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"Justice,
Mercy and Grace"
I
hope the following definitions will be as helpful to
you as they have been to me in understanding and
appreciating some key Bible terms as they relate to
salvation in Christ.
– DAS
Justice
– when you get what
you deserve. The
Bible teaches that “all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and the wages of
sin — what we deserve — is death (Roman 6:23).
God is a just God (Psalm 89:14) … His
work is perfect; For ALL His ways are justice,
A God of truth and without injustice;
(Deuteronomy
32:4)
And because of His justice, God cannot be indifferent to sin.
God could strike us dead immediately after we
sin and still remain just.
But then, no one could be saved.
God, however, is also a God of mercy….
Mercy
– when you do not get what
you deserve.
W.E. Vine defines mercy as “the outward
manifestation of pity; it assumes need on the part of
him who receives it, and resources adequate to meet
the need on the part of him who shows it.”
Mercy is God’s attitude toward those who are
in distress. A
mother once visited Napoleon on behalf of her
condemned son. The emperor told her the young man had committed the same
offense twice, and justice demanded the death penalty.
“But Sire,” she pleaded, “I don't ask for
justice -- only for mercy.”
“He doesn't deserve it,” said Napoleon.
“No, he doesn't,” she admitted, “but it
would not be MERCY if he deserved it.”
Napoleon granted her request.
It is God’s desire to extend mercy to those
who deserve justice for their sin. He
also desires to impart His grace
….
Grace
– when you get
what you did
not deserve.
Grace is something unearned and undeserved.
The Apostle Paul wrote that if it is a case of
earning something, the reward is not a matter of
grace, but of debt (Romans 4:4).
God manifests His grace through His offer of
forgiveness for the sins that we have committed.
It is by His grace that one is saved from sin.
“For by grace you have been saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of
God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”
(Ephesians 2:8-9).
God’s gift of salvation by His grace must be accepted on His terms.
Note again the passage above:
“For by grace you have been saved through
faith”
Ephesians 2:8). As
we search the Scriptures we find that the kind of
faith that God is seeking from us is an "active"
faith. A
splendid example of the kind of faith that God desires
is found in Acts 2.
To those hearers who believed in Jesus and were
convicted of their sin of crucifying the Son of God,
Peter instructed them to put
their faith into action:
“Repent and let every one of you be baptized
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins;
and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit”
(Acts 2:38). What
was their response?
“Then those who gladly received his word [faith]
were baptized [faith in action]; and that day
about three thousand souls were added to them” (Acts
2:41). God
saved by His grace those who responded to the saving
message of Jesus Christ with an obedient faith.
God
extends His mercy and saves us by His grace when, in
faith, we obey the conditions of acceptance.
Will
you trust and obey Him?
God
bless you.
David A. Sargent,
Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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