The verb group clustered under Strong’s Greek 5339 expresses measured restraint—“sparing,” “holding back,” or “refraining.” Every New Testament use sets the idea of mercy or leniency alongside the certainty of judgment, revealing a God who is neither indifferent to sin nor quick to crush the repentant. The term appears ten times, half of them describing God’s own actions and half describing apostolic or human restraint. Together they form a balanced portrait of holy justice tempered by compassionate forbearance.

Divine Restraint and Sovereign Justice

Romans 8:32 anchors the word in the gospel: “He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all…” God’s refusal to “spare” Jesus underscores both the depth of human guilt and the magnitude of divine love. By contrast, Romans 11:21 warns Gentile believers that “if God did not spare the natural branches, He will certainly not spare you either.” The same pattern repeats in 2 Peter 2:4-5, where God “did not spare the angels when they sinned” nor “the ancient world” at the flood. These passages together teach that God’s sparing nature is not automatic; it is conditioned by His redemptive purpose and our response.

Pastoral Restraint in Apostolic Ministry

Paul adopts the same verb to describe his shepherding philosophy. In 1 Corinthians 7:28 he explains his singleness counsel: “I am trying to spare you.” Later he writes, “I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth” (2 Corinthians 1:23), and again, “But I will spare you, so that no one will credit me with more than he sees in me” (2 Corinthians 12:6). The apostle’s restraint mirrors God’s—delaying confrontation when possible, limiting personal prominence, and minimizing unnecessary hardship for the flock. Yet restraint is not limitless: “If I return, I will not spare anyone” (2 Corinthians 13:2), showing that spiritual discipline, like divine judgment, eventually proceeds when repentance is resisted.

Protection of the Flock

Acts 20:29 pictures ruthless intruders who “will not spare the flock.” The negative use heightens the shepherding duty of church leaders. The same discipleship impulse that moved Paul to spare believers from unnecessary grief requires them to refuse mercy to predators; sparing the flock sometimes demands unsparing firmness toward error.

Christological Center

The cross remains the interpretive key. God’s “unsparing” gift of His Son simultaneously satisfies justice and opens the way for mercy. Every subsequent instance of restraint—whether apostolic patience or divine delay—draws its legitimacy from Calvary. Because judgment fell on the sin-bearer, God may justly extend patience to sinners and His servants may pursue gentleness without compromising truth.

Eschatological Horizon

The future tenses (“He will certainly not spare you,” Romans 11:21; “I will not spare,” 2 Corinthians 13:2) project the concept into final judgment. God’s present patience is real but temporary; the unsparing day will come. Believers therefore heed warnings and persevere, trusting that the One who once withheld nothing for their redemption will graciously “give us all things” (Romans 8:32).

Ministry Implications

• Preaching: Hold mercy and judgment together. Proclaim both the God who did not spare His Son and the God who will not spare persistent unbelief.
• Pastoral care: Exercise restraint whenever possible—limiting burdens, delaying discipline to allow repentance—while remaining willing to act decisively for the church’s good.
• Leadership vigilance: Protect the flock from false teachers who possess no such restraint.
• Personal humility: Like Paul, refuse self-promotion, sparing hearers from misplaced adulation.
• Evangelistic urgency: God’s present forbearance highlights the narrowness of the window before the unsparing judgment arrives.

Summary

Strong’s 5339 weaves a unified biblical thread: God spares in mercy, judges without partiality, and calls His people to embody the same wise restraint. In the gospel, restraint and rigor meet; in ministry, they must never be separated.