A Common Objection to Christianity
One objection to Christianity that ranks as a favorite among skeptics is the so-called problem of evil. They say that the character of the God imagined and worshiped by Christians cannot be reconciled with obvious facts. He is supposedly all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving. He is the eternal source and expression of absolute goodness. Yet when we look at the world around us—the world He supposedly created—we see a big mess. Instead of goodness everywhere, we see suffering, decay, and cruelty.
Nowhere is this pervasive evil better displayed than among men, supposedly created in the image of God. These men are constantly at war with each other, steadily adding new victims to a death toll already standing at hundreds of millions. They have even developed bombs that can wipe out whole cities in a single stroke. And in their personal dealings with each other, unspeakable wickedness abounds. Madmen appear out of nowhere and gun people down. Gangs abduct a girl, rape her, and burn her alive. Even the most respectable among men often look with indifferent gaze upon old people wasting away in loneliness, or upon little children living in the midst of poverty and, as a result, growing up stunted in both mind and body.
But the natural world is even more merciless. Floods and fires and storms are constantly extinguishing the lives of hundreds and devouring the homes of thousands. Plagues stalk the world and kill young and old alike.
Yet in the Christian worldview, there is a simple explanation for all the evil in the universe. It is not the work of God. God is the One who authored the commandments forbidding any human desire or behavior contrary to what is good. Rather, evil is the work of all who choose to disobey God. Among men, the rebels include all who have ever lived, for, as the Bible teaches,
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans 3:23
Sin is any violation of God's commandments.
Skeptics reply that God Himself must nevertheless be held responsible for the evil done by wicked men because He permits it to exist. Besides, they argue, God Himself is blameworthy for the evil that follows natural catastrophes. Hardly ever do these originate as the intentional work of mere men. Also, many of the disgusting aberrations in human society stem from human ignorance, yet this is also God's fault, since He has the power to erase it.
The Christian Answer
The track of reasoning followed by skeptics leads them to conclude that the Christian God would not have created such a world as ours. They are, of course, absolutely right. But when created by God, the world was not in the same pitiful condition that we see now. Originally, it was a delightful world free from sin and evil. The reason He still allows it to exist, even in its fallen state, is to accomplish many benign purposes. Before we enter the philosophical realm, we will show in simple terms that the experience of evil has practical benefits for all who are its victims—that the evil and sorrow enveloping every member of our fallen race reflect the mercy and love of God.
Benefits of evil for all who are not believers in Christ
1. God is trying to teach all non-Christians within hearing of the gospel that they should not be content with this world. Rather, they should seek the better world ruled by the God of truth and righteousness—the same God that the gospel reveals. As Jesus said in His Sermon on the Mount,
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Matthew 6:19-21
To all of the human race who turn with discontent away from earth-centered dreams and seek instead for the God who offers them an infinitely better future, He has promised,
But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Deuteronomy 4:29
It would be absolutely contrary to His loving nature if He stayed hidden or remote from any seeker who truly wanted to find Him.
2. Our world is designed to demonstrate the effects of evildoing. Every sinner has the opportunity to learn that his self-seeking behavior contrary to God's law actually hurts other people. His sin is a classroom where he can learn the lessons necessary to graduate. Graduation day will come when he decides to repent. If he persists along the path of wickedness, he will have no excuse when he stands before God in judgment. His judge will be able to draw a full picture of all the harm he has done.
3. Evil and sorrow give a taste of the divine judgment that will fall on sinners. They are without excuse if they fail to recognize that this world was created by God.
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
Romans 1:18–20
For an extended presentation of the so-called theistic arguments—the arguments pointing to all the evidence in nature that it came originally from an all-powerful and all-wise Creator—see the relevant papers on this website. God's Word is not very diplomatic when categorizing someone who thinks that the existence and intricate design of the universe have a mindless source—that he himself is no more than the chance product of nothing or of some stuff floating forever in the midst of nothing.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.
