7. Fear and reverence. Such a person will never despise the riches of
7. Fear and reverence. Such a person will never despise the riches of that goodness and patience which has been shown to him, Rom. 2:4, because it has led him to repentance; and he will not provoke that goodness, which is leading him to the enjoyment of all the fruits of repentance, to reject him: 'There is forgiveness with you,' says David,
'that you may be revered,' or worshipped, Ps. 130:4. If God were to mark every iniquity with death, who could stand in his presence or have any hope of being heard? But because he is a God of forgiveness, he is revered; therefore, the more forgiveness he bestows upon anyone, the more he is revered. After a person's return to God, their fear of God is increased for a more honest reason, for they fear
God and his goodness, Hosea 3:5, whereas before they feared God and his power, God and his justice. And the Jews, of whom he speaks there, will fear or revere that goodness the more because the sin he has forgiven was so great, as the crucifixion of the Son of God, which, according to their fathers' wishes, rested upon the heads of all their posterity.
God's goodness, once experienced, will make a person afraid to offend him out of sincerity. Self-interest will also make them afraid to provoke that mercy that previously relieved them, to remove them from his favour. When the person was in the deep dungeon, where the chains of sin penetrated their very soul and was bound up under the terrors of the law, when mercy intervened and delivered them and poured oil into their wounds, they will be afraid to provoke that mercy to leave them in the same condition in which they found them, and from where they were drawn. They will be reluctant to be counted among the ranks of transgressors and the bank of galleyslaves from which they were redeemed. They who have tasted the bitterness of sin will fear to commit it, and they who have felt the sweetness of mercy will fear to offend it.
I might add, for others' sake, to encourage them to come to Christ.
Every conversion of a great sinner is a new expression of God's love; it is a repeated proclamation of the transcendence of His grace: 'Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ,'
Eph. 2:5, 6. God has given life to those sinful people who were as dark as night and raised them to a state of light. Why? Not just for their own benefit, but so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace, ver. 7. It was a portrait of God's own heart, exhibited to the world so that they might know, through the gracious treatment and high elevation of those sinners, how generous He is, and will always be, in the distribution of His grace, in order to encourage repentant sinners, as great sinners, to depend on Him in every age. This was His purpose in Paul's conversion in this chapter: 'However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first
Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life everlasting,' ver.
16; a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him. He sets up this apostle as a white flag to invite rebels to treat with Him and return to their loyalty. As every great judgment upon a great sinner is like hanging a man in chains, to deter others from the same practice, so every conversion is not only an act of God's mercy to the convert, but an invitation to the spectators.
This is the argument David uses to persuade God to pour into him the joy of his salvation: 'Then will I teach transgressors Your ways,'
&c., Ps. 51:12, 13. I will make all Jerusalem ring with it, and sinners, seeing the multitude and long line of Your tender mercies, will fly into Your arms to be partakers of the same grace. For every great conversion is like a landmark to guide others into a safe harbor.
Indeed, he tells God that this will be the outcome of God's pardon to David, Ps. 52:5, 6, which is believed to be written on the same occasion as Ps. 51, when, ver. 5, he had been forgiven, he tells God what the effect on others would be: 'For this shall every one that is godly,' &c., ver. 6, considering it the most appropriate moment to come when God is bestowing His mercy. We see such results when
Christ was on earth; when Christ called Matthew, Mark 2:14, the next news we hear, ver. 15, is that many publicans and sinners sat down with Him and followed Him. Many of the same group were encouraged by this kindness to one of their companions to attend to Him.
As when a doctor comes into a house where many are ill and cures one who is in a desperate condition, it encourages the rest to rely on their expertise.
When Christ demonstrates his abilities by converting a sinner close to you, it is a call from heaven not only to excite your emulation to come to him but also to astonish you. For example, the conversion of the Gentiles was intended to provoke the Jews to jealousy: "Salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke," Rom. 11:11. Indeed, such conversions can more rationally move people to believe than any miracle that objectively stimulates the senses. To see such a remarkable change brought about in the soul of a devil, in a diabolical nature, can be more convincing. If people do not believe in Christ after witnessing such standing miracles, it aggravates their impenitence as much as any miracle that Christ performed on the earth aggravated the Jews' obstinacy. It also puts as black a mark on their character: "And ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him," Mat. 21:32. Every great sinner that you have seen take heaven by violence is recorded by God as a yet against all your unbelief. Christ can bring hundreds of yet against you on the account of others who have been converted around you.
The yet set upon Paul may refer to this, Acts 9:1. In the previous chapter, Luke had described the successful progress of the gospel in Samaria and Jerusalem, which was evidence of the power of this new doctrine, yet Paul proceeded in his persecuting fury against such clear testimonies.
If you had lived in the times of Christ and seen the miracles he performed among the Jews, you would think that you could never have been as foolish as they were and would have immediately believed in him upon seeing those wonders. However, the success of Christ's grace on the souls of men, which you have seen evidence of, is a greater miracle according to Christ himself than the miracles he usually performed, for he tells the apostles that they will do greater works in their conversion work (John 14:12). So your lack of repentance has the same severity as Jewish perversity. Let every