Message from Scripture: 10/12/2020
Our message from Scripture today is Jas. 2:13. ““For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.”
A dictionary definition of mercy is “kindness in excess of what may be expected.” This fits well with the New Testament term, which assumes need on the part of the one who receives it, and resources adequate to meet the need on the part of the one who shows it. When it comes to forgiveness, God alone has the resources to offer mercy and kindness to us. “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:3-4). The only way to God’s mercy is through the Son, and the way to the Son is to yield our will to Him, that He can accomplish His good purpose in us.
How many of us can relate to the parable Jesus told of the tax-collector and Pharisee, and say of ourselves, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” (Luke 18:13)? John reminds us “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9). God’s mercy is not an excuse to sin, but in Christ, a pardon for sin. It’s not cheap grace, as we must repent and return; it’s God’s love, without which none of us could exist.
God’s mercy should draw us to a close relationship with Him, seeking to please Him, to follow His will, to live in and for Him. It’s the foundation on which Christian living is based (Rom. 12:1), and finds its purpose. Are you hurting? Has sin wrecked havoc in your life? As the song says, give Christ your broken life, because in Him God offers mercy. Find comfort today in His mercy. God bless.
Robert
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