Psalm 16:1 (also, Psalm 53:1)
Furthermore, because all men possess a God-given conscience chiding them whenever they fall into sin (provided past sin has not rendered their conscience dysfunctional), they are without excuse if they fail to recognize that their sin will earn divine punishment.
14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)
Romans 2:14–15
They can easily imagine the nature of His punishment because they have already known evil and sorrow. God's purpose in allowing them to meet such adversities is therefore to provoke a turn to righteousness.
But what will happen to all the untold millions of non-Christians who have lived, or who live, or who will live, beyond reach of the gospel? The apostle Paul, in his address before the philosophers in Athens, stated,
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
Acts 17:30–31
The Greek word for "winked at" does not suggest approval. Rather, it simply means "overlooked."1 What then will happen to all mankind left in ignorance? That is not our concern. Rather, the concern of all who have heard the gospel must be to meet whatever obligation it lays upon us if we wish to avoid divine judgment. Deliverance comes only by confessing our sins and accepting Christ as our Savior and Lord.
4. Some disasters are divine judgment in a relatively mild form that serves as a warning of far worse to come. That was the purpose of the plagues sent on Egypt when Pharaoh refused to release the people of Israel from bondage. The growing number and severity of the calamities now falling on this world serve as an alarm to sinners that if they fail to repent, they will be left behind at the Rapture to suffer all the horrors during the period of history known as the Tribulation.
Benefits of evil for all who are God's children
The first two resemble the first two for non-Christians, but on an expanded scale in keeping with the greatly expanded future of Christians..
1. To teach them to appreciate more fully the world to come. In His very first Beatitude, Jesus laid out the principle,
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their's is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:3
He meant, blessed are those who have the outlook of a poor man. A man is poor in spirit if he has learned from personal experience that deprivation and sorrow constantly darken life in this world and if, as a result, he has thrown away all delusions that here he will find true happiness. One basic purpose in God's training of His children is to create a longing for the world to come. They dare not be satisfied with this world. Why? Because it is gravely flawed by man's habitual practice of sin. Unless God's children have a full taste of sin's corruptive effects on life, they will not be adequately prepared both to desire and to appreciate the much better life that He will forever provide them in His presence.
2. To teach them to hate sin. This world is God's nursery. All of His children living here are mere babes in the unfolding of their eternal lives. Exposure to a world like ours is extremely helpful preparation for the next stage of growth, when they enter a perfect world. To function successfully there, they will need two skills, both equally vital. First, they must recognize sin. Second, they must hate it. Having lived in our sad civilization, they will be able to meet the challenge. A lifetime of almost daily exposure to the depressingly tragic outcomes of sin is like getting a vaccination against it.
3. To teach them to recognize and admire the transcendent attributes of their divine Creator. To feel the full joy that perfection can inspire requires familiarity with imperfection. How could we even begin to show God enough gratitude for who He is if we had never seen the opposites of all His attributes—for His wisdom if we had never seen stupidity, for His power if we had never seen weakness, for His holiness if we had never seen sin, for His love if we had never seen hatred.
To understand this effect, let us imagine that we spent our whole lives on a desert island where the temperature was a constant 70°. As a result, we would not understand what a visitor from Alaska meant when he rejoiced in the warmth, or what a visitor from the Amazon jungle meant when he rejoiced in the coolness. Anything other than 70° would lie wholly outside our experience. We would not know what it feels like when frigid cold creeps into fingers and toes, when stifling heat drains away energy and leaves its victim drenched with perspiration. Therefore, we would not appreciate how fortunate we were to live in a perfect environment.
A balanced picture
What we have said so far is true, but deficient, because we have not presented a balanced picture of life in this world. Human experience is by no means limited to sin and evil. What good things enter our lives?
1. We see majesty, beauty, and subtle design wherever we examine God's creation. God wants His children to observe the sad imperfections pervading a fallen world so that they will keenly desire the perfect world to come. Yet to strengthen this desire, He also shows them abundant proof even in their lives here that He is capable of creating a new cosmos of splendor beyond their imagination. In rolling vistas of richly green fields and forests spreading to the horizon, in plunging cliffs and sculpted rock towers dwarfing mere men, in peaks of snow-wrapped, rugged mountains, and in mighty thunders and gorgeous rainbows, they get a foretaste of the world to come. He shows them also that His handiwork is astounding in products not only on a large scale, but also on a minute scale. In little things everywhere we look—the humble rose, the darting hummingbird, the quiet firefly—we see ingenious craftsmanship. In all these wonders, men catch a glimpse of what they will enjoy in eternity.
