MONDAY 21 June 2021 “MERCY” - Walking with Jesus

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Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,

On the continuum from lawlessness to perfection, I wonder where you’d put yourself, your neighbors, the political leaders of your country, the spiritual leaders in your city? We so easily fall into the comparison of ourselves to others, don’t we? And of course, we always find at least one person who we believe is more of a sinner than we are, right?

That comparison game has been an albatross around our human necks since the days of Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve, remember? The envy and anger that grows out of comparison is a terrible curse and in their case it caused murder in the first human family. We’re walking the journey these days with James, the 1/2 brother of Jesus, and in his second chapter he writes: “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all the law! For He who said ‘do not commit adultery’ also said ‘do not murder’. If you do not commit adultery but you do commit murder, you have become a law breaker.” (James 2:9-11)

Now maybe it’s easy for many of us to give ourselves a pass on ‘lawbreaking’ because we’ve never stood in a courtroom and heard the declaration “guilty as charged”, the slam of the judges’ gavel, and then been handcuffed and dragged away to a prison cell, been pushed into that cell, and then heard the heavy clank of the closing prison door behind us! Or maybe you give yourself a pass because you’ve only crossed the line with minor things, certainly none of the really big sins like murder. But did you see the opening line “Whoever keeps the whole law yet stumbles AT JUST ONE POINT IS GUILTY of breaking ALL the law!”

It’s this powerful, condemning statement which led Paul the Pharisee to write “There is no one righteous (holy & perfect) not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless, there is no one who does ONLY good, not even one… Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the law, rather it is through the law we become conscious of sin…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory (perfection) of God…” (Romans 3:10-23)

We understand that don’t we… and we agree!? Laws are put in place to define boundaries, the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Without laws there’s mayhem, anarchy. With laws there is clarity of right & wrong, good & evil. Serious problems arise, however, when lawmakers change their minds and change the laws, and they declare what used to be GOOD now EVIL, what used to be RIGHT is now WRONG, or the reverse… what used to be WRONG is now RIGHT, what used to be EVIL is now GOOD! Look around where you live in our world, do you see that happening during your lifetime?

But that’s insanity isn’t it? If laws can change simply because opinions change, then the laws are not based on TRUTH, they are based on whim, selfish desire, pride, public opinion. Now think about that my friends. God never changes. God’s character, God’s truth never changes, and therefore God’s standards, His ‘laws’ are reliable, they never change. Not even with the passing of centuries of time! And one more thing… now are you ready for this: God’s truth applies in EVERY society, EVERY culture of the world, in EVERY generation! Why? Because God & God’s truth never change, and is applicable everywhere, to all people!

So here’s a really important question: are you living your life guided by the ever changing human laws and public opinion, or guided by the unchanging perfection of God and His guidelines for living?

Here’s another very important question: when God’s unchanging perfection, His unchanging truth, His standards and guidelines for living are opposed or come into conflict with mankind’s ever changing opinions, which sometimes become man made laws where you live…what do you do then?

Here’s what God says: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men WHO SUPPRESS THE TRUTH by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God made it plain to them.” (Romans 1:18,19) Now let that simmer in your heart and mind for a moment. Are there those people where you live who “suppress the truth by their wickedness”? What does it look like? How do you recognize it? How do those truth suppressors package, market, sell, convince others that the wrong they are doing is right? God is amazingly patient, isn’t HE? But His patience has a limit with humanity…that’s the story of Old Testament Israel. And when finally God’s patience runs out and God’s wrath is poured out, oh my, oh my, it is frightening because it is total destruction! If you doubt what I just said, read 2 Kings 17 & 25. Why? Because God’s patience ran out first with the northern kingdom of Israel and in 722bc God’s judgement was poured out as recorded in 2 Kings 17. In 586bc God’s patience ran out with the southern kingdom Judah, and the account is in 2 Kings 25!

James goes on to write: “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:12,13) Now that’s a really interesting phrase, ‘judged by the law that gives freedom’! What do you think that means? Is there a law that gives freedom rather than restricts or causes punishment? YES! Listen to Paul writing to the Roman Christians: “There is therefore now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death!” (Romans 8:1) Oh my that is outrageously good news, isn’t it? But what does it mean?

If you continue reading in Romans 8, one of the most powerful chapters in the Bible, you’ll see Paul explains that in our natural sinful nature and with each additional sin we commit, we add more and more guilt to our justice condemnation. We can’t help ourselves. We can’t save ourselves. But God sent His Son Jesus, while we were deep in our sin, (Romans 5:8) to take our sin upon Himself and pay our sin penalty with His death! Therefore, if we will trust in Jesus’ death to be sufficient payment for our sin, God will apply that payment to our sin and declare us FORGIVEN! And because Jesus is resurrected from the dead and He ascended to heaven, Hebrews 7:25 says “He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.”

And because we are forgiven, and cleansed by God from the guilt and shame of our sin (1 John 1:9) He also declares us JUSTIFIED (Romans 4:25;5:1) and God places upon us the HOLINESS of Jesus in exchange for our sinfulness! We are therefore FREE from our sin, and free from the law of sin and death! So Galatians 5:1 says “It is for FREEDOM that Christ has set us free. Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened by a yolk of sin slavery!“ Oh my dear friends all around the world who have been set free by Jesus… do I hear you shouting AMEN?! That is why James wrote “Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives FREEDOM! Because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!”

In closing do you understand James’ last comment? For those of us who have been shown mercy by God as He forgave our sin, and He gave us license and power to live FREE from condemnation, we must be very careful that we are extending mercy without judgment to those around us who are still deep in their sin! Now ponder that as you watch law breakers and law changers all around you!! Here’s a song to help you embrace these truths and this challenge to mercy living!

Today’s Scripture is James 2:9-13.

Choose below to read or listen.

Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.

Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.

Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)

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