In recent issues, we have been studying the goodness, grace, mercy, and love of God. The attribute of longsuffering certainly stems from and is closely associated with these attributes.
The word in the Greek New Testament for "long-suffering" is macrothumia or literally, "long-tempered." It is the quality of not avenging oneself, or retaliating hastily against an offence, slight, or provocation. It is the opposite of anger.
As we have seen earlier in our studies of the attributes of God, God is holy and abhors sin. If He were not longsuffering He no doubt would have wiped rebellious, sinful mankind off the face of the earth many centuries, or millenia, ago. Let us consider the testimony given by the Scriptures to the long-suffering of God.
In three Old Testament passages we find a close connection between the longsuffering of God and His grace, mercy, and goodness:"And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (Exod. 34:6; similarly, Num. 14:18). "But Thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth" (Psa. 86:15).
God’s longsuffering with man’s wickedness in the days of Noah, during the 120 years of the building of the ark, is mentioned by the apostle Peter (1 Pet. 3:20). His longsuffering toward sinful man in the present era is likewise proclaimed by Peter:"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. . . . The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation" (2 Pet. 3:9,15).
God’s longsuffering is evident even toward those whom He knew would not accept the offer of free salvation through the substitutionary death of Christ. "God . . . endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction" (Rom. 9:22). William Kelly, in Notes on Romans, makes the following comments on this verse:"He bore long with the corruption and violence of guilty man. Could man then justly tax God either with lack of compassion for himself or with haste to mark his iniquities? Impossible that a holy God could have fellowship with evil or be indifferent to it! But instead of promptly blotting out of this life the rebellious creatures who make the world a field for incessant warfare against what they know of God, or who at least live negligent of His will though He has revealed it fully, the history of the world since nations began is the fullest proof of endurance on God’s part. He never made them as they are; but the sin of man now fallen He endured spite of countless and constant provocation. They sinned, they transgressed, they despised His mercy, they braved His wrath; but He endured with much longsuffering."
Those who persist in rejecting God’s free gift are said to despise "the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth them to repentance" (Rom. 2:4).
In addition to these references by the apostle Paul to the longsuffering of God toward sinners in general, he makes mention of the longsuffering of Jesus Christ toward himself:"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting" (1 Tim. 1:15,16).
Well might we meditate upon the longsuffering of God toward ourselves in not promptly slaying us because of our sin and rebellion against Him, but sticking with us, repeatedly convicting us by the Holy Spirit until we finally broke down and acknowledged His estimation of us and accepted His free gift of salvation. Such meditations surely lead us to worship the Lord, just as Paul’s thoughts of Christ’s longsuffering toward himself inspired the doxology, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Tim. 1:17).
Such meditations should, additionally, lead us to manifest this attribute of longsuffering toward one another. If we are filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit, longsuffering will be one of the products of such control (Gal. 5:22). If we are motivated by that divine love which God has so wonderfully shown to us, one of the evidences will be, "Love suffereth long" (1 Cor. 13:4).
In the New Testament, several exhortations are given to believers to be longsuffering. In order "to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" the attitudes of lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, and forbearance must be manifested (Eph. 4:2,3). Also, Timothy was encouraged to "preach the Word" and to "reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine" (2 Tim. 4:2). In other words, he was not to lose temper and patience with those who might not respond immediately to his words of reproof. Other passages include more or less general exhortations to longsuffering along with other godly attitudes and attributes (Col. 1:9-11; 3:12,13).
A word closely related to "longsuffering" is "patience." While the Greek word, macrothumia, for "longsuffering" expresses patience with regard to antagonistic persons, the Greek word hupomone, usually translated "patience," indicates a bearing up under adverse things or circumstances. Patience is never mentioned in Scripture as an attribute of God; since He is in control of all circumstances, there is no question of His being patient and bearing up under them. On the other hand, as we have already noted, God is longsuffering toward the antagonistic, rebellious people of this world. There are a couple of New Testament references to the patience of Christ which no doubt relate more to His total submission, as perfect Man, to His Father than to His deity. In conclusion, may we grow in the appreciation of God’s longsuffering toward us in so many areas of our lives. May we recognize more fully how often we have brought grief to our Father and how slow we have been and continue to be to learn many of God’s lessons for us, and how longsuffering He has been toward us all the while. Then, in turn, let us seek God’s grace to display the same spirit of longsuffering toward others who are equally apt to grieve and offend us and equally slow to learn their lessons.