2. We also see the precious value of true virtue. God wants us to learn not only how to hate sin, but also how to covet a deep goodness in ourselves that will constantly radiate love. To achieve this purpose, He gives us a strong exposure to love even while we live in this world. The strongest form generally exists within families, but all of God's children are also privileged to enjoy the love of their brothers and sisters in Christ. These relationships not only prepare us for eternity by teaching us to appreciate love and its companion virtues; they also make life here much more bearable—even, at times, joyous. They prepare us for our future in yet another way. Going to be with God will bring us into reunion with all our godly friends on earth. Here we are building friendships that will last forever.
3. We gain more capacity to appreciate God Himself. We have said that by serving as an instructive contrast, sin and stupidity in this world prepare us to appreciate divine perfection in the world to come. Yet God knows that the best pedagogical strategy for achieving this purpose does not withhold all evidence of His perfection until later in our experience. A far better approach gives us plenty of evidence now, while we are still confined to this evil world. We learn faster if we can always see the contrast between good and evil. Therefore, even in this world, God's children are constantly receiving blessings from His hand. He meets their material needs. He delivers them from much of the trouble and sorrow that otherwise would have fallen upon them except for their prayers. And also He brings love, joy, and peace to their hearts through the indwelling Holy Spirit.
God's children are by no means the only human beings who are blessed with the good things in life. All people everywhere have found some measure of joy in family relationships, in food and fireside, in gardens and grand vistas. Yet when we paint life in joyful tones, the skeptic is quick to object. He reminds us of our earlier admission that this world is in many ways an evil place and that, in defense of our Christian worldview, we said that God uses evil to accomplish good. The skeptic then looks at us with incredulity written all over his face and says, " By claiming that God uses evil to accomplish good, you have fallen into a glaring contradiction. How could He exemplify moral perfection if we can justify His own practice only by arguing that the end justifies the means?"
Paul's Analysis of the Means Chosen by God
A similar question is addressed at some length by Paul in Romans 3. At the end of the previous chapter, he had asked his Jewish readers to swallow a very bitter pill. The first note with an ominous sound for Jews came when Paul declared that God is no respecter of persons.
11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
Romans 2:11
Then Paul, who was a Jew himself, proceeded to cut down Jewish pride with two slashes. He proved first that God evaluates men by one criterion only—not by their race, but by whether they keep the law.
12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
Romans 2:12-13
Next, Paul proved that Jews are as much lawbreakers as anyone else.
21 Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22 Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
23 thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.
25 For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.
26 Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?
27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?
28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Romans 2:21-29
Therefore, Jews share the general plight of mankind—to possess an immortal soul and yet to deserve nothing better than eternity in hell.
Many Jewish readers would have brushed off Paul’s teaching as the ravings of a doomsayer. In order to learn from all the unflattering words, they would have needed an unusually sober and humble mind. Yet even for the most teachable Jew, there has been nothing to learn from the epistle so far that could give him hope. Rather, everything he has read has fostered despair. Whereas he once felt secure before God because he followed the religion of Moses, he now understands that his soul is in danger, and he might be tempted to cry out, "If God sees me on the same level as gentiles, what good has it done me to be a Jew? Being a Jew has made me proud of my ancestry and heritage, yet they have given me a false hope of entering the kingdom of heaven." The same Jew might even describe his predicament in the words of Paul's rhetorical question in the first verse of chapter 3.
What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
Romans 3:1
The question introduces Paul's brief but profound answer.
Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
Romans 3:2
Far from floundering in the ignorance that prevailed elsewhere, the Jews had received the oracles of God preserved in the Old Testament. Was this not an immeasurably great advantage?
