mercy

The Lord God does not owe us anything! While it is certainly true that God is good, that doesn’t imply or mandate, as some false teachers would promote, that we, as sinful, rebellious humanity, rightfully deserve anything from HIM, a holy and righteous Lord! However, every day that one lives is actually an act of God’s mercy!

Lamentations 3:22-23 declares,

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses (mercy in the Hebrew text) indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.

Accordingly, our Lord has an inexhaustible abundance of mercy that “never” ceases! Genuine (biblical) mercy is not what’s merited, but God functioning in His kindness and compassion toward humankind contrary to what is properly and rightfully deserved.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4-7

As an effect and result of the divine attribute … His “rich” mercy … grace (an undeserved/unearned gift of God’s favor) is bestowed as the Apostle Paul clearly and profoundly articulates.

Even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor … Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 1:13-14

While mercy and grace are often connected spiritually, and regularly confused or treated similarly by many believers, they are definitely not the same, and for proper biblical understanding, their meanings should not be casually or intentionally interchanged. In the Scriptures (biblical text), mercy is often equated to deliverance from judgment (see Deuteronomy 4:30–31) … “Mercy triumphs over judgement” (James 2:13) … while grace is always the extending of a blessing to the non-deserving / unworthy.

In Psalm 51:1–2, after being confronted by the Prophet Nathan, King David cries out to the Lord, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” Pleading for mercy is asking the Lord to show His loving-kindness and to withhold whatever judgment is deserved.

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3:4-7

IS THERE ANY GOD LIKE OUR GOD?

Please study these verses:

Hebrews 4:16, James 3:17, 1 Peter 1:3,

1 Peter 2:10, Jude 1:12 Jude 1:21-23

His and Yours, Because of GRACE (God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense)

Tolerance, in our current culture, both politically and socially, is often defined as open-mindedness, broadmindedness, leniency, acceptance, and forbearance. Consequently, as Bible believing, evangelical Christians, we are often accused by unbelievers, as well as some religionists, of being totally intolerant. Isn’t it interesting that those that strive to accuse faithful believers of intolerance have no room in their philosophy for our views or beliefs, which in essence clearly displays their own shrewd, hardheaded, hypocritical intolerance? Perhaps, with that in view, we should consider the teachings of our Lord, Jesus Christ in Luke 6:22, recognizing that we are blessed when others reject us due to our faith in Him!

Paul Thomas Mann (1875-1955 — a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature) once stated, “Tolerance becomes a crime when applied to evil.” That quote should boldly and unreservedly challenge every Christian to consider one’s own view/perspective of “tolerance.” While it may be very difficult to distinguish between a political/social view and that of a purely biblical perspective, the Truth of God’s Word should serve as the unshakable foundation for every believer’s political/social view of tolerance! Committed, Bible believing Christians are actually some of the most “tolerant” people on the face of the earth. We don’t kill those that disagree with us, nor do we condemn individuals whose values and behavior doesn’t align with ours. In I Corinthians 6:9-11 we are reminded of the absolute, inalterable Truth: …

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate (by perversion), nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (Also see Galatians 4:8)

While our Lord may appear to be tolerant of sin, in reality He is completely intolerant of sin (See Ezekiel 18:20 & Romans 5:12). However, He graciously and mercifully provides all humanity with a way out of their sin, as well as an escape from one’s past and the dominating control of human nature!

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together^]with Christ (by grace you have been saved). — Ephesians 2:4-5

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. — Ephesians 2:9

Then, as believers, we become intolerant of sin in our own lives because one’s nature has changed, and God’s transformation process creates in true believers a desire to be “Holy, as He is Holy” (See I Peter 1:16 & I Peter 2:5) in contrast to remaining a sin-filled individual and living according to values and ideals that stand in contradiction to God’s Word and His Truth.

Needless to say, the concept of tolerance becomes difficult due to the fact that God loves every human being in spite of his or her sin, but at the same time literally hates sin (See Proverbs 6:16). Unquestionably, the original definition of tolerance and the way in which the word is used today are quite different. Tolerance once meant acknowledgement of differing beliefs and accepting that others had the right to believe differently. In this way, we as believers are to be absolutely tolerant.

However, since tolerance has come to mean accepting that other beliefs are valid or true … we must reject those beliefs – and even stand against them when they are sin and promote values contrary to those of our God! Actually, to embrace the world’s type of tolerance makes no logical sense and precludes any personal opinion or belief in full acceptance of whatever other belief may be presented. Therefore, tolerance, as it’s now presented, rejects the possibility that objective truth actually exists, even though Jesus Christ came to give/reveal truth (See John 1:14, John 1:17, John 8:32, & Romans 6:16-23).

Christians can acknowledge the right of others to have different beliefs, however, we cannot allow those beliefs to go unchallenged. Therefore, it’s inevitable that the world will call us intolerant, but we can mitigate the damage by being intolerant in the way God instructs us. First, we must know what we believe (See I Peter 3:15). Second, we must effectively share and teach what we believe and why we believe it (See II Timothy 2:23-26). Certainly we are called to tolerate – and even to love — people, yet without accepting their false beliefs, sin packed values, and humanistic/pagan/hedonistic agendas.

— Pastor Frank

Tag: mercy

MERCY