When Mercy Molds Me

Good morning, Cruciform Church!

We’re so glad you’ve joined us today as we come together to worship and make much of Jesus in this place and in our hearts. If you’re visiting with us, we pray that you wouldn’t so much be left with an impression of us–our music, our preaching, our kids ministry–but that you’d be left with an impression of King Jesus, the One on whom our eyes are fixed, whose eyes are fixed on you in love. He is the One who, if you don’t know Him, wants you to know Him, wants to change your eternity forever. To bring you into everlasting life with the One for whom you were created. That is our prayer.

Good morning, Cruciform Church!

We’re so glad you’ve joined us today as we come together to worship and make much of Jesus in this place and in our hearts. If you’re visiting with us, we pray that you wouldn’t so much be left with an impression of us–our music, our preaching, our kids ministry–but that you’d be left with an impression of King Jesus, the One on whom our eyes are fixed, whose eyes are fixed on you in love. He is the One who, if you don’t know Him, wants you to know Him, wants to change your eternity forever. To bring you into everlasting life with the One for whom you were created. That is our prayer.

So over these past weeks we’ve been working our way through the book of James as we look at How Faith Works on the Concrete. That is the title of the sermon series we’ve been going through. You see, it’s one thing to understand faith in your head, and even your heart, but James takes it a step further. He says that faith that works makes its way from your head, to your heart, out to your hands. It works on the concrete. This gospel we preach–the life-changing news of what Jesus has done for sinners like you and me–gives us a new ‘walk’. It calls us to move different. So we’re looking through how it does that; How Faith Works on the Concrete.

Last week we started in chapter 2:1-5, where James calls out the sin of partiality as incompatible with the gospel of grace. As people, our sinful default is to value people based upon outer status; based upon what they can do for us. We are partial people by default. But now that we belong to Jesus, we are called to live in light of the Lord’s valuation of people. Pastor D told us that faith works on the concrete when we measure the value of people not by their status but by God’s just scale. We’re going to close out that theme today, picking up in verse 5 and working through verse 13.

Would you join me in a word of prayer?

Amen.

The Title of today’s sermon is

If you have your Bible, open up to the book of James, chapter two. We’re going to start in verse 5, and hopefully make it through verse 13. Please follow along as I read.

James 2:5–13 ESV

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

This is the word of the Lord.

The sin in particular that James is addressing is that of partiality. Of favoritism. None of us has ever felt that, right? Never experieinced someone giving you less prioirty over another because of their perceived value?

In this case, there was partiality and favoritism IN THE CHURCH. In the assembly of the Christians. Specifically, wealthy people were being favored over those who were poor. Wealthy people were given the seat of honor while those who were poor were cast off aside to the section out of the way of others. And if not there, than the text says they were to sit at the feet of the others. Sit at my feet. A place of humiliation and servitude.

When Mercy Molds Me

As we’re working through today’s text, the big idea is as follows:

Hopefully, we will paint a picure as to how our partiality leads us to a need of mercy, which will then mold us to be merciful.

Let’s get to it.

Let’s get into this text.

The sin in particular that James is addressing is that of partiality. Of favoritism. None of us has ever felt that, right? Never experieinced someone giving you less prioirty over another because of their perceived value?

In this case, there was partiality and favoritism IN THE CHURCH. In the assembly of the Christians. Specifically, wealthy people were being favored over those who were poor. Wealthy people were given the seat of honor while those who were poor were cast off aside to the section out of the way of others. And if not there, than the text says they were to sit at the feet of the others. Sit at my feet. A place of humiliation and servitude. Here’s how James responds to the church showing this kind of partiality:

James 2:5–7 ESV

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called?

In this case, there was partiality and favoritism IN THE CHURCH. In the assembly of the Christians. Specifically, wealthy people were being favored over those who were poor. Wealthy people were given the seat of honor while those who were poor were cast off aside to the section out of the way of others. And if not there, than the text says they were to sit at the feet of the others. Sit at my feet. A place of humiliation and servitude.

First of all, James is taken aback because the Christians expose themselves in their partiality to align themselves more with the world than with God. All throughout Scriptures, God shows a special care and concern for those in the world that are most vulnerable. Those for whom the world doesn’t care or value, He specifically cares for and demands that His people do the same. But more than His care for the poor, though, He often shows an especial GRACE in electing those whom the world has cast aside and marginalized to be His own. In His wisdom, He delights in a special way to save, redeem, and bring into His family those that the word has forgotten or devalued. God has especially chosen the poor, struggling, vulnerable to be rich in faith. The underdogs, as Pastor D said last week. His coming kingdom is a reversal of all the sin and brokenness in the world for those that receive Him, and He has chosen to give riches of faith to those who have especially felt the effects of sin, brokenness, and injustice in the world. To receive this, though, they still must receive Jesus’ grace–it’s not every poor person without exception who is rich in faith–yet, God often grants rich, repentant faith to those whom the world has turned its back on.

