02_Mercy and the steps of Conversion: Gods love for man and the sinners need for Christ

Note: The "02" in the title is just to note that this is the second portion of the series which will be looking at God's mercy as it relates to the steps of Conversion

In the previous section, we found that it is according to God’s mercy that mankind may be saved. We also saw that mercy, together with truth, is the means through which ones sins or iniquities are purged (removed, eliminated). The question may then arise as to how does one gain access to that mercy, where and how that mercy which purges iniquity is obtained.

We find our answer in the letter to the Hebrews:

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:15

Mercy is obtained at the throne of God, God is the giver of mercy; but in order for us to obtain that mercy, the writer tells us that we must do our part of coming to God.

This presents us with a slight problem. Paul writes concerning humanity:

“There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” Romans 3:11

Human beings are not born with any desire to seek after or come to God. Our hearts as fallen humanity are in a condition that is described as being at “enmity (as in hatred/ constant warfare) against God”, because they are “not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” (Romans 8:7) As a result of that, there exists in man no natural desire to come to God in order to obtain mercy.

How then would God get a resisting race to “come boldly to the throne of grace” (the only place where salvation and mercy are obtained)? Noting the fact that God is a God of mercy, He would not use force or compulsion to have men come to Him; so how then would this happen?

Note the words of Christ: “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him:” John 6:44.

What an idea to consider. God, knowing that in us there no desire to come to Him, still draws us to Himself. But how does God draw us? Well, He says:

“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee” Jeremiah 31:3. Since God has loved us with an everlasting (undying and unchanging) love, the medium he uses to draw resistant sinners to Himself is none other than His loving-kindness.

 

Thus, in order to impress us to come and obtain the mercy which we so need for our salvation, God draws us with his love. The highest expression of God in showing His love was in giving His son, not merely to live among us, but moreover to die for man’s sins. Hence Christ could say: “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This He said, signifying what death He should die” John 12:32-33. When one takes the time to consider Just what manner of death Christ dies, the just and innocent dying the death of a murderer, for nothing other that the sake of saving those who deserved to die that death, one grasps a bit of the everlasting love of God.

What an idea to consider. Think on the thought: We are helplessly rebellious by nature, and yet God makes the very first effort to sinful man in order to give to man what man does not deserve, in order to grant us His mercy.

Paul makes a practical reference to this idea, (also showing this close relationship between God’s mercy and His love):

In Titus 3:3, Paul makes reference to earthly rulers and mentions that “We ourselves (like them) were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.” The question to Paul may then be, ‘but what happened to bring about the change?’ Hence he follows with the words: “But after that, (that is, after our foolishness, and disobedience) the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared.” (Verse 4).

The idea being presented is that the reason why Paul, and the rest of the church, are no longer living the unrighteous lives they used to live is because the love and kindness of God appeared to us, us who were disobedient. But what would motivate God to reveal His love and kindness to a disobedient foolish and hateful race who do not deserve it? The very next verse tells us why: because it was “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us…” (v.5)

God, by reason of His mercy, revealed His love and kindness towards us sinful human beings, and as a result we who were sometimes foolish and disobedient were drawn by that everlasting love to come to Him where we may obtain the mercy needed to remove sin from our lives.

Mercy and the Everlasting Gospel_02_Salvation and Mercy

In Romans 1:16-17 Paul says the following words regarding the gospel:

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

Paul defines the gospel as being the power of God for the salvation to those who believe. We read of Jesus in Matthew 1:21 that when He came to this earth He came to “save His people from their sins.” So the salvation Paul is referring to is none other than salvation from sin, or salvation from disobeying God’s law (see 1 John 3:4).

So in the gospel, the “power of God unto salvation”, God exercises His power to save man from sin. Thus the gospel is good news about that very fact.  And this power is none other than the power God used to create the universe, because “He hath made the earth by his power, he hath established the world by his wisdom, and hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion.” (Jeremiah 10:12) Catch the idea: the same power that was used in the creation of the universe is the same power God uses to transform a man from a sinner to a righteous saint. All this is bound up in Jesus’ mission, because He is “Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” by which we may be saved from sin.  

Now In Titus 3:5 Paul shows us the driving force behind what we have just mentioned, that it was

 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us...”

 In the gospel we find God exercising His almighty creative power to turn man from sin, but what Paul brings about is that this is carried out as prompted by the fact that God is merciful.

We are saved according to the mercy of God. That is to say, if God were not merciful, we would not have a hope at being saved.

Jesus came to save His people from their sins, and it is “By mercy and truth (that) iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD [men] depart from evil.” Proverbs 16:6. Mercy, along with truth, is an essential ingredient in the work of purging (removing, abolishing) a man’s iniquity from him.

The reason God wants to save man lies and originates with Him, and not so much in us who are the receivers of His mercy and love. What a powerful idea this is to oneself personally: God’s motive for saving me lies in who He is as a merciful God. This becomes more beautiful when one considers the words: “For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” (Malachi 3:6)

What motivation this should then bring to the one who realises his/ her own unworthiness. When a person looks at themselves, they may realise that they are not worthy of God’s love, not deserving of receiving anything from such a holy God. This is indeed true, but the reason He wants to save is not because of anything good possessed by the individual, but because of who He is as a God who is abundant in mercy: For that reason we can have hope.

Note the promise: “Behold the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy; to deliver their soul from death, to keep them alive in famine.” Psalms 33:18-19. Those who hope in his mercy are the ones whom God will deliver (as in save) from death.

God’s mercy is not changed, increased or lessened by our circumstances and conditions, for it is a part of who He is as God. Our condition does not make God merciful, but rather it is a chance for Him to express how merciful He already is. 

In this segment, the thought must be observed that God’s mercy is a crucial point as it relates to our salvation, so much so that without it, we could not be saved.

