In recent times, I have felt the need to pause in my spiritual walk and reflect on the basics of the Christian faith. It is so easy for us to be so preoccupied with today’s events and tomorrow’s aspirations and so forget certain fundamentals of the Christian faith. One area we so often forget is where we started from. Imagine an armed robber, a prostitute, a drug addict or any other person under the control of a vice. Ask yourself the question; what makes me different from this person?
“That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:12-13)
What does this mean? It simply means that there was a time when you and I were just like that robber, prostitute or drug addict. Oh yes, you could say, “I never stole and I never used my body for commercial purposes” I thank God for your life but I wish to let you know, that in the eyes of God, you were no better than these people and if you had died in your sin, you would have faced the same judgment reserved for them.
Remembering where we once were, brings forth feelings of gratitude and thanksgiving, for what God did for us through our Savior Jesus Christ. Today, many robbers, prostitutes, drug addicts and even murderers have been truly converted and saved. They share a common destiny with us; their past has been wiped away with the splash of blood, never to be used as evidence of guilt against them anymore.
It is because we fail to remember, that we are quick to judge others, condemning them when God is working out their salvation, calling for their heads when God desires that they should be saved.
I was having a discussion with an aunt who had just given her life to Christ. She had recently been duped by fraudsters. It was obvious that she had been doing a lot of thinking concerning the incident and the question she asked me confirmed this. “If people had been duping others all their lives and they eventually give their lives to Christ, will they be forgiven?” I gave her a sympathetic smile. “Yes, they would be forgiven if they are truly repentant” I replied. I could see that she did not like this. As far as she was concerned, they should rot in hell.
I went ahead to explain the mind of God concerning sinners to her. The Bible says we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The weight of sin is measured equally; no sin is rated higher or lower than another. The effect and repercussion of particular sins on man may be different but the judgment of sin is the same.
The next time you see that man or woman with evidence of sinfulness written all over him or her, do not look at them with the eye of judgment, rather, look at them through the loving eyes of God. After all, we are all sinners saved by grace. Like Jonah, we sometimes seem to miss entirely the point of what God wants to do. Do we willingly witness, serve, and pray in the hope and expectation that people will change for the better? Or do we wish for judgment to come, for God to destroy those WE identify as "the wicked"?
We struggle to understand the depth of God's mercy... His mercy is abundantly great and boundless, higher than the heavens and filling the earth. His mercy is eternal and unchanging. They are new every morning, constantly fresh and perfect and never fading with age. His mercy endures forever. He is sovereign and free in his mercy. To show mercy is his own choice according to his own purpose: "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy." (Romans 9:15)
How often we wish to use our Bible knowledge in other ways. We prefer to teach our neighbors, even when they don’t wish to be taught. We prefer to correct our fellow-believers, because their understanding of the Word is not identical with ours. We may prefer to point out the sins of others. There certainly is a proper time for teaching and preaching and even rebuking, but here James tells us that the proper application of the Word is to come to the aid of widows and orphans.
“Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27)
You will recall that when Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for being hypocrites in Matthew 23, He specifically mentioned that they pray long prayers, but steal widows’ houses. The real test of religion is how one who is strong deals with those who are weak. The biblical model is that the strong use their strengths to minister to the needs of the weak.
James begins with the personal application of the Word – taking heed to its mirror message; he then moves to the public application of the Word – caring for the widows and the orphans in their affliction. But James then moves back, once again, to the personal application of God’s Word: we are to keep ourselves unstained from the world (verse 27).
God's plan may differ for each person and the very limited possibilities that occur to us humans from our own limited perspective probably do not exhaust all of God's options. While it is true that God is completely free in his acts of mercy, and that he acts mercifully according to his own purpose and as it fits his own plan, it is also true that those who seek his mercy always find it. He is always merciful to the truly repentant. A first step toward understanding the true depth of God's mercy is understanding the depth of our own neediness. We are utterly without hope short of God's merciful activity on our behalf.
Mercy is one of God's communicable attributes, meaning that he shares it with us and expects it from us. Just as our Father is moved to act by the plight of those in need, so too, those who are his children are motivated by mercy. The poverty of others - both material and spiritual - is our opportunity to be like our Father. Their trouble is our opportunity to help.
