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So then, it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. [Romans 9:11]
He has called you by His mercy:
The emphasis in the verse above lies in the truth of God’s sovereign choice, the privilege of being called by Him, chosen by Him, to be His precious child, that His divine purposes may be accomplished in and through your life. For, it was not what Esau or Jacob did, but God’s sovereign choice by which Jacob was called to become one of the patriarchs of His chosen people. And, even in your life and mine, the right to question God does not exist; we only let God be God in our lives. For, it is His call, always and forever. His dealings in your life and mine are all on the basis of His infinite mercy that endures forever.
It is the truth of God’s word; a truth that needs to be comprehended in it’s entirety though, that you may not be led into error. It is by knowing the truth of how the verse above [Romans 9:11] fits into the particular chapter, and then how it aligns with the truth of the book of Romans, and the New Testament, and finally with the message of the whole Bible. A single verse taken out of context can lead to a veering away from the truth of the Scriptures in it’s completeness.
For, He has called you by His mercy. But there is also another dimension to God’s mercy; one that Paul writes of, in the very same chapter, in the verse prior to it – For He says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I have compassion’. [Romans 9:15]
It is the sovereign declaration of God that brooks no argument from any man! The book of Romans excellently puts forth the doctrines of God’s word, as Paul, the writer of it, asks a question and also proceeds to give an answer with divine clarity.
The Potter and the clay :
You and I are the clay in the hand of the divine Potter is the truth that Paul goes on to establish. And therefore does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor ? [Romans 9:21]
It is the Potter’s right; and it is why you need to accept God’s dealings in your life, Paul explains. But then again, a lack of wholesome understanding of this truth, can take you in the path of error. It can lead you into wrongly believing in the world view of fatalism. It will result in irresponsible behavior in you; one which flows out of thinking, ‘que sera sera’, which means, ‘what will be will be’, and so your thoughts and actions have no effect at all in the grand picture of life!
It is why a complete knowledge of the truth is so invaluably important. Yes, He is the God who decides to show mercy, but the responsibility to respond rightly to it, lies with you. Prior to your salvation, there was nothing you could do, for you and I were dead in our transgressions. Salvation comes to you, all by His grace.
But having experienced the work of grace in you, the joy of your salvation, you are called now, to run with perseverance, the race that is set before you, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of your faith.
All have sinned but, God is love:
God has declared that He chooses on whom to have mercy; it seemingly appears very strongly autocratic. But the fact is, all have sinned, and there is none righteous in themselves. And, the wages of sin is death. God would have remained perfectly righteous therefore, even if He had not shown mercy to any one, and left us all to the punishment and the end that you and I deserve. But, it is where God’s wondrous love and merciful compassion comes into play.
That He may have mercy on all :
For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all. [Romans 11:32]
He has the choice, whether to show mercy, or withhold it. But, God has chosen to have mercy on all! And the magnificence of this amazing love of God, is what Paul goes on to describe in such heartfelt words in the verses that follow; words of adoration and praise, that you and I can so very easily join together with Paul and confess Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!
For who has known the mind of the Lord ? Or who has become His counselor ? Or who has first given to Him, and it shall be repaid to him ? For, of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory, forever and forever Amen. [Romans 11:33–35]
He has indeed chosen in His loving compassion and mercy, not to deal with you and I according to our iniquities. Had he done so, He would still remain a perfectly righteous God, but there would be none worthy to come before Him. There would be none seated in His presence, even as we are today, to worship and adore Him.
The psalmist acknowledges this humbling and redeeming truth, in the psalm that is so familiar and precious to every child of God. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. [Psalms 103:10]
And it is because of His infinite and immeasurable mercy :
For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. [Psalms 103:11] It is all about God, and the depth and riches of His unsearchable wisdom and love. You and I today, as Paul himself has written, can only stand in wondrous awe, to receive with grateful thanks and proclaim the mercy that He has chosen to show to all.
And, what does mercy do in your life ?
The second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, is a brilliant narrative of what you and I were, and what we are now, all because we have a merciful God. The first three verses of it [Ephesians 2:1-3] describe the utterly helpless condition of the man who is dead in his transgressions. For, what can a dead man do to help himself ? Absolutely nothing. And this was what you and I were, when the merciful God intervened, with the purest and highest of all motives – love, an everlasting love !
God’s everlasting love :
But God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love, with which He loved us. [Ephesians 2:4] God’s love for you is not a mere declaration of words alone; it is immeasurably more than that. It is a great love. It is an everlasting love. And even as the very word suggests, it is a love for you that lasts forever and forever !
And, how did He express His love ?