We know this from Scripture, right?

1 Corinthians 1:26–29 ESV

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

1 Corinthians 1:26–27 ESV

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;

1 Corinthinas 1:26-27

So James is saying, church, OUR VALUE SYSTEM IS WHACK! First and foremost, it’s whack because you’re devaluing those that the Father has especially set His sights upon. Those whom He shows a special care, concern and grace for.

When we show partiality to those that “have something to offer us” and “grow our status”, we’re aligning ourselves not with the Savior but with society. It’s an affront to God’s character and goodness. When we devalue people whom God values, we devalue God. V. 6 “You have dishonored the poor man.” You have dishonored the one that God has given richness of faith. It’s a sin against God to show favoritism and greater value towards those the world says has value.

Secondly, James says, OUR PARTIALITY DOESN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE PRAGMATICALLY! James is real, ‘on the concrete’, here.

Look: Don’t the rich oppress you and drag you into court? Don’t they dishonor the honorable name by which you were called – the name of our Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father?

James says, “why do you seek honor from those that OPPRESS you and OPPOSE your God?”

When we think about it, it seems stupid. Like it doesn’t make any sense at all. Our value system is whack. We show favoritism towards those who don’t care about us. Who abuse us.

Before we start thinking that James’ people were just complete fools, and that we’d never do such a thing, let’s be honest with ourselves. We do this sort of thing all the time. It may not be with rich vs. poor (though I’d venture to say that it is, to some extent), but we often value those who are not good to us or for us.

-Why do we continue in the abusive relationship where we keep making excuses for our partner’s sin against us, instead of seeking help and transformation?

-Why are we in that ‘good’ dating relationship with a ‘good’ person, knowing they don’t bow their knee to King Jesus the way that we do? Just because they’re good according to romantic comedy’s definition of good doesn’t mean they’re good.

-Why do we desperately want the attention of this person who doesn’t value us?

-Why do we try and keep up with the Joneses by buying that new _______ (you name it) that we can’t afford yet think it will give us status with them.

-Pastor (preaching to myself) why do we desperately seek more well-known people to see what we’re doing and approve of us when they don’t know us nor invest in us?

-Pastor (preaching to myself) do you show partiality towards those who come in your door who you might call a ‘key stakeholder’ financially in the work of the minsitry while those that might not have as much get cast aside?

[potential analogy]

The New American Commentary noted from this verse that “Quite often, those who envy the rich (___whatever you envy___) most find themselves the most exploited by them.”

We desperately want approval, value, or resources that can get us ahead, give us status in the world, or give us the comfort and love that we feel we need.

The problem with that is that none of that satisfies. None of that matters for eternity. None of it’s enough. And oftentimes, it doesn’t even work.

We value those who devalue us because we value the world’s prestige over the King’s proclamation.

The antidote to this is to value the King’s proclamation:

Christian, you were called by an honorable name (v. 7)

God, the Creator of heaven and earth, the one whom ascribes value to everything and everyone, has set His sights on you as His beloved. He did this even as you and I were His enemy. He called us out of our sin and disobedience, and said, I love you so much that I’m going to make you mine. I’m going to make a way for your forgiveness. I’m going to make a way for you to be back in my family forever. I’m going to do that through Jesus.

Christian, you were called by an honorable name.

James goes on to tell the people that not only is our value system whack, but

James 2:8–11 ESV

If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

Just as the tendency of the natural human heart is value based on what others do for us, there is a tendency of the natural human heart to self-justify before God (and others).

You can imagine the scene here, right? James is talking to his audience, calling them out on their partiality, and what does he anticipate that they’ll turned to:

“But James, we’re loving our neighbor!”

James is anticipating that they’re immediately going to look to the things that they are doing well in obedience to feel right about themselves.

They reference the royal law–specifically, the command that Jesus says is one of the two that sums up the entirety of God’s law–to love God with all your heart and soul and mind is the greatest and first commandment, and the second is like it.

