Why don’t the Christians take the Word of God seriously? Last month, a Muslim woman was shocked to hear me say that Christians should not have sex before marriage… Why don’t unbelievers know such a truth? Because we do whatever we want with the Word of God, we adapt it to today’s cultures more than other religious faiths to follow the trend! Today, some pastors are even ‘blessing’ gay marriages. In fact, Christians are the quickest to show they do not care what God says… but they know how to claim His grace and mercy all the time. My brother, my sister, someone who truly lives in grace is someone who understands that he/she should strive not to sin, but rather choose to serve Jesus every day and offer Him his/her body, his/her heart, his/her life.
Today’s verse says this: ” ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion’. It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy”. Yes, it is really sad to see how the concept of living in the time of grace has truly misled many believers, because they tend to think that becoming a follower of Christ makes God ignores sin. Too much freedom can lead us to hell when we don’t know how to use that freedom. It is amazing to see how people of other faiths behave to understand why Christians lose their battles against evil most of the time: I laughed listening to an interview of a believer who says he is a good man who helps people, helps his church. Then he was asked if he had the assurance of his salvation. He replied, “Yes because the Bible guarantees salvation.” Then he was asked if he is faithful to his church with his participation, his tithes and offerings… He said he goes to church when he can, but he also gives offerings and tithes when he can… then they read Malachi 3:8-10 telling him he could be robbing God. That’s when I really laughed for he suddenly turned into a stunt man to explain through the Word that we must not give tithes or offerings, and going to church is not specifically written in the Bible… and he obviously sounded coherent as his argument were supported by the Word. Spiritual blindness or excess of knowledge? Only God knows when He will enable that man’s eyes to be open (Acts 26:17-18).
My friend, what does God think when we find excuses or justifications, in His own Word, not to obey Him, but after we stand before Him expecting His mercy and grace for the forgiveness of our sins, for a better life on earth, for blessings, for healing, restoration or deliverance? Is that not hypocrisy? This makes us understand why the Bible says: “The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love” (Psalm 145:8)… Yes, now we understand that if the Lord was not slow to anger, many of us would really be heading straight to hell despite thinking we are saved… for He gives us time to change our ways and return to Him with all our hearts.
My friend, we cannot earn God’s mercy: if we could, it would not be mercy! Every year, in America, the president pardons a turkey selected from million turkeys that will be eaten across the country for Thanksgiving. It’s a national tradition that has been closely observed since it was introduced. Will the same turkey that is pardoned this year surely be pardoned next year? Has this year’s turkey done anything to be pardoned? NO… that’s how the mercy and the grace of God work: we don’t know why, but God decides, in His sovereignty, to set us apart, to heal, restore or sometimes to correct us… all this is done in His mercy and compassion! So, let’s not take God’s mercy and grace for granted. It is a curse to try and adapt the Scriptures to suit our desires or viewpoints: “See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it” (Deuteronomy 12:32)…
So, let’s learn to walk towards salvation with Christ as our light and with the Word of God as our instruction manual and the Holy Spirit as our guide. Then, God’s mercy will be truly manifested among us, His sons and daughters… We don’t need to ask for it as if He owes it to us. We only need to follow the steps of His merciful Son who was obedient unto death in order to experience it. Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.