God’s Mercy

By Wendy Wood

God’s mercy refers to God’s kindness to undeserving people who need help.

AW Tozer says, “Mercy is an attribute of God, an infinite and inexhaustible energy within the divine nature which disposes God to be actively compassionate.  Both the Old and New Testaments proclaim the mercy of God, but the Oldhas more than four times as much to say about it as the New.  We should banish from our minds forever the common but erroneous notion that justice and judgment characterize the God of Israel, while mercy and grace belong to the Lord of the Church…  He has always dealt in mercy with mankind and will always deal in justice when His mercy is despised.”

Mercy is not a temporary mood of God.  Mercy is an eternal attribute of God.  Mercy never “began” it has always been the very nature of God just as wrath has always been and will continue infinitely.

Mercy means to be actively compassionate.  

2 Corinthians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort”

All mercy ultimately flows from God who is mercy. There are many ways that God shows his kindness and goodness to undeserving sinners. Stop for a moment and think about all that God has given to you that you do not deserve. Scripture says “The wages of sin is death” and yet here we are, waking up each morning, seeing the beauty of creation, enjoying relationships, having food, clothing, and shelter, and the even greater mercies of Christ’s atonement, relationship with God, God’s word readily available. All of these, and so much more, are from the Father of mercies.

Psalm 103:8  “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”

Mercy is God’s goodness confronting human guilt and suffering. Even in our sin, God is slow to anger and shows mercy in His patience and gentle correction.

There is a “general mercy” that all men have received.  Psalm 145:8 says “The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”  And Acts 17:25 says God “gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.”  All people receive the general mercy of life and being sustained by God each day.  Colossians 1:17 tells us that Christ holds all things together and provides food, shelter, relationships and everything else out of His mercy. Just being alive is due to God’s mercy. God gives all men, believer and unbeliever, mercy in life in giving time to repent, relationships to enjoy, beauty to gaze at, and varied foods to enjoy.

There is “sovereign mercy” that is only for those who are His children in Christ. 

Salvation is a gift of mercy.  

Titus 3:5 says, “He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness but according to His own mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.”

Ongoing forgiveness is a gift of mercy to God’s children.  And God stands ready to help His children.

Hebrews 4:16  “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

For God’s children, mercy is available through Christ and God is always merciful toward them.  God’s kindness is shown in ongoing forgiveness and help at all times.  No one deserves salvation or forgiveness or help.  It is only out of God’s essense of mercy that we receive those gifts.

In counseling, God’s mercy is a huge encouragement.

For a counselee struggling with guilt and shame over sins or their inability to measure up to God’s holiness, we can remind them that justification is a gift of mercy.  

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 trepasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved”.

Have your counselee stop and think about the fact that they were dead. Spiritually dead. There was nothing they could do to make themselves alive. There was nothing they could do to make themselves right with God. God’s mercy is to be celebrated and appreciated. God’s mercy should lead us to worship Him and love Him more and more.

For an unrepentant counselee we must warn them that God’s wrath will be revealed against their ungodliness and unrighteousness and point them to the kindness and mercy of God in offering His Son as the propitiation for their sins.  

We are to extend mercy to our counselees.  We are to listen carefully to their heart and lovingly engage with them.  Romans 12:15 calls us to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.  Matthew 5:7 tells us that the merciful are blessed because they will receive mercy.  

Our counselees can grow in extending mercy - kindness toward undeserving people - as they work through the counseling process to become more like Christ.

Salvation According to His Word

Chris Poblete

Psalm 119:41, “Let Your mercies come also to me, O LORD— Your salvation according to Your word.”

Notice that this stanza in Psalm 119:41-48 begins with a request. It begins with a cry for the mercies (or steadfast love) of Yahweh.

And the Psalmist seems to know that he does not deserve such love, nor can he attain it by his own volition. “Let Your mercies come to me,” he cries. In other words, this steadfast love can only be given by the One who offers it. The psalmist cannot produce it himself; it must be received as a gift.

What about you? Do you long for such divine mercies? Do you know your need for them? Are you aware of your need for God’s steadfast love? Our greatest need in life is to be reconciled with the Creator through the steadfast love that is expressed in Jesus Christ. However, many of us live as though our greatest need is something else outside of God.

But God has created us to be dependent upon Him—His mercies and steadfast love. Sure enough, He does not have to give us anything. From the time He first spoke creation into existence and formed our first parents from the dust of the ground, He has not owed us one thing. And yet, He freely gives to all. Water, food, air, you name it—these are all gifts from a good and gracious God.