Matthew 22:37–40 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:

To love your neighbor as yourself is a citation from . Jesus says loving God with everything and loving neighbor as self sums up the entirety of the commands of how we are to live on earth to bring glory to God and good to neighbor.

So, naturally, when confronted with their sinful favoritism and partiality, they looked to the thing they could cling to that would make them seem righteous. “We’ve loved our neighbor, James!”

We don’t ever do that with God, right? [How did I do, today, God? Yeah, I did this wrong, and this wrong, but I also did this right. Then you put your wrongs and your rights on the scale of your mind, throw in a little “well God knows my heart”–as if that helps your case–and the scale, in your mind, tips in the direction of, “I did more good than bad, so I must be alright.]

First of all, there is nothing in that mentality church that is Christian. That’s actually antithetical to what it means to be a Christian.

To Be a Christian is to know that God’s love and approval of you is wholly dependent upon the merit of Another. His name is Jesus. The foundation of God’s approval and delight of you is found in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

But, as they’re trying to self-justify, without arguing them about whether they’ve truly loved neighbor (which would necessitate that they don’t show partiality–we’ll touch on that in a moment), James sticks with their favoritism/partiality.

“If you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of it all.” (v.9-10)

I imagine that the people would have tried to justify their partiality to James, and explain to them how it wasn’t really sinful partiality. Here’s why I say that–

Sinful partiality is sneaky because it can be masked as simplly ‘pure’ preference… i.e. “Oh, I’m partial to this kind of music. I’m partial towards people who like to do these sorts of things because I like those sorts of things.” The problem, of course, is that ‘pure preference’ easily and quickly becomes something that serves those in power and neglects those who are vulnerable. If you don’t believe me, let’s just turn back to 1896.

In the case of Plessy vs. Ferguson, the doctrine of “Seperate But Equal” was established – maintaining that racial segregation didn’t necessarily violate the 14th amendment, which guaranteed equal protection under law to all people regardlelss of race.

If pressed, I guarantee you that a great deal of the people back then would have said it was simply preference that they wanted to be separate from people of other races. You can hear it now, right? White people saying, “us and people of color, we just ‘do different things’. ‘We have different ways’. Therefore, we can each have equality of things, it’s just better for us to have them separately. You have your stuff and we have our stuff.”

That doctrine led to gross sinful partiality. For example, in Florida’s 1930 census, African Americans made up 42% of the population, yet when it came to the value of “white school property” vs. “African American school property”, it was white at $70,500,000 to African American at $4,900,000. Over 14X property value.

Pure preference easily and quickly becomes something that serves those in power and neglects the vulnerable.

This partiality was hapenning in the church. This partiality looked at those who were rich and said, ‘you are more worthy of my energy, effort, care, and blessing than you’ (the poor). “You’re a more strategic investment of my time and energy than you–as if God chooses the capable to accompish His mission.” But since they wanted to keep some form of appearance up, they didn’t completely kick the poor out of their gatherings, they just put them to the side. Kicked them to their feet. They were probably doing them a favor in their minds. The partiality in those hearts probably said, “you can be my service project, my pat-on-the-back good deed for the day”, but there’s no way you’re going to be my people. You’re not going to actually going to belong with me.

I’ll tolerate you in my presence, but I’ll never take you as my people.

We never do that, right? We never treat people like this...

Who do you treat as someone you merely tolerate?

We do this IN THE CHURCH. Let’s face it, church, in our natural self, we are a partial people who promote our personal progress.

James says to the church, this partiality is SIN, an offense to God, and from it you are convicted by the law as a transgressor. A lawbreaker. On your own merit, you are condemned before God.

He goes on to say, no only are you accountable to God as a lawbreaker of partiality, of that sin, but v. 10 “If you keep the whole law but fail in one point, you’ve become guilty of it all.”

Wow, harsh, James. What’s up with that. I commit one sin, I’m convicted as a trasgressor of it all? How’s that the case?

Our sin is often intertwined with other sins.

It’s crazy, because Jesus’ original intent of neighbor love, as seen in , NECESSITATES neighbor love to not show partiality. To not value someone on outer benefits, but on the valuation given them by God.

You remember the parable, right? A man gets robbed, beaten, left half dead. The religious priest and the member of the tribe of Levi – who both were God’s appointed people to mediate sacrifices and serve in the meeting place of God and man, passed by on the other side. Then a Samaritan, seen by the Jew’s as half-breeds, dirty, had compassion, bound up his wounds, cleansed him, took him on his animal and took him to a shelter to care for Him.

Jesus asks, which of the three proved to be a neighbor?

