Who are the ones who fail to understand that God’s kindness is meant for repentance?

Explanation:

Paul wonders if the one who judges and yet practices the same evil presumes on the patience and kindness of God, not realizing that God’s kindness is meant to lead to repentance. In other words, the reader Paul has in mind judges others while practicing the same wickedness he condemns. To judge others while practicing the same wickedness is to make incorrect assumptions about God’s kindness, which is given for the sake of repentance, not as a pass for sin. So who are these readers who incorrectly presume on God’s kindness? Likely, Paul has in mind a subset of Jews who misunderstand Jewish theology. Jewish theology has it that God is kind to sinners, giving them an opportunity for repentance, but a subset of Jews mistake God’s kindness as a license to sin. Here, Paul corrects their thinking.

We can deduce that according to Jewish theology God’s kindness was meant to lead to repentance because Peter, who was himself Jewish, writes something similar to Paul.¹ Specifically, in 2 Peter 3:9 he writes that the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises but is patient, wishing that all should reach repentance. Peter teaches that the Lord’s patience does not signal his slowness, but his patience, for his patience allows time for repentance. Given that both Paul and Peter were brought up Jewish, and the similarity in their comments, we can deduce that God’s patience for repentance was a common Jewish teaching.

Counterargument:

Peter was not only Jewish but like Paul, a Christian apostle. Thus, it could be that both Paul and Peter introduce a new teaching that goes beyond Jewish theology. For Paul will go on to explain that God’s kindness applies to both Jews and Gentiles, allowing both an opportunity to repent. To apply God’s kindness to the Gentiles is to extend the boundaries of the covenant in a way that goes beyond traditional Jewish theology.² Of course, Paul sets up the fact that God’s kindness is applicable to the Gentiles by pointing out that God’s kindness is meant to lead to repentance. Given that both Paul and Peter were aware that through Christ, the covenant had been extended to the Gentiles, they are both likely going beyond Jewish theology when they say God’s patience is meant for repentance, rather than simply aligning with it.

 Response to counterargument:

 That God’s kindness extends to the Gentiles was always an aspect of Jewish theology. For example, we read in Isaiah 56:3–7 that the Lord will not separate the foreigner or the eunuch who joins his people. That is, God will welcome non-Israelites who love the Lord and keep his Sabbath. Further, we read in Isaiah 19:20 that the Egyptians will call to the Lord, and he will send them a Saviour and a defender to deliver them. Further, there will be a road from Egypt to Assyria, and the Egyptians and Assyrians will worship the Lord together (Isaiah 19:23). In other words, God would rescue the Gentiles. Further, God declares through the prophet Hosea that a time will come when he will show mercy to those who formerly had no mercy, and will say to a people who are not his people, You are my people (Hosea 2:23). And in fact, in this letter to the Romans, Paul will point to this verse from Hosea, explaining that Hosea prophesied that God’s mercy would extend to both the Jews and Gentiles (Romans 9:25–26). Thus, we can see that the Old Testament prophets taught that God’s mercy extends to the Gentiles, for God’s kindness is meant for repentance, not a pass for sin. This implies that Paul is correcting his audience so they will align with traditional Jewish theology.

Explanation:

Paul says that his readers judge others while partaking in the same wickedness, because they have wrongly presumed on God’s kindness. That is, these do not understand that God’s kindness is meant for repentance, and not a free pass to sin. Likely, there were some Jews in Rome who misunderstood traditional Jewish theology, and Paul corrects their thinking. We can detect that traditional Jewish theology held that God’s kindness is meant to lead to repentance, because we have Jewish documents from the intertestamental period that states as much.³

For example, in the Letter to Aristeas, likely written in the second or third century BC, the author offers a glimpse into Jewish theology, when the king asks the Jewish envoy how best to keep his kingdom unimpaired. To this, the Jewish representative suggests that the king imitate the kindness of God by offering clemency in order to turn his subjects from evil and toward repentance.⁴ Likewise, in Wisdom of Solomon, another Jewish document dated to the first century BC, we read that God’s kindness is meant for repentance when the author writes, But you are merciful to all, for you can do all things, and you overlook people’s sins, so that they may repent (Wisdom of Solomon 11:23). Thus, we have clear textual evidence from the intertestamental period that according to Jewish theology, God’s kindness was meant for repentance.

Counterargument:

 While it may be that the writer of the Letter to Aristeas held that God’s kindness leads to repentance, Wisdom of Solomon is not a strong source for this argument. For while Wisdom of Solomon does not represent traditional Jewish theology, Paul’s statement from Romans 2:4 actually seems to correct passages from Wisdom of Solomon.⁵ For example, we read in Wisdom of Solomon 15:1-2 that God is kind, true, and patient, such that even if the Jews sin, they belong to God.⁶

In other words, the traditional Jewish theologians believed they could judge others and not be condemned for the same behaviour because even if they sin, they belong to God. Given the structural similarities between and Wisdom of Solomon 15:1-2, Paul seems to be correcting Wisdom of Solomon, not aligning with it.