From here we’ll take a look into the Steps of conversion; how it is that we can obtain that salvation from sin and in doing so we will see how the mercy of God is a vital part at each and every step.  

Mercy and the everlasting Gospel: "Table of content"

By God's grace, one has through the study of God's mercy sort of drafted the things I've been going through into an overall skeleton. I have, again, been greatly blessed by the topic of mercy and  hope to share the gems which I have been gathering on the subject. Together with some of the overall things I' have already shared, this is mainly the things I hope to post of my study notes on the subject of "Mercy and the everlasting Gospel." [The points are the bite sized "thought nuggets" to make for more comfortable reading]

·        General outline/ Table of Content

·         01_Mercy and the everlasting Gospel - Introduction

o   A chief Characteristic of God

o   Defining Mercy

·         02_Salvation and mercy

o   Mercy and the steps to conversion

§  God’s love for man and the Sinners need

§  Repentance

§  Confession

§  Consecration

§  Faith and acceptance

§  Bearing fruit

·         03_Mercy and the great controversy

o   God on trial

o   Satan’s accusations

o   The foundation of God’s throne

o   Mercy and justice

o   Calvary, the highest manifestation of God’s mercy thus far seen

·         04_Mercy in action, what does mercy look like

o   God’s response to unrighteousness 

o   How mercy is expressed

·         05_Mercy and the final generation

o   How can we know last generation

o   The experience of Mercy

       o   Mercy and the church of Laodicea.

A blessed Sabbath to all.

Mercy and the Everlasting Gospel_01: Defining Mercy

It may be helpful at this point in our study to spend a few moments in defining what is meant by the word “mercy.” There’s a section I’m yet to post, entitled “Mercy in action/ What mercy looks like” where I dwell more on the idea, but for the sake of understanding as we continue, this part may be vital.

An understanding of what mercy is may be found in looking at an example of mercy being exercised. In Ps. 103:10 we read:

“He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.”

When man transgressed the law of God, justice demanded that man be destroyed: “The wages of sin is death,”(Romans 6:23). The just punishment for sin is the eternal death of the sinner; yet what we find is that with that still being the case, God has not dealt with sinners the way that they deserve. The question may be then as to why/ how could God do that? We find the reason why in the verse that follows:

‘For as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him…” Psalms 103:11.

So the reason God has not dealt with us just as we deserve, in giving to man the due reward of their sins is on account of the fact that God is merciful; says the prophet : “This I recall to mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed…” Lamentations 3:21-22. The reason man has not been consumed (as justice demanded that man should) for his, for our, transgressions, is found in none other than the fact that God is merciful.

Thus we may find our definition of mercy: Mercy is when God does not treat an offender/ transgressor just as he deserves to be treated.

Now one must early one observe the dilemma that God has been placed in in exercising this regard. If “the Lord is righteous in all His ways...”  (Psalms 145:17) then God must still carry out the justice which the law demands in granting eternal death of the transgressor. The question then arises as to how can God be just and merciful at the same time? How can He not give to sinners exactly what they deserve without doing away with the law which the demands justice (see Matt. 5:17-18- God’s law is eternal)? This question is dealt with in the section on “Justice and Mercy.”

With our definition of mercy, it must be noted that this is somewhat distinct from grace. Let’s note the following words to help us see the distinction:

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” Ephesians 2:8.

Speaking of salvation, Paul describes it as something which is given to man as a gift: that is to say that man did not deserve that salvation. This act of giving to man what he has not earned or worked for is called an act of God’s grace. Thus we may understand grace then to be when God gives to man that which he does not rightly deserve, it is “unmerited favour” as some would describe it.

So the distinction between mercy and grace may be described then to be as follows:

Mercy	Grace
When God does not give man (sinners and transgressors of His law) that which man does deserve	When God gives to man, that which we do not rightly/naturally  deserve

 Although these 2 are distinct, the almost always travel together:

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” Psalms 103:8

“The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious…” Exodus 34:6

This definition of mercy is the overall definition which will be considered throughout the series, (unless another aspect of God’s mercy is being touched on, which will be stated whenever that is the case.)

This then is God’s mercy, and it is to be the kind of mercy we exercise as those who hope to obtain mercy.

 “Be ye therefore merciful, as your father also is merciful.” Luke 6:36

Pages from my journal (more like a brief snippet): Exhortation

Evening devotional entry: 27/07/14

Hebrews 3:12-14

"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." (v.12)

In speaking to the Hebrews, and reminding them of the history of the Jews in the wilderness, Paul is giving instruction that is intended to keep the reader from unbelief; which (as observed in the verse) draws us further away from God. He invites us then to take heed...

What is that instruction?:

 "... exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." (v.13). 

Here is given a preventative tool against the heart being hardened: exhorting one another. This is advice to prevent hardness of heart in the one who is to receive the exhortation, but it is just as much in the case of the one who exhorts.

We need to exhort, and be exhorted every day. Were this the practice, there would be far less unbelief (in departing from the living God) and far less hardness of heart than is currently the case.

The reason this is important is found in verse 14:

 "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end."

In partaking of Christ, we ought not to rest solely on a past experience, but each day we are to be exercising our heart against unbelief, and a powerful way of doing this is through "exhorting one another daily", that is: not only receiving daily exhortation, but also being one who exhorts others daily.

 

Exhorting others then not only blesses the one who receives it, but just as much the one who exhorts. Then: exhort some one today.

 

Blessings

 

PS. I poured water on my laptop last week and as a result some of my material has been lost [temporarily I pray :)]. Providentially I had backed up some of my written work about 2 weeks back so the notes on my "Mercy and the Everlasting Gospel" studies are about just a week deferred... God is still faithful, Rom. 8:28