“The one who showed him mercy.” (mercy – hold that word cause that’s where we’re headed).

Neighbor love necessitated a valuation of a person on the King’s valuation and not what the peson could or couldn’t give to you. On a good day, the man and the Samaritan had NOTHING to do with one another. This day, the man is beaten, half dead. They REALLY have no worldly value to one another.

Yet the Samaritan looked at the man, whom the prior two men had been partial against, and was moved to compassion and mercy. Moved towards him in his vulnerability.

So in this case, their sin of partiality bled into the sin of not loving neighbor, which certainly bled into other sins like hatred, pride, etc.

Likewise, in our lives, our sin often is more sinful and great than we realize. Your lust isn’t just lust, it’s a devaluation of the image dei of someone, it’s coveting that which isn’t yours, it’s stealing, it’s hating that person because you’re not seeking their greatest good, and so on and so forth.

We don’t realize the interconnectedness of our sin often because, like the lawyer in , and the Christians in , we try and justify ourselves.

“If I can only take care of this sin, conquer it, than I’ll be good. Then I’ll feel deserving of God’s love, care, grace.”

Church, that is bondage of the law leading to death. Jesus died and rose that you wouldn’t have to justify yourself, but that He would be your justification. You know why it often makes me emotional when I think about the reality that becuase of Jesus, I don’t have to defend my case before God, but He is my DEFENDER? It’s because I know I need a DEFENDER.

We lose sight of the interconnectedness of sin because we try and justify ourselves, but also, because we want to continue indulging in our sinful passions.

Church, that question is not Christian!

If neighbor love includes not showing partiality, that’s going to cost me something. That’s going to cost me reorienting my life not around what I value but for the betterment of others whom are, in all honesty, annoying to me…a burden to me…exhausting to me.

So what do we do?

We reinterpret obedience to God that still allows for me to indulge in my sinful preferences. They truncated neighbor love to not include partiality, not simply to justify themselves, but so they wouldn’t have to change.

We look for loopholes in obedience so that we can still ‘feel’ obedient and still indulge in our passions.

Christian, how are you truncating your obedience to make room for your sinful passions?

Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

Our sin is interconnected, yet we try and separate it so we can self-justify and still find loopholes to do what we want.

James also makes it clear why commiting one sin makes you guilty of breaking all the law.

James 2:11 ESV

For he who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” If you do not commit adultery but do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law.

For He Who said.

Sin isn’t simply breaking an arbitrary rule. Sin is breaking the heart of the Law and Life Giver.

For He who said _____ also said _____.

God’s heart is bound up in the entirety of who He is and what He does. He commands us to live in light of who He is and what He Loves. Transgressing one sin is transgressing Who He is and What He Loves.

When we commit any sin, we’re saying, “I don’t care to honor, love, or reflect He Who is the Only Good in existence.”

Our sin isn’t primarily sin against a precept but but sin against a Person.

God says to us today, Christian, your breaking my heart with your sin. Pastor Jake, you’re breaking my heart when you commit sin. When you walk back down the road of sin you’ve walked countless times, it breaks my heart, Jake. You’re my son, Jake. I love you with an everlasting love. All you need is in me. Won’t you find all you need in me?

He says to the person who hasn’t bowed their knee to King Jesus, I created you. I breathed life into your lungs. I’m the source and fountain of all good. It breaks my heart that you’re rejecting me and my goodness. Your sin breaks my heart, because it goes against who I am, but it also breaks my heart because your sin is killing you, and will destroy you. I’ll keep you from me forever. Yet, I’ve made a way for you to come to me through my Son Jesus. Would you receive Him?

We must come to terms with the truth that we’re not as fly as we think.

And here’s the truth,

You will never live as God’s intends, in His eternal freedom, until you come to terms with the reality of your sin and your need for mercy. Of your need for your entire life to be molded by mercy.

James, in these last two verses, gives us a picture of what a life molded by mercy looks and acts like.

James 2:12–13 ESV

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Our sin isn’t primarily sin against a precept but sin against a Person.

The reality to both the Christian and the person who is not a Christian today is the same one:

What sin struggle do you feel you need to conquer to earn God’s grace?

Church, that question is not Christian!

(Tendency to self-justify before God)

We don’t ever do that with God, right? [How did I do, today, God? Yeah, I did this wrong, and this wrong, but I also did this right. Then you put your wrongs and your rights on the scale of your mind, throw in a little “well God knows my heart”–as if that helps your case–and the scale, in your mind, tips in the direction of, “I did more good than bad, so I must be alright.]