Yet, there is one gift of love that supersedes all others. It is the gift that every soul yearns for: the gift of saving love—steadfast love. This love does not produce just a fuzzy feeling but a salvific deliverance! God alone defines the terms of such love, and as the psalmist states, it is a love delivered “according to [His] promise.”

We want love and salvation from God for all sorts of things. We want Him to save us from our critics, from our financial shortages, from our conflicts with people, and from the long, hard days. But this is love according to my word, my will, my idea of what is good and right with the world.

The Psalmist does not respond this way. He is different. His cry is for saving love on God’s terms, not his own.

The way we look at God and His promises toward us is confronted here in Psalm 119:41.  Do I want God’s love to come to me according to my preferences or according to His?

What are the things you think about every day? What are the dreams you are engrossed in? Do they revolve around your own desires, or do they revolve around God’s? When our desires revolve around us, then we lose perspective. We begin to think that God’s love is best expressed in relief from our circumstances. The Psalmist refused to fall prey to this way of thinking. He did not elevate His own interest over God’s promise and redemptive plan. He knew that God’s ultimate goal for His people is not to give them new circumstances but to make them new creations. And God does so through the limitless power of His Word.

About the Author: Chris is a Christian, husband to Alyssa, works as Executive Director of The Gospel for OC and Writer and Editor at Blue Letter Bible. Chris and his wife Alyssa worship and serve at Reverence Bible Church in Mission Viejo, California. He is the author of The Two Fears: Tremble Before God Alone.

Posted at: https://servantsofgrace.org/salvation-according-to-his-word/

Knowing What to Do But Not Doing It Is a Problem

by Rick Thomas

God’s mercy comes to us without conditions but does not proceed without our cooperation. So too our aid must begin freely, regardless of the recipient’s merits. But our mercy must increasingly demand change, or it is not really love. – Timothy J. Keller

Discipleship Is a Cooperative Effort

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin (James 4:17).

In the divine wisdom of God, He has put part of the “change responsibility” on you to make the necessary adjustments so you can glorify Him. For transformation to take place, you must be willing to change.

Recently I met with a couple, and we began addressing some deep-seated problems that have been troubling their marriage for many years. After an hour of digging into their marriage with x-ray type questions, we got to some of the core issues.

Their heads were down as they wrestled with the disappointments that had characterized their marriage for so long. After a while, the wife lifted her head and said, “This is nothing new. I have been saying this for years.”

What was interesting about her comment was that I did not tell them one thing in over sixty minutes of examination that they did not already know. But her statement did not surprise me. That comment is the norm in counseling.

It is rare to tell a counselee something about their thinking or behavior that they do not already know. Discipleship is not rocket science. Though “we are fearfully and wonderfully made,” we are not over-complicated (Psalm 139:14).

Mercy Increasingly Demands Change

Once the cat came out of the proverbial bag in my counseling office, it was decision time. Did they want to deal with what they already knew? Though I did not tell this couple anything new, the next step that they should make confronted them. The success of their marriage depended on how they would respond. Were they going to take the personal, practical, and necessary steps to change?

God is a gracious and merciful God. He is long-suffering and kind to His children. His patience and kindness come to us not because we have earned it, but because He is good and He enjoys showing favor on us. But we are not allowed to take that grace for granted.

Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me (Psalm 19:13).

Just because God is gracious to you, it would be foolish to presume on it. You have a responsibility before God to change. My friends came to counseling and heard me tell them what they already knew about themselves. Now they needed to decide if they were going to respond to the things they heard.

Tim Keller got it right. “Mercy must increasingly demand change, or it is not love.” Mercy requires a response. It is not freely given just for us to enjoy temporarily. Mercy is extended as kindness from God so we can progressively change into the image of Christ.

There was nothing else for this couple to do. The husband and wife knew the truth. By their admission, it was redundant to them. Now it was time for them to change.

And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you (Ephesians 4:30-32).

Call to Action

1. What is one thing that God has identified in your life that you need to cooperate with Him by changing?

2. List at least two other specific things in your life that you need to work on regarding your sanctification.

3. Ask a friend to help you apply God’s empowering grace in your life so you can change.

Posted at: https://rickthomas.net/knowing-what-to-do-but-not-doing-it-is-a-problem/