“WE EXIST TO PROCLAIM THE REIGN OF JESUS CHRIST OVER ALL THINGS; GLORIFYING AND ENJOYING GOD, NOW AND FOREVER!”

6 – “In View of God’s Mercy”

How Shall We Then Live?

“Mercy” is one of those words that is rarely used and often misunderstood. “Mercy” is defined as “compassion or forgiveness toward someone who deserves judgment or punishment.” It has been said that mercy is the “other side of the coin” from “grace.” If grace is giving people what they don’t deserve, mercy is NOT giving people what they DO deserve! Thus God’s mercy is displayed in His withholding judgment from those who deserve it. In that sense, each one of us is being shown mercy at this very moment. Yet believers have received another kind of mercy … not only a temporary delay in judgment, but a removal of any future judgment through God’s grace in Christ. In this sense, God’s mercy is “selective.” In Romans 9:15 God says, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” When it comes to salvation … forgiveness of sins and eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, God’s mercy is “selective.” Three verses later Paul writes, “So then, He (God) has mercy on whomever He wills, and He hardens whomever He wills” (Romans 9:18). What does all of this mean for you as you live your life in this world as a disciple of Jesus Christ?? God makes it abundantly clear that those who receive His mercy in Christ will respond in specific ways, both toward Him and toward one another. Those who have received mercy will show mercy, leaving the judgment ultimately to God. That’s easier said than done! But we who are united to Christ are not alone. We are empowered by the very Spirit of God to do what is humanly impossible … to show mercy toward those who, like us, deserve judgment. What does that look like? God uses the words of Paul in Romans 12 to give us a picture of “mercy” being lived out in the lives of believers. May we be found so doing!