Response to counterargument:

This counterargument is not successful. That is because it overlooks Wisdom of Solomon 11:23, which clearly states that God’s kindness is meant for repentance. Once we recognize that the author of Wisdom of Solomon believed that God’s patience was meant for repentance, we can interpret Wisdom of Solomon 15:1-2 slightly differently. That is, by saying that God would love the Jews even when they sin, the author is not presuming on God’s kindness, but extolling God’s faithfulness. In other words, the author understands that God is kind, allowing an opportunity for repentance, and faithful because he continues to show mercy even when his people sin.

The weakness of this view is that Paul seems to be addressing the Jews as a whole in this section. That is, when we consider the larger context of Romans 2:1–29, Paul’s entire point seems to be getting the Jews to understand that the Gentiles are included in the gospel. Now, if Paul is trying to get the Jews to understand that the Gentiles are included in the gospel, why should he focus his attention on a subset of Jews who misunderstood Jewish theology?

Explanation:

In Romans 2:3–4, Paul asks whether the one who judges thinks he can practice wickedness and escape God’s judgment because of God’s kindness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead to repentance. In other words, Paul addresses people who depend on God’s kindness, not understanding that God’s kindness is not a free pass to be wicked but allows time for repentance. So to whom does Paul direct these comments?

Most likely his comments are directed toward all Jews. Jews generally believed that others were condemned for their wickedness while the Jews escaped God’s judgment because of his kindness. Paul is saying that the kindness of God is not a pass to sin but is meant to lead to repentance. Thus, the Jew who judges others while continuing to practice wickedness on account of God’s kindness misunderstands the purpose of God’s kindness.

We can detect that Paul likely has a Jewish audience in mind because his comments seem to be directed toward a passage from Wisdom of Solomon.⁹ Wisdom of Solomon was likely written in the first century BC and was an important Jewish theological document. In it, the author writes that God is kind, patient, and merciful, and that even if we sin, we belong to God (Wisdom of Solomon 15:1-2). But we will not sin, knowing that God acknowledges us as his (Wisdom of Solomon 15:2).

Now turn to Romans 2:4, where Paul says that his reader presumes God’s kindness, forbearance, and patience, not understanding that God’s kindness is meant for repentance. In other words, the author of Wisdom seems to suggest that because the Israelites belong to God, even if they sin, they remain God’s. Paul counters this line of thinking, pointing out that God’s patience is for repentance, not a pass for wickedness.¹⁰   

Counterargument:

This argument contends that according to intertestamental Jewish literature, Jewish theology developed the concept that because God is kind, he will bear with the sins of the Israelites, not recognizing that he bears with them so they will repent. The problem with this view is that we know from the Old Testament that Jews recognized that God’s patience was meant for repentance. For example, in Exodus 34:6 the Lord passes before Moses before stating that he is merciful, gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. Further, in Psalm 25:7 the psalmist asks God to forget his sins according to God’s steadfast love.¹¹ Finally, in Wisdom of Solomon 11:23 we read, But you are merciful to all, for you can do all things, and you overlook people’s sins, so that they may repent. Here, the author of Wisdom of Solomon clearly states that God is merciful so that people may repent. Given that the Old Testament emphasizes God’s kindness and mercy, and that the book of Wisdom of Solomon specifically states that such mercy is for repentance, and Paul cannot be countering Jewish theology as a whole. Rather, he is more likely targeting those who have misunderstood Jewish theology.

Explanation:

The Old Testament prophet Hosea suggests that the more God was gracious to Israel, the more they spurned his grace.¹² In other words, the Israelites misunderstood that the purpose of God’s kindness and grace was so that they would repent. For example, Hosea states that God loved Israel and called them out of Egypt, but the more they were called, the more they went astray (Hosea 11:1–2). He goes on to write that God led them with kindness and love, but that Israel was bent on turning away from God (Hosea 11:4, Hosea 11:7).¹³ In other words, God was kind and gracious toward Israel, and yet they continued in their sin. Now Paul is explaining the folly in spurning God’s kindness. That is, the Israelites did not understand the purpose of God’s kindness, or they would have repented and turned to God, so Paul points out that the purpose of God’s kindness has always been to allow for repentance.

Counterargument:

According to this argument, passages like Hosea 11:1–12 show that God was kind to Israel, but they continued sinning. That is, according to this argument, the Jews generally did not understand the purpose of God’s kindness, thinking it allowed them to continue sinning. In fact, we cannot conclude based on a handful of isolated verses from Hosea that in general, Jews mistakenly believed that God’s kindness allowed them to sin. For when we continue reading Hosea, God explicitly teaches that he will punish the Israelites for their wrongdoing (Hosea 12:2). He also calls them to repent from their sin and return to him (Hosea 14:1–2). To put it all together, God is kind to Israel, but they spurn his kindness and continue to sin. Because of this, God punishes them and calls them into repentance. Likewise, Paul teaches that God’s kindness is meant for repentance. Thus, Jews generally were taught and understood that God’s kindness was meant for repentance.

The weakness of this view is that our source for understanding Jewish theology is the Old Testament and intertestamental Jewish writings. But these writings agree that God’s kindness is meant for repentance, so Paul is obviously not countering these sources. What this view wants us to hold is that we should read between the lines of recorded Jewish theology and Romans 2:4, to conclude that the Jews generally misunderstood Jewish theology. Unfortunately, this argument does not offer enough evidence to support the fact that Jews misunderstood Jewish theology.