Chapter Nineteen: Rich in Mercy

Ortlund provides a nice little outline for Ephesians 2:1-6. He says this, “Verses 1-3 are the problem; verses 5-6 are the solution; and verse 4 is the reason God actually went about fixing the problem rather than leaving us where we were.” (171)

We are looking at Ephesians 2:1-6 this evening and putting our primary focus on the statement, “But God, being rich in mercy...”

We see in Scripture, and in particular the New Testament, certain terms that because we are so familiar with them we can fail to understand their meanings. Or, we can blend them in together. Mercy and grace are such terms. We see them in many of Paul’s greetings (e.g., Rom. 1:7, grace and peace; 1 Cor. 1:3; grace and peace).

Grace is the giving of some thing or some one to an individual or group of people who do not deserve it. or have not earned it. When someone gives you a financial gift, you did not earn it, otherwise it would be your wages and not their gift. Grace in the Christian life is the giving of God Himself to the believe. God daily loads us with His benefits (Psalm 68:19). Grace is God offering salvation to those who do not deserve it, and giving them the ability to respond in faith to the gospel call.

Mercy, however, is similar but comes from a different angle. Mercy is not the giving of some thing or some one, it is the withholding of something that one deserves. Mercy has a particular context, which differs from grace. Mercy is found within the context of judgment. When someone commits a crime they face the judgment of the court. We hear the term “to the fullest extent of the law” which is a nice way of saying “show them no mercy!”.

Mercy can also be given or withheld in personal conflict. A wife commits adultery for which the wife knows her guilt, confesses her sin, and seeks mercy from the husband. The husband has two choices: to show mercy or to withhold mercy.

Mercy in the context of God’s working with human beings, then, is the withholding of judgment. This mercy can be seen on multiple levels. But for now, let’s deep dive into this truth that “God is rich in mercy.”

I. The Richness of God’s Mercy is Magnified by the Depravity of Humanity- 2:1-3

I have repeatedly said, and will continue to do so as long as the Lord allows me to preach His Word, that if we do not get a biblical view of our sinfulness, we will never appreciate salvation. Notice how Paul describes humanity.

“dead in trespasses and sins”

“you once walked [in trespasses and sins]”

“you followed the course of this world”

“you followed the prince of the power of the air (the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience)” (i.e., Satan, we were Satan worshippers)

“we all once lives…among the sons of disobedience”

“we lived in the passions of our flesh”

“we carried out the desires of the body and of the mind”

“we were by nature children of wrath”

Ortlund says, “Divine wrath was something so deserving, so attendant, that we were its very children.” (175)

He goes on to say, “What water is to fish, inordinate ugliness of desire was to us. We inhaled rejection of God, and we exhaled self-destruction and well-deserved judgment. Beneath our smiles at the grocery store and cheerful greetings to the mailman we were quietly enthroning Self and eviscerating our souls of the beauty and dignity and worship for which they were made.” (175-176)

These are the ones whom receive the mercy of God. Oh, we are far more wicked than we can conceive, and we receive the mercy of God! I say this wickedness magnifies God’s mercy because it demonstrates, in just a few short verses, of every reason God could judge us with strict and severe judgment. One look at the wickedness throughout the past 100 years of human existence is enough to damn us all to hell.

We often think of the war crimes of nations as a demonstration of the evilness of man, and it is. But the wickedness of the human heart is found in parents abusing their children physically and sexually and ultimately murdering them. It is the attacking of another human being because of their skin color. It is targeting a certain ethnicity for violence. It is the man lying on his tax forms; the mom sneaking something under her shirt at the grocery store.

It is the child talking back to the parents, the murderous thoughts but pleasant actions to others. It is countless deeds, words, and thoughts of wickedness oozing out of the human heart and mind at all times and in all places.

This is the back drop, if you will, of the mercy of God. We give God every reason to strike us down without a moment’s hesitation, but God, being rich in mercy, Paul tells us, saved us. But Christians are not the only ones who experience God’s rich mercy. We are the only ones to be saved, for sure, but even the unregenerate enjoy God’s mercy.

II. The Richness of God’s Mercy is Enjoyed by the Unregenerate- 2:1-3

We have just said remains true for every human being who is not saved by God’s grace. But I want you to consider for a moment the manifold mercy of God. Jesus gives a glimpse of this in Matthew 5:45. God shows mercy in multiple ways.

First, God does not immediately destroy every lost human being, though He could. His mercy is timeless. Imagine the Lord, knowing the ends of countless unsaved people, and yet allowing them to continue in their sin. He allows them to enjoy His creation, the beautiful sun and beaches and mountains, the chirping of the birds and the giggle of a baby. He allows them to enjoy food and company, the bearing of children and the relationships with parents.

God is indeed rich in mercy. His mercy is also widespread. Think of the vast swaths of people who enjoy His rich mercy. Even nations that condemn Christianity (like China) enjoy the widespread mercy of God. Nations that do not even have a written language enjoy God’s mercy, because it is widespread.

God’s mercy almost seems inexhaustible. We are currently in the midst of Gay Pride month, a month were people celebrate homosexuality even though God forbids it. They hold Gay Pride parades, open celebrating their sin. God could strike them down immediately, but He does not. His mercy seems inexhaustible. Perhaps you have thought this way about your own struggle against sin.

Oh, God is rich in mercy!

III. The Richness of God’s Mercy is Display in His Sovereign Grace- 2:4-6

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us **Even when we were dead in our trespasses and sins** made us alive together with Christ!

God’s mercy is displayed in His sovereign grace. I love how Ortlund ties in God’s rich mercy to the person of Christ. He writes,

“Therefore when we look at the ministry of Christ in the four Gospels, we are seeing what ‘rich in mercy looks like—how ‘rich in mercy’ talks, how it conducts itself toward sinners, how it moves toward sufferers. When we were dead in trespasses and sins, God, being rich in mercy, moved to save us.

Ortulund ends the chapter with these words,

“It means the things about you that make you cringe the most, make him hug the hardest.

It means his mercy is not calculating and cautious, like ours. It is unrestrained, flood-like, sweeping, magnanimous.

It means our haunting shame is not a problem for him, but the very thing he loves most to work with.

It means our sins do not cause his love to take a hit. Our sins cause his love to surge forward all the more.

It means on that day when we stand before him, quietly, unhurriedly, we will weep with relief, shocked at how impoverished a view of his mercy-rich heart we had.”