Romans 2:4
“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? ” (Romans 2:4, NASB95)
“ἢ τοῦ πλούτου τῆς χρηστότητος αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς ἀνοχῆς καὶ τῆς μακροθυμίας καταφρονεῖς, ἀγνοῶν ὅτι τὸ χρηστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ εἰς μετάνοιάν σε ἄγει; ” (Romans 2:4, NA27)
What a frightening phrase “do you think lightly”. Only that translation is kind of tip-toeing around what the Greek actually says. The Greek “καταφρονεις” (G2706). To hold in contempt, to think lightly of, despise, to neglect, not to care for. Perhaps a better translation would be “do you despise…” or perhaps “do you consider as worthless…”
In Matthew 6:24 we read ““No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. ” (Matthew 6:24, NASB95) Despise is our word καταφρονεις. Look at the contrast of views. Devoted and despise are extreme opposites of the same scale and they are mutually exclusive. They are the second of a pair of contrast used to illustrate the same extreme, the first being love and hate. All four of the Greek words for love, hate, devoted and despise are words that involve a thought process deriving from a person’s will. All involve the concept of value, ether finding value in or a lack of value in someone.
So just what are we considering as worthless? The riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience. Kindness is the Greek word χρητοτητος (G5544 or LN88.67) Louw and Nida have a more clear definition as compared to TCWSDNT and the definition is “to provide something beneficial for someone as an act of kindness” . Tolerance is the word ἀνοχή (G463) and conveys the meaning of indulgence or forbearance. Patience is the word μακροθυμίας (G3115) and means Forbearance, long–suffering, self–restraint before proceeding to action. The quality of a person who is able to avenge himself yet refrains from doing so . To better understand this let us look at 1 Peter 3:20 “who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. ” (1 Peter 3:20, NASB95.) Here we see God as restraining Himself before taking an action, namely the destruction of most of the human race.
What we have so far is “do you consider as worthless the riches of His kindness and tolerance and self restraint”.
Now we come to “not knowing”, it is only one word in the Greek. Ἀγνοῶν (G50). Forms of this word appear in 22verses in the New Testament a few of them would be Acts 17:23, 2 Cor. 2:11, Rom 6:3 and Rom 7:1. The basic meaning is ignorant, or unknowing or unaware. It literally implies a lack of knowledge. It does not imply a mental defect. It also allows for the lack to be corrected.
What is not known is the kindness of God. Kindness was displayed earlier as an attribute of God to be known; here it is displayed as an action of God with a result worked out in us. The specific action is God’s leading and the desired result is repentance. Repentance, here, is the Greek word μετανοιαν (G3341, LN41.52). I prefer the way Louw and Nida explain the definition of μετανοέω: to change one’s way of life as the result of a complete change of thought and attitude with regard to sin and righteousness . Although I find that definition to be incomplete, because I think that the first change in thinking comes in ones thinking toward Christ. I agree completely that the change in thinking must result in a change in actions on the part of the believer.
The main point of this verse is that we must be careful not to mistake God’s kindness and long-suffering for indifference to our sins. God’s delay of judgment is His way of providing a chance for our salvation or in the case of a believer our restoration. With God judgment is always the last resort after all offers of grace have been rejected.