As he takes the next step in teaching difficult truth, Paul almost seems to be answering an opponent who stands up and loudly objects, "How was it an advantage to them when they, for the most part, did not believe the oracles, or at least did not render the kind of obedience that God desired? Why did God reveal truth to Israel that He knew many Israelites would reject, and why did He impose laws on them that He knew many would disobey, so that whether by disbelief or disobedience they earned a greater damnation? By granting them oracles that led to an evil result, did not God make Himself a source of evil?"
This question sends Paul in the direction of very hard teaching—hard because it grapples with fundamental issues in moral philosophy. He responds by affirming that although some Israelites fell into damnation because they refused to conform their ideas and behavior to God's expectations, their rebellion was not God's fault. He was not an evildoer just because He failed to withhold further education in a correct worldview.
3 For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, . . .
Romans 3:3-5
Here in these verses, Paul develops a strong case resting on four arguments that subtly, yet with compelling force, absolve God of all blame.
- He points out that not all Jews scorned the goodness of God. "Some did not believe," he says (v. 3), but the number was some, not all. Paul is giving us a preliminary look at a major argument that he will introduce and expand later in his epistle.
Further development of this argument in Romans 9 will help to clarify it. Paul is saying that God allowed some men to choose damnation because His only alternative was to deny existence to all men, including those who would respond to His Word in faith—that is, including you and me. But He loved you and me and all of His other children too much to let us languish in nothingness, never alive, never more than a thought in His mind. He wanted to give us personhood in real life rather than in mere fantasy so that we could love Him in return. So, in Romans 3, Paul asks, "For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?" (v. 3). In other words, should their unbelief cancel the good effects of faith? Should the perverse and stubborn wickedness of some men be allowed to erase the glorious life forever that will come to all who put their faith in God? A little common sense is enough to reach the right answer. Yes, much evil issued from man’s rebellion against God. But if God allowed that evil to extinguish the enormous good that will issue from the deathless existence of saints committed to love and good works, He would be giving a huge boost to the measure of evil in the universe. He would be allowing expansion of evil to immensely greater size despite His power to prevent that outcome, and thus He would be making Himself a party to evil. No, God cannot permit the unbelief of some to make the faith of God without effect.22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
Romans 9:22–24
- In the questions of Romans 3:3, Paul implies a second answer to the opponent’s challenge. When he says, "Some did not believe," he is reminding us that the unbelieving Jews were self-governing moral agents. They were not helpless to avoid condemnation. They were not forced to reject God. They were not passive pawns of divine predestination or of some inexorable chain of causes beyond their control. No, they freely, within their own sovereign power of choice, made the decision to rebel against God. Therefore, they, not God, bear responsibility for the evil consequences.
- Then Paul says, "God forbid" (v. 4). Here is his third answer. He is expressing horror at the claim that God did something improper by giving mankind an opportunity to know and love Himself. It was not improper just because some men rejected Him. In a parallel case, is it improper for a human father to offer love to a child even though he knows that the child has a rebellious heart? Of course not. He cannot be blamed for any of the heartache or estrangement or trouble that will arise from the child’s rejection of his love. Nor was it improper for God to offer love to His own creatures even though He knew that many would refuse it. Even if all chose the path to condemnation, it was not improper.
- Paul now delves into his last and deepest answer, one that stretches the human mind farther than it can go except by the grace of God. He provides (v. 4) a series of allusions and quotes based on the Old Testament. "Let God be true" (perhaps Paul here is thinking of Ps. 119:60 or 2 Sam. 7:28), "but every man a liar" (an obvious paraphrase of Ps. 116:11), "That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged" (a quotation of Ps. 51:4). A direct translation of the Hebrew original clarifies the meaning of the last text: "That you may be justified when you speak, and be clear (or, ‘pure’2) when you judge."3 The person identified as "you" is God. The psalmist has just confessed that he has done evil in the sight of God. Then he adds, as if to explain the ultimate purpose of evil, that his sin has the effect of establishing God as blameless.
