Michael continues that God forgives us of our sin when we’re “born again” of His Spirt, not because we deserved His loving mercy and grace, not because we were good, but because God is good ... remember that His nature is loving kindness and tender mercy.
Mercy was God’s plan of redemption through the sacrifice of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ at the crucifixion. Ephesians 4-6 says, “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), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
Matthew 9:13 says, “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” To live within God’s mercy, Proverbs 21:3 says, “To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.” Matthew 12:7 says, “But if you had known what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltless.” According to Mark 12:33, “And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
To live according to God’s mercy, God doesn’t want our sacrifice, our earthly possessions, our work or our performance ... instead He wants our heart. Our true sacrifice is not our so-called “offering unto God”. The true sacrifice is in Romans 12:1-2: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” The true sacrifice is not in burnt offerings and in giving when they pass the offering plate at church. Instead Hebrews 13:15 says, bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.
God who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loves us has made us alive in Christ. He has separated us and set us aside for the praise of the glory of His grace. God has called us to give away that which He’s first given us. According to Micah 6:8, “He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Every godly thing is sacred.
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.”
The evidence of loving mercy is in walking humbly with the Lord. Why? Because we are His workmanship, God’s poem, His great work of art, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, fit for His purpose, according to the path that He has prepared beforehand for us to walk ... that we may ever live to the praise of the glory of His grace!
Your brother in Christ, Michael
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