In these days that we live in, we hear so much about God's love, mercy, forgiveness and compassion. Phrases are used, such as: "accept Jesus into your heart", "just believe", "Jesus is knocking on your heart's door, won't you let Him in?" and many other sayings.
While it is very true that God is love (1 John 4:8), that He is full of mercy, forgiveness and compassion, (Psalms 145:8-9) (Isaiah 63:7), He is also a Holy God (1 Peter 1:15-16) (Revelation 4:8), a just judge (Jeremiah 23:5) (Deuteronomy 32:4) (1 Peter 4:5) (Romans 2:16), an angry God (Psalms 7:11), full of fury (Nahum 1:2) (Isaiah 59:18) (Isaiah 63:3-4) (Isaiah 66:15-16) (Ezekiel 8:18), and wrath (John 3:36) (Romans 2:5-6) (Revelation 6:16-17) (Revelation 19:15) (Colossians 3:6) (Ephesians 2:3).
We are vile, sinful, evil and wicked. (Isaiah 59:2) (Romans 3:23) (Philippians 3:21) (Psalms 38:4) (Psalms 90:7-8). We cannot make ourselves clean; "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6)
How many times did Adam and Eve sin before they were cast out of the garden? God's standard is absolute perfection, Himself. Can we be like God? If even our righteousness is as filthy rags before Him, where does that leave us? We cannot even pay off our debt of sin by doing good, even our best works are abominable in His sight. Imagine a thief who repents and stops stealing. Is his debt now paid off, just because he is not stealing anymore? We are commanded to do good, so doing good won't pay for our past debt. We must conclude that we are utterly doomed and deserve to be crushed under the wrath of the One and Only Omnipotent God, Creator of heaven and earth, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that we are completely cast upon His mercy.
Oh but "He's a pretty forgiving guy isn't He?" (I have actually been asked that). Well...no, have you ever read the Old Testament? He is the same God now as He was then. God is not obligated to save us, it is of His own choosing to redeem us. There is nothing in you or I that would cause God to want to save us. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Romans 9:14-24)
God does not need us, He is complete in Himself; "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." (Revelation 22:13) His aim is to get glory for His own name; "For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another." (Isaiah 48:9-11)
Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; (Psalms 33:18)We are commanded to fear the Lord; "Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen." (Deuteronomy 10:20-21) This is why God's mercy is so very incredible! He, the Holy just judge, is willing to pardon wicked vile sinners? And at what price?
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:10-11)
Jesus Christ, God's Son, took the fierce wrath of God on Himself, in our place. He drank of the cup of wrath from God's hand and when He was finished there was nothing left against us. "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8:12) Jesus Christ rose again from the dead and has ascended into Heaven. He has promised to come again: "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." (Revelation 22:12-14)
It is the work of God to save a soul but He has commanded us to preach the gospel. We must be careful to give the gospel that is in the whole Bible and not just one that has been fitted to make everyone feel good.
For more (really good) discussion on this topic please visit: http://fruit-of-her-hands.blogspot.com/2008/10/handmaiden-of-lord-post-2.html
While it is very true that God is love (1 John 4:8), that He is full of mercy, forgiveness and compassion, (Psalms 145:8-9) (Isaiah 63:7), He is also a Holy God (1 Peter 1:15-16) (Revelation 4:8), a just judge (Jeremiah 23:5) (Deuteronomy 32:4) (1 Peter 4:5) (Romans 2:16), an angry God (Psalms 7:11), full of fury (Nahum 1:2) (Isaiah 59:18) (Isaiah 63:3-4) (Isaiah 66:15-16) (Ezekiel 8:18), and wrath (John 3:36) (Romans 2:5-6) (Revelation 6:16-17) (Revelation 19:15) (Colossians 3:6) (Ephesians 2:3).
We are vile, sinful, evil and wicked. (Isaiah 59:2) (Romans 3:23) (Philippians 3:21) (Psalms 38:4) (Psalms 90:7-8). We cannot make ourselves clean; "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." (Isaiah 64:6)
How many times did Adam and Eve sin before they were cast out of the garden? God's standard is absolute perfection, Himself. Can we be like God? If even our righteousness is as filthy rags before Him, where does that leave us? We cannot even pay off our debt of sin by doing good, even our best works are abominable in His sight. Imagine a thief who repents and stops stealing. Is his debt now paid off, just because he is not stealing anymore? We are commanded to do good, so doing good won't pay for our past debt. We must conclude that we are utterly doomed and deserve to be crushed under the wrath of the One and Only Omnipotent God, Creator of heaven and earth, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and that we are completely cast upon His mercy.
Oh but "He's a pretty forgiving guy isn't He?" (I have actually been asked that). Well...no, have you ever read the Old Testament? He is the same God now as He was then. God is not obligated to save us, it is of His own choosing to redeem us. There is nothing in you or I that would cause God to want to save us. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles? (Romans 9:14-24)
God does not need us, He is complete in Himself; "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." (Revelation 22:13) His aim is to get glory for His own name; "For my name's sake will I defer mine anger, and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another." (Isaiah 48:9-11)
Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; (Psalms 33:18)We are commanded to fear the Lord; "Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen." (Deuteronomy 10:20-21) This is why God's mercy is so very incredible! He, the Holy just judge, is willing to pardon wicked vile sinners? And at what price?
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:10-11)
Jesus Christ, God's Son, took the fierce wrath of God on Himself, in our place. He drank of the cup of wrath from God's hand and when He was finished there was nothing left against us. "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8:12) Jesus Christ rose again from the dead and has ascended into Heaven. He has promised to come again: "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." (Revelation 22:12-14)
It is the work of God to save a soul but He has commanded us to preach the gospel. We must be careful to give the gospel that is in the whole Bible and not just one that has been fitted to make everyone feel good.
For more (really good) discussion on this topic please visit: http://fruit-of-her-hands.blogspot.com/2008/10/handmaiden-of-lord-post-2.html
2 comments:
This is SO right, Leah.
I do have one remark, though. ...Hope I'm not being too picky; when you say that God, as the judge is willing to pardon us. That's true - but there's also the thought that He can't just let us off the hook with a pardon. The price DOES have to be paid - that's justice.
I know you know that. I'm just being picky about phrases. :) Sorry. This is really a great post. I wish the whole world could read it!
Thank you Amber,
You are so right, justice demands the price to be paid and Jesus Christ paid that price for us. Amazing!
Phrasing is important and as I was writing this post I kept thinking of all the things that could be said. I tried to keep it about the gospel but I am sure I missed some important points and there is so much more that could be said on that subject as well.
Thank you again.
Love in Christ,
Leah
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