THE LORD'S PATIENCE MEANS SALVATION - PART 2

THURSDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2022

Patience is an attitude of waiting for something like good news or a new thing to manifest. On God's part, who is in the greatest position of authority, patience is part of the concept of God's order of authority and the corresponding accomplishment of His eternal purpose. Let's find out more!

Reference: 2 Peter 3:15 New International Version (NIV) "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."

Here is the Biblical formula for patience: What did the Scripture say about God in 1 John 4:16? It says, "We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them" (NLT). If God is love, what is the first characteristic of love? Love is patient, love is kind...(1 Corinthians 13:4 NIV). Now according to referenced verse, how does the Lord's love, which is patience, mean salvation? The Bible says in John 3:16 - "For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life" (NLT). So God who is love, demonstrated His love which is patient, so that everyone who believes in Christ will not perish but have eternal life, through salvation. Have you now grasped the connection between the Lord's patience and salvation?

Romans 2:4 (NIV) reads, "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?" Beloved, it is not possible for God to love mankind without demonstrating it through patience. God uses it to exert His purpose on earth. To instantiate this, the Bible says, "So also, when we were children, we were enslaved under the basic principles of the world. But when the 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 our adoption as sons.…" (Galatians 4:3-5). Everything about God in this passage of the Scripture denotes patience. In a nutshell, the Lord's patience was expressed until the fullness of time when Christ was revealed on earth to effectuate the salvation of mankind.

For us, the saints in Christ Jesus, patience is part of submission. It is used to teach us a lot. True submission to God knows the place of patience, reverence and honour. Patience is not just a form of surrendering or submitting to God's authority, it is an active embrace of God's will, through which we demonstrate trust in Him while waiting for anything of spiritual value. It is also a supernatural response towards inheriting or possessing mega blessings in Christ. No wonder apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:17 (NKJV) - "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." In other words, be patient in light affliction because it manufactures a weighty tome of God's glory, which implies that Paul wisely measured the duration of light affliction, compared to the eternal weight of glory that follows, and indeed, this is designed to show us that patience plays a significant role inbetween both.

In summary, on God's end, patience means salvation, which is an initiation that brings us into the body of Christ. On our end, it is an emblematical representation of our perseverance in dying to self, and living to practice righteousness, in consequence of our waiting on God, with regard to any divine expectation or possibility. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Exodus 34:5-7; Ecclesiastes 7:8; Ecclesiastes 8:11-13; Colossians 3:12-13; James 1:2-4.

Guided Prayer: Thank you Lord for your patience upon all mankind, through the efficacy of Christ's death, resurrection and victory. So vast are your plans and eternal purpose and I partake of your mercy, abundant grace, future and eternal weight of glory because of your patience and kindness. With joy, I will continue to draw water from the wells of salvation, in Jesus' Name, Amen!