First of all, there is nothing in that mentality church that is Christian. That’s actually antithetical to what it means to be a Christian.

God’s love and approval of you is wholly dependent upon the merit of Another. His name is Jesus. The foundation of God’s approval and delight of you is found in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

James 2:12–13 ESV

So speak and so act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

Here’s the reality, church. What James is getting at is that a life molded by mercy is a merciful life.

Mercy, to be clear, is when we receive compassion, kindness, and help, specifically when we don’t deserve it.

I’ve heard it said that mercy is NOT GETTING WHAT YOU DO DESERVE.

Faith works on the concrete when we quit playing ourselves–when we acknowledge that we are sinful and have broken God’s good commands, and moreso broken God’s heart, and we live as recipients of mercy.

If you have bowed your knee to king Jesus and received His sacrifice for your lawlessness through His death on the cross, you live and breathe under the law of liberty! You have received mercy!

Titus 3:4–7 ESV

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

The Pillar New Testament Commentary says, “God’s gracious acceptance of us does not end our obligation to obey Him; it sets it on a new footing. No longer is God’s law a threatening, confining burden. For the will of God now confronts us as a law of liberty and obligation we discharge in the joyful knowledge that God has both ‘liberated’ us from the penalty of sin and given us, in His Spirit, the power to obey His will.”

Jesus has freed you from the PENALTY of sin, but also given us, in His Spirit, the POWER to obey His will!

Church, how has mercy molded your life?

Mercy received always results in mercy being extended. And when we don’t show mercy, or when we’re not repentant (“God, I broke your heart”) about it, there’s a very real sense, James says, that we show that we haven’t received mercy. James says, where there isn’t a transformed heart that overflows into walking in the law of liberty, there isn’t true faith.

Showing mercy doesn’t earn your salvation, but it is an evidence of once’s receiving of mercy. That’s why he says that judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. The person who isn’t merciful, or growing in mercy, shows that they haven’t really received it.

Titus 3:4–7 ESV

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:4-

So we are saved, forgiven of sin, eternally set free as sons and daughters of the Creator of everything, solely by the mercy and grace of Jesus. But that mercy and grace from Jesus surely saves us FOR SOMETHING. You have been brought under the new law of liberty, church!

Galatians 5:13 ESV

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

I’ve heard mercy defined as not getting what you deserve.

Christian, you were freed to be who God has called you to be. You were freed from the condemnation and wrath of God against your sin forever!

Remember, God uses the Scriptures as a mirror into our heart and soul. So don’t resist the Spirit’s work right now as we hear His word and seek to respond. The question this brings before us is this one:

Is your life molded by mercy or molded by merit?

These are the only two ways to live in the world. Either we are living a life that is overwhelmed by the mercy of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ, or we are living a life that is constantly trying to self-justify before ourselves, God, and those around us. Even if you don’t think you’re doing that, you are. In some way, shape, or form, you’re trying to live up to someone’s standard for them to say, “You are enough. You are loved. You are valued. Your sins don’t define you.”

And when that day comes, when you stand before God, you’ll either stand as one who has received His forgiving mercy and grace through the cross-work of Jesus Christ, or you’ll stand before Him on your own merit.

There’s a reason why the Scirptures call a life molded by merit the law that leads to death. It’s suffocating. It’s a burden you cannot bear. It’s impossible. Through merit, you are condemned before God.

And there’s a reason that life lived in the mercy of Christ is the law of liberty. Obedience to His ways is no longer something we do out of fear to try and earn God’s acceptance. It’s something that we do because the mercy of God has blown us away. It has melted our hearts to see that the most life-giving, joy-giving thing in the world is to walk in the Master’s way. Mercy murders sin in our lives because sin power to condemn us and control us has been done away with through the love of Jesus!

Law leading to death vs. law of liberty | “I broke God’s law vs. I broke God’s heart”

Self-

The reality to both the Christian and the person who is not a Christian today is the same one:

A question to help us assess, Christian, if we’re living a life by mercy or merit, is–

What sin struggle do you feel you need to conquer to earn God’s grace?

Church, that question is not Christian!

The self-justifier cannot enter the kingdom of God. If, at the end of your life, you come before God with what you’ve done–the good, the bad you’ve avoided, etc., you will not enter the kingdom of God. You will, for an eternity, be separated from God, because you didn’t receive His mercy provided through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son Jesus.

