of his compassion on those who are oppressed and under the power of sin, he reveals himself many times over a period of time so they can turn to him.

Popular beliefs

Some Bible teachers speak as if God is not patient and kind. I once heard a radio preacher say as part of his gospel presentation that one little sin is enough to send you to hell forever. The reason this is supposedly true is because: God is infinitely holy, he cannot tolerate even the smallest sin, we all deserve the most horrendous punishment possible, and this is why Jesus had to die for us.

Augustine’s error

Actually, I’ve heard this message more than a few times. May I take some liberty as a Bible teacher and just say that this belief is ridiculous. It sounds like these teachers are saying, “Jesus the loving God died to save us from the mean and impatient God.” It’s actually a variation of Augustine’s teaching: that sin against an infinite God warrants an infinite punishment. It comes from well-meaning Christians wanting to defend God’s holiness. But they’re taking truths they know about God and extrapolating them too far out using flawed human reasoning. In doing so they’re presenting a distorted view of God.

We know from many other Bible passages that God’s final punishment on people will not happen because of one sin, or even many sins, but because they are unrepentant. They have been given opportunities to know God’s forgiveness, but they have squandered them. If people perish on that final Day of Judgment, it’s not because they lacked opportunity to repent and believe in the Savior. It’s because they will have refused to do so.

Christ’s sacrificial death took care of the problem of sin—through faith in Christ, we are forgiven and justified. God’s gracious provision of forgiveness through Christ proves that he doesn’t want anyone to perish. Those who perish at the final judgment are those who refuse to accept this provision.

The Unity of God’s attributes

One reason some evangelicals don’t see the patience of God is the assumption that God’s holiness overshadows all his other attributes. Along with this is the idea that God’s holiness is offended every time we sin, and God can’t tolerate this, so he needs to be appeased.

But is this true? For example, does God’s holiness overshadow his goodness? Or his love? Can one of God’s attributes cancel out others? No, God’s attributes are perfectly united. All of God’s attributes describe him perfectly, and each one is a compliment to the other. London School of Theology professor Tony Lane wrote:

In God’s innermost being, his attributes are perfectly united. There is no love of God that is not holy and no holiness of God that is not loving. There is nowhere where God is love but not light, and nowhere where he is light but not love. Likewise, God’s love and his justice are united in his essential nature.

To know God, we must have a deep understanding of all the attributes of God and how they work in harmony. Yes, God is infinitely holy. But it’s deceptive to use the term “infinite” for God’s holiness but not for God’s other attributes. God is also infinitely good. He is infinitely loving, kind, and patient. In fact, in all of his attributes he is infinite. This is because he is the infinite and eternal God.

One of God’s attributes does not and cannot overshadow or cancel out any other. So, the premise that God cannot tolerate even the smallest sin is, on its face, absurd.

God’s patience in history

Actually, God is patient with millions of people every day. He puts up with a lot of sin and doesn’t punish people right away for sins they commit. He gives people many chances to change their ways. In Paul’s sermon to the Athenians, he described the patience of God with those who committed idolatry:

 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  (Acts 17:29-30)

Paul was appealing to the Gentile, the unreligious person without God. It was obvious that God was patient with them over the centuries. God overlooked their sins—even the sin of idolatry. This doesn’t mean he let everyone off or that he forgave each of them in spite of their idolatry. It means he didn’t immediately punish and destroy the Gentiles for their sins but waited patiently until they could hear the message of salvation. He waited through many centuries—thousands of years—of human history for people to finally hear a clear message that could deliver them from this error. And now that the gospel had arrived, God commanded everyone who heard to repent and believe.

When the time had finally come, God acted to send the Savior into the world:

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.  (Galatians 4:4-5)

God’s patience with Paul

Paul’s life and conversion serves as an extreme example of God’s grace, mercy, and also his patience.

 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.  (1 Timothy 1:15-16)

Few people can claim to have received the degree of grace and mercy Paul had received. But God’s patience with him was also great—Paul describes it as immense. He committed some of the most egregious sins and crimes against others and God himself. He approved of and was an accessory to the murder of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. In our minds, we would not have waited that long to stop Paul. We would have taken him down as soon as he began to persecute our brethren.

Yet all the while, God was waiting for the right time to act. Some time after the death of Steven, Jesus confronted Paul on the road to Damascus. The time for God’s patience had ended, and the time for him to act had begun. Thankfully, Paul responded with repentance and faith.

Does God’s patience have a limit?

So, there’s a time when God decides to act. But does that mean the patience of God is not infinite but has a limit? Does it really run out? Is there a point to which God can’t stand it anymore and that’s when he gets really angry at people?

This is how humans behave, but no, God’s patience doesn’t run out. The reason God decides to act is that he is also omniscient. In his foreknowledge he knows the point at which people will not change or repent. So, there’s no need for him to extend his offer of forgiveness out indefinitely. This question really depends on the human lack of response, not God’s patience.

God also has a time limit for each one of us. Although his patience is unlimited, there’s a right time to end the waiting. If a person continually rejects God’s grace, then at some time he will withdraw any opportunities for them to respond. Then will be the time they experience his anger.

Responding to God’s kindness and patience

If you haven’t responded to God’s grace yet, what’s keeping you? Certainly nothing on God’s part—he’s holding nothing back from you. And he will wait patiently until the time your life is scheduled to end. And end it will.

So, resolve to reconcile with God at the soonest possible time. Turn to the Lord in repentance and faith in Christ today, and you will experience his full and complete salvation.

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