But how can this be? How can anything we do affect the standing of God? The meaning is not that through our sin He becomes more righteous, but that His righteousness will be seen more clearly. Paul agrees with this interpretation. He says that our unrighteousness—our sin—commends the righteousness of God (v. 5). The Greek word "commend" can also be translated "prove" or "exhibit."4 In other words, our sin lets everyone see more clearly that God is sinless.
Likewise, if Adam and Eve had never sinned, they would never have seen God exactly as we do. They would have known as an intellectual proposition that He is good and loving, yet, in their extremely sheltered world, they would have lacked a good grasp of these concepts. If goodness is the absence of wickedness, how can anyone who has never seen wickedness truly know the meaning of goodness? We understand and appreciate the goodness of God far better as a result of living in a world dominated by the opposite of goodness. In other words, our experience of evil makes it clear how exalted and perfect God is by contrast.
In giving His Word to the Jews, God therefore accomplished many purposes at once. By showing what God is like—that He is altogether true and righteous—His Word brought glory to God. The rejection of His Word by some Jews showed what man is like—that he is a liar. Moreover, man’s unbelief exposed the vast gulf between God and man, leaving no doubt as to the unreachable superiority of God. So in this way as well, God brought glory to Himself through His Word. Therefore, it cannot be said that the oracles of God were of none effect.
Next, in verses 5 to 7, Paul deals with another fundamental objection to Christian faith. He demonstrates that although our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, it does not follow that God is unjust to take vengeance on the unrighteous.
5 . . . , what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
7 For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?
Romans 3:5–7
When Paul says, "I speak as a man" (v. 5), he does not mean as he himself would speak, but as another man would speak who dislikes Paul’s teaching. Paul would have us imagine that his last argument has nettled his opponent to a strong response. This spokesman for hatred of God suddenly leaps to his feet again and shouts another objection. Actually, he shouts two objections. The first Paul accepts as a reasonable question, but the second he characterizes as perverse and damnable.
- The first objection is that if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, then how can God justly take vengeance on the unrighteous (vv. 5, 7)? The objector is arguing that sin cannot really be sin if its ultimate impact on the moral universe is good. To punish something ultimately good, not evil, would be unjust. In other words, for God to wreak terrible wrath on little creatures who have just done Him the favor of showing how truthful and glorious He is by contrast seems rather inappropriate. He need not commend their unrighteousness. But justice would seem to forbid that He make them suffer. Perhaps He could enlighten them as to a better way of life and kindly help them achieve it.
Paul’s answer is hard to follow because it is highly condensed. He says only, "God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?" (v. 6). The words, "God forbid," whenever they occur in his writings, signal that he has just heard an idea which, so far as he is concerned, is horribly false and destructive. The idea that God should not punish the wicked implies, as Paul says, that God has no right to judge the world. Paul says no more, leaving us to figure out for ourselves why we would not want to live in a world without a righteous Judge. Consider how dangerous it would be if it were populated with beings like us who are free moral agents. There would be no deterrent whatever to sin. We would all know, or would discover eventually, that wickedness led to nothing worse than a slap on the wrist. If we sinned, we might hear God’s disapproval. But anything near to actual vengeance would not be allowed. He could not even quietly snuff out our existence, since that too could be seen as a kind of unjust overreaction. A universe with such weak safeguards against sin would soon be saturated with it, like the world before the Flood, yet God would be powerless to fix the problem. We would all be constantly victimizing each other, turning life with its glorious potential for happiness into an endlessly expanding nightmare.
So, Paul says "God forbid," beseeching God to forbid any claim that He is wrong to take vengeance on the wicked. And we add our prayer to Paul’s. God, being God, cannot be denied the right to judge the world, for vigorous measures to eliminate evil are exactly what His goodness requires. His only alternative by default is to become a sponsor of evil, and accepting that role would corrupt His own character. - Finally, in verse 8, Paul responds to his antagonist's last objection.
The antagonist tries to reduce Paul's position to absurdity by alleging that if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, then we should sin to gain this good outcome.And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just.