We don’t ever do that with God, right? [How did I do, today, God? Yeah, I did this wrong, and this wrong, but I also did this right. Then you put your wrongs and your rights on the scale of your mind, throw in a little “well God knows my heart”–as if that helps your case–and the scale, in your mind, tips in the direction of, “I did more good than bad, so I must be alright.]

First of all, there is nothing in that mentality church that is Christian. That’s actually antithetical to what it means to be a Christian.

The self-justifier cannot enter the kingdom of God. If, at the end of your life, you come before God with what you’ve done–the good, the bad you’ve avoided, etc., you will not enter the kingdom of God. You will, for an eternity, be separated from God, because you didn’t receive His mercy provided through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son Jesus.

To Be a Christian is to know that God’s love and approval of you is wholly dependent upon the merit of Another. His name is Jesus. The foundation of God’s approval and delight of you is found in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

There’s an amazing quote from the NAC that points to the hope for those who live a life molded by mercy: God will reverse His judgment in every case where merciful faith is evident. God’s will to condemn (sinners) will be emptied by His will to show mercy.

Church. Mercy is received when we realize that we’re not as fly as we think, but receive the fly-ness of Another.

The Gospel of grace and mercy is that when you were not as fly as you thought, when you broke His heart by disobeying the One that gave you life, He came down to earth to save you. When you rejected Him with your thoughts and actions, when you scoffed at His Lordship and laid claim to heaven and earth, The Owner of Heaven and earth lived a life of perfection for you. When you with your sin rejected Him as He went to the cross to die, He persevered in love for you. When you loved that which bought Jesus the wrath of God the Father poured out on Him for your sins, He STILL LOVED YOU and gave Himself for you. When you were partial against those whom God loves and delights in, Jesus didn’t give you what you deserved by destroying you, He took your debt. When the scorecard of your life says trainwreck, failure, sinner, unworthy, unlovable, undeseriable, defiled, disgusting, useless, He says, MINE. He became your SUCCESS. Your RIGHTEOUSNESS. Your SALVATION.

God’s will to condemn (rightly) you and I, sinners who break His heart, is EMPTIED by His will to show mercy because He willfully condemned to death on a cross His Son for you and me!

You don’t have to live a burdensome (and 100% failure rate) justification by merit life and live a life MOLDED BY MERCY when you realize and trust that Jesus Christ is your merit. He is the only One who was judged according to the law of God’s perfectly holy, righteous, just standards for eternal life and came back SINLESS, PERFECT, RIGHTEOUS. When your life of merit read condemned, Jesus didn’t wash His hands and say “they had their chance, they screwed it up.” No, He was moved with compassion to come down and do for us what we could not do for ourselves. That is the gospel. That He took our place of condemnation and put us in His place of righteous.

And James is trying to say that a life lived as a recipient of mercy will transform your actions towards others.

Mercy triumphs over judgement. So we are freed from the sinful tendency to be partial, to judge another and treat them as less than because Jesus’ mercy was given to us when we should have been judged and treated as less than. You don’t need to be partial and show favoritism for your advancement, church, because there’s no greater status you can receive than the One given you by the Maker of heaven and earth. Church, when you’re loved like that, the need to have sinful partiality and favoritism fades away.

Church, have you ever experieinced the freedom of being loved so much that you feel like you don’t need anyone else’s approval. Our human experieinces of that PALES in comparison to the status of beloved Son and Daughter that God gives to those who receive His mercy!

What is molding your heart and life?

Don’t front. Those who front can’t receive mercy. We only receive His mercy when we come to terms with our sinfulness before God. Then we can depend wholly and be freed by the sinlessness of God. By His mercy. For mercy triumphs over judgment.

[Response]

We don’t ever do that with God, right? [How did I do, today, God? Yeah, I did this wrong, and this wrong, but I also did this right. Then you put your wrongs and your rights on the scale of your mind, throw in a little “well God knows my heart”–as if that helps your case–and the scale, in your mind, tips in the direction of, “I did more good than bad, so I must be alright.]

First of all, there is nothing in that mentality church that is Christian. That’s actually antithetical to what it means to be a Christian.

God’s love and approval of you is wholly dependent upon the merit of Another. His name is Jesus. The foundation of God’s approval and delight of you is found in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

When Mercy Molds Me

When Mercy Molds Me

Faith works on the concrete when we quit playing ourselves and live as recipients of mercy.

Our value system is whack

We’re not as fly as we think

First of all, here’s what his audience wasn’t realizing:

Mercy is our only hope

Mercy is our only hope

Mercy is our only hope.