Vengeance is not always executed in a swift fashion (Ecclesiastes 8:11). In fact, believers often grow weary because the wicked seem to prosper in spite of their evil deeds. Yet, the Lord will execute vengeance in His time. The Bible speaks often of “the day of vengeance” to come. This day is very likely a thousand year period (2 Peter 3:8) which will begin shortly before the second coming of the Lord and will end at the great white throne judgment following the end of the millennial kingdom. It will be a time when the Lord will refuse to spare the wicked (Proverbs 6:34) but will set things right for the Jewish people (Isaiah 34:8; Isaiah 61:2; Isaiah 63:4).
The believer’s life is loaded with benefits (Psalm 68:19), but one of the greatest of these benefits concerns the area of vengeance. According to scripture, vengeance is reserved for the Lord’s enemies (Deuteronomy 32:41; Judges 11:36), or adversaries (Deuteronomy 32:43; Jeremiah 46:10; Nahum 1:2), or the heathen (Psalm 149:7; Micah 5:15) but specifically upon “them that know not God” (2 Thessalonians 1:8). God does not deal with His people in vengeance, it is reserved for those who reject the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:8). When the children of God are disobedient, the Lord chastens, but He never takes vengeance upon His own.
Every mature Christian knows that physical strength remains incapable of scaling the spiritual heights of the Christian life. Yet, far too many Christians spend enormous efforts in trying to live the Christian life in their own power. Sooner or later, they all experience the sheer futility of such an endeavour. The Christian life is to be lived and developed in the spiritual realm, never the physical one. Spiritual maturity comes as building blocks that are placed one upon another. Interestingly, when a man begins walking in the power of the Spirit, God opens his eyes to each new area of life in need of attention, correction, and growth. Today’s passage refers to several of these attributes. Each characteristic builds upon the previous ones; things like virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. Every believer ought to strive to exemplify these, yet the Bible identifies one as foundational to them all. According to 2 Peter 1:5, faith remains foundational as the first grace to which believers are to add all others. Those who neglect faith have nothing upon which to build.