Then the righteous will answer Him, “Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:37-40)
“That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.” (Ephesians 2:12-13)
What does this mean? It simply means that there was a time when you and I were just like that robber, prostitute or drug addict. Oh yes, you could say, “I never stole and I never used my body for commercial purposes” I thank God for your life but I wish to let you know, that in the eyes of God, you were no better than these people and if you had died in your sin, you would have faced the same judgment reserved for them.
Remembering where we once were, brings forth feelings of gratitude and thanksgiving, for what God did for us through our Savior Jesus Christ. Today, many robbers, prostitutes, drug addicts and even murderers have been truly converted and saved. They share a common destiny with us; their past has been wiped away with the splash of blood, never to be used as evidence of guilt against them anymore.
It is because we fail to remember, that we are quick to judge others, condemning them when God is working out their salvation, calling for their heads when God desires that they should be saved.
I was having a discussion with an aunt who had just given her life to Christ. She had recently been duped by fraudsters. It was obvious that she had been doing a lot of thinking concerning the incident and the question she asked me confirmed this. “If people had been duping others all their lives and they eventually give their lives to Christ, will they be forgiven?” I gave her a sympathetic smile. “Yes, they would be forgiven if they are truly repentant” I replied. I could see that she did not like this. As far as she was concerned, they should rot in hell.
I went ahead to explain the mind of God concerning sinners to her. The Bible says we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The weight of sin is measured equally; no sin is rated higher or lower than another. The effect and repercussion of particular sins on man may be different but the judgment of sin is the same.
The next time you see that man or woman with evidence of sinfulness written all over him or her, do not look at them with the eye of judgment, rather, look at them through the loving eyes of God. After all, we are all sinners saved by grace. Like Jonah, we sometimes seem to miss entirely the point of what God wants to do. Do we willingly witness, serve, and pray in the hope and expectation that people will change for the better? Or do we wish for judgment to come, for God to destroy those WE identify as "the wicked"?
We struggle to understand the depth of God's mercy... His mercy is abundantly great and boundless, higher than the heavens and filling the earth. His mercy is eternal and unchanging. They are new every morning, constantly fresh and perfect and never fading with age. His mercy endures forever. He is sovereign and free in his mercy. To show mercy is his own choice according to his own purpose: "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy." (Romans 9:15)
How often we wish to use our Bible knowledge in other ways. We prefer to teach our neighbors, even when they don’t wish to be taught. We prefer to correct our fellow-believers, because their understanding of the Word is not identical with ours. We may prefer to point out the sins of others. There certainly is a proper time for teaching and preaching and even rebuking, but here James tells us that the proper application of the Word is to come to the aid of widows and orphans.
“Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27)
You will recall that when Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for being hypocrites in Matthew 23, He specifically mentioned that they pray long prayers, but steal widows’ houses. The real test of religion is how one who is strong deals with those who are weak. The biblical model is that the strong use their strengths to minister to the needs of the weak.
James begins with the personal application of the Word – taking heed to its mirror message; he then moves to the public application of the Word – caring for the widows and the orphans in their affliction. But James then moves back, once again, to the personal application of God’s Word: we are to keep ourselves unstained from the world (verse 27).
God's plan may differ for each person and the very limited possibilities that occur to us humans from our own limited perspective probably do not exhaust all of God's options. While it is true that God is completely free in his acts of mercy, and that he acts mercifully according to his own purpose and as it fits his own plan, it is also true that those who seek his mercy always find it. He is always merciful to the truly repentant. A first step toward understanding the true depth of God's mercy is understanding the depth of our own neediness. We are utterly without hope short of God's merciful activity on our behalf.
Mercy is one of God's communicable attributes, meaning that he shares it with us and expects it from us. Just as our Father is moved to act by the plight of those in need, so too, those who are his children are motivated by mercy. The poverty of others - both material and spiritual - is our opportunity to be like our Father. Their trouble is our opportunity to help.
Then the righteous will answer Him, “Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:37-40)
