August 5, 2020
Have you ever done anything wrong? I have. Have you ever needed forgiveness? I have. Have you ever thought that you deserve mercy? I have. Do you really understand what mercy is? Maybe but I am not sure. Let us look at what the Bible has to say about mercy.
As I look at what The Bible says about mercy, I see that mercy is not something that I deserve. Mercy is God’s actions toward me for the sins I have committed. So, rather than being punished for my wrong doing God had a better plan. Paul tells us about God’s plan for a sinful peoples Ephesians 2:4-5 says, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—” (ESV) God’s plan for the world is that while we were in the midst of sin God sent His Son Jesus so that we might have eternal life. He has offered us a way, because of His mercy, to avoid eternal death and instead have eternal life.
There are many people that say that the Christian view of final judgement is unfair and unjust. Because it is impossible to live up to God’s standards. Therefore, it is not right to send people to hell. But God’s mercy comes into effect in that He show us away out which is Jesus.
But it is also clear that mercy has its limits and God’s limits are not unjust Paul discusses this in Romans 9:14-16,“What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no mean!For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So, then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.” (ESV) You see here that God does not show mercy to everyone. It is God’s choice to show mercy or compassion and because of who God is I do not have a problem with this. To get a better insight on some of the attributes of God look at my previous blogs.
Peter addresses the idea of God’s mercy delivering hope. 1 Peter 1:3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (ESV) As Peter says it is clear that God ‘s mercy gives to all of us who believes in the death and resurrection of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. If you need to know Jesus find out how.
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