Romans 3:8
Paul here is responding to an argument that he knew was circulating in Jewish circles. His enemies in fact accused him of preaching that we should descend into sin in order to promote its good effects. Paul has little patience with this accusation, calling it slander. He is suggesting that those behind it knew full well that it was not true. They were willing to say anything that would make Paul look bad. But it is unclear whose damnation Paul pronounces just. Is it the perpetrators of the slander, or is it those who would actually plunge into sin under the delusion that they were creating more good? The phrases "as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say" are parenthetical. Therefore, the weight of Paul’s rebuke falls on those who excuse sin as good in its final outcome. This topsy-turvy way of thinking has surfaced from time to time throughout church history. Anticipating that such a perversion of sound teaching would occasionally trouble the church, Paul clearly sets it out of bounds, giving it the label that it deserves—a damnable heresy. The ancient name for it is antinomianism. The same name has a more general sense, referring to any false teaching that stretches the limits of Christian liberty to include sin.
But what is the fundamental error? Paul does not even bother to refute this teaching, seeing it as too nonsensical to warrant space in Holy Writ. And indeed it is. The only acceptable state of the universe in God’s eyes is absence of sin. Therefore, no excuse for sin merits consideration. Indeed, even to voice such an excuse is to incite and entice others to follow an immoral path. To serve as a middleman in Satan’s marketing of sin is sin itself and therefore damnable.
Further Consideration of How Trouble in This World Prepares God's Children for Their Eternal Future
In another paper, I show that God uses suffering in His children's lives as a tool to accomplish ten purposes prioritized by a Being perfect in both love and holiness. One purpose, for example, is to build creatures immune to the kind of temptation that drew many angels over to Satan's side when he rebelled against God. There are still other purposes we will not discuss here. In general, however, we might say that hardship of all kinds builds character.
Before closing, we will focus on one virtue that is a particularly valuable product of hardship—patience. Its cultivation in our hearts is a divine priority. All three principal leaders of the early church underlined its importance.
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
Romans 5:1–4
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
2 Peter 1:5–9
2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
James 1:2–4
The Lord Himself advised,
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Luke 8:15
In your patience possess ye your souls.
Luke 21:19
God wants each of us to learn how to look beyond the troubles of the present moment to the good results that God promises to draw from them.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
Learning to undergo trouble and difficulty without feelings of frustration that can lead to self-crippling anger and bitterness—in other words, learning patience—is crucially important preparation for life in heaven. There we will often be absorbed in exciting projects, yet these will not necessarily bring us great satisfaction while they are underway. Imagine the work required in this world to build a beautiful, oceangoing sailing ship for many passengers attended by a large crew. The builder has to meet one challenge after another. He always comes to new problems demanding solution. Many attempts to move forward lead to unsatisfactory results. The more inventive his plan, the more difficult it will be to execute. For a long time, the finish line is so far away that it is hard to see. How is it possible for the builder struggling against so many difficulties to enjoy the work he is doing? The answer is simple. All he needs is patience. And likewise we will find patience a virtue of incalculable value when we acquire the creative powers of a heavenly being.
Do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that our assignments in eternity will be grueling work of a kind that will diminish our joy. Quite the contrary, we will enjoy them immensely. What I am saying is that we will enjoy them because among the other fully mature virtues in our treasure trove of godly character, we will own patience.
Our supreme example of patience is God Himself. Think how longsuffering He is in dealing with each of His children. In His handling of our lives, He is, by careful, time-consuming expansion of dimensions, shaping of contours, and adjusting of colors, producing a beautiful work of art. We must remember that He is not only the omnipotent Creator, but also the quintessential Craftsman. Not only did He give us life, but also He is working painstakingly to fashion us as treasures that will give Him delight throughout eternity. The new heaven and earth where we will dwell forever will be a fabulous showcase of His genius.
But, as I said, we will not just sit in our eternal homes and do nothing. We will follow the example of our heavenly Father and get to work making beautiful things. The most soul-satisfying will be beautiful relationships with each other and with God Himself. But we will also have an endless variety of other intriguing and delightful projects, each one requiring patience.