Saturday, February 4, 2012

The Mercy

God is rich in mercy.
His love for us is great.

You may ask,
“How rich is God’s mercy?”
“How great is God’s love for us?”

Even when we were dead in our transgressions,
God made us alive together with Christ.
He raised us up with Jesus.
God seated us with Himself in the heavenly places
in Christ Jesus.

“Why?”
you may ask.

So that in the ages to come
God can show us the surpassing riches of His grace
in kindness toward us
in Christ Jesus.
For by Grace
you
have been saved
through Faith.

You did not save yourself.
It is the gift of God.

It was not the result of anything you did or try to do.
If it was, you would boast about it.

God is merciful to me because I…
God loves me because I…
God made me alive in Christ because I…
God raised me with Christ because I…
God seated me next to Himself in heavenly places because I…
I…
I…
I…

Sorry, no.
If you can do anything;
if you can say anything;
if you can keep a day,
keep a promise,
say a prayer,
anything that you can point to and say this is why God shows me favor,
then it ain’t mercy.

Grace is God’s unmerited favor.

If you have to do anything to earn God’s favor, then it is not unmerited.
To earn something is to merit something.
You got it on your own merits.
Cuz you got game.
Cuz you got mad skilz.
By ur own bad self.
(psssh)

If you can do anything to earn God’s grace, it just isn’t grace anymore.
It’s payment.
It’s a merit badge.
Something to pin on your chest.

Grace is a gift.
Undeserved.
Unmerited.
Unearned.
Given because God is merciful and because His love is so great.

God had mercy on mankind when He sent Jesus to us
to show the way,
to reveal the truth,
to give life.

God had mercy on mankind when He allowed His only begotten Son to be shamed and brutally put to death
to take our rightful punishment,
our just reward,
the wages of our transgressions.

This is what we deserved,
what we merited,
what we earned.

In God’s great mercy and love for us—in His loving kindness—He laid the entire payment on Jesus who willingly took it upon Himself because He knew it was worth the price.
That you are worth the price.

Your transgressions:
Paid in full with His own blood.
With His own life.

Nothing owed.
No I.O.U.
Not on credit.
Not on an installment plan.
Done.

This is God’s gift.
God’s grace.
Given to us in His rich mercy and great love for us.
For you.

But wait, there’s more:

Then—in an even greater revelation of just how great His mercy really is—God raised Jesus up from the grave.
He who once was dead
is now alive.

“How rich is God’s mercy?”
“How great is God’s love for us?”
you ask.
Here’s how…

God raised us
with Jesus
to eternal life
AND
sat us down next to Himself
in the heavenly places
in Jesus.

How many times did Jesus die for sins?
Once.
How many times was He raised from the dead?
Once.
For how many sins?
All.
For whose sins?
Everyone’s.
How do we earn this?
We can’t.
What do we owe God for this?
Nothing.

Grace.
It’s a gift.
It’s yours through faith.

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