Even when we were dead in our trespasses, He made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. [Ephesians 2:5,6] Let this truth grip your heart and renew your mind, to give you the true perspective of what mercy has done in your life. Even when you were unable to do anything to come out of the bondage of sin, all by His mercy, you are now seated in a high position in Christ.
Seated together with Christ in heavenly realms :
It is a position in which you reign and rule over your circumstances, overcoming obstacles instead of being overcome by them. You have the authority in the name of Christ, to permit and prohibit by your word of confession, what needs to be in your life, and what need not be. All by the grace of the merciful God, you can now say, ‘I will always be above, I will never be below’, for you are seated with Christ, far above all principalities and powers.
The evil one may come to whisper and plant the seed of doubt in you, when things contrary to it happen in your life. It is then that you need to stand strong in your faithful confession. It is what Joseph had to do, when he found himself thrown into a pit by his own brothers, and later unjustly put in prison, for standing up for what was right.
It can happen even in your life and mine. But you can continue to declare that you will never be below, but always be above. For, grace is more powerful than sin, and it is grace that has raised you up from sin and death.
Raised and seated with Christ – the purpose:
That in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus [Ephesians 2:7] You are even now seated on high with Christ spiritually in the heavenly realms. And it is manifested in your physical circumstances, as God demonstrates the goodness of His grace through it.
It is in and through your life, that He demonstrates the sufficiency of His grace – the grace that is sufficient in your weakness, that you may overcome it; the knowledge of the grace of Christ that makes you rich; the grace that abounds in you for every good work. Therefore, you will not need to market or promote yourself, or stoop to manipulate or compromise with what is not right, in order to come up in life. For what you compromise with in order to get to a high position, will only end up controlling you, once you are seated in it!
Promotion will certainly come in your life, from God. For, it is how He manifests His grace and mercy, demonstrating His goodness and power, to make you a channel of His blessing.
Defining ‘grace’ and ‘mercy’ :
Grace is God’s attitude towards lawbreakers; and it includes each and every one of us. Only Christ fulfilled the law that was given by God through Moses. And grace is what God gives to those who do not deserve it. It is His unmerited and undeserved favor upon you. Mercy is God’s attitude towards those who are in distress. Mercy withholds what you and I deserve to receive, which is the penalty for sin. And grace is what He gives to those who do not deserve it. It is the gift of salvation. And now, you are in Him, and He is in you – a communion that is common union with the Lord.
It is what you celebrate, as you partake of the Lord’s Table, declaring that by His stripes you are healed, and by His Blood you are cleansed of all sin. It is the victorious feast that He has prepared for you in the presence of your enemies, the evil one and his demons, now vanquished through the Cross, and made a public spectacle!
The mercy of God manifested – 1) A removal of all guilt:
‘For I will be merciful to heir unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more’. [Hebrews 8:12] It is how God manifests His mercy in your life and mine. He has made a way through the Cross to deal with the guilt of sin that can weigh you down to hinder your progress. You need not carry it anymore.
God remembers your sins no more. And when you are reminded of it, just remember, that He does not remember it any more. Christ died for your sins and mine, the sins of the whole world on the Cross, and arose victorious to be alive forevermore. It is why He inaugurated the new covenant, what we celebrate now as the Lord’s Supper, by saying, ‘Do this in remembrance of Me’. He became sin on the Cross that you may be the righteousness of God in Him.
2) A removal of all discomfort :
Blessed be the God, and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of all mercies and God of all comfort. [2 Corinthians 1:3] In His mercy He comforts you in all your afflictions. The pressure of circumstances, the antagonism of people, the attack of the devil, whatever the affliction may be, He is the God of all comfort. When you are broken hearted, He is there. The Lord is closer to the broken hearted. And the comfort He gives you is comfort that is true. May your prayer in your times of pain and hurt be, ‘Lord, comfort me in your mercy’. His comfort comes to you in two ways – consolation regarding the past, and encouragement for the future. There may be painful events in your past that you cannot undo. For you cannot rewind the clock; what has been done is done. But, His consolation comforts you. And God comforts you through His encouragement, regarding your present and what lies ahead, giving you a hope and a future. He is the God of all comfort. It is how He manifests His mercy in your life.
3) A removal of discouragement and worry :
It is by His great mercy that you have received this ministry. [2 Corinthians 4:1] And the verse prior to it reveals the ministry of being transformed to become more and more like Christ, as you behold His glory with an unveiled face, the veil covering your heart having now been stripped away. It is why you need not lose heart or be discouraged by wrong things that have been done to you in the past. For the Lord is doing a greater work inside you, transforming you from the inside out, as He demonstrates His mercy in your life. It will give you courage and strengthen you, as your inner man gets stronger day by day. And you will not worry about your tomorrow, or the future that lies ahead. For you have received His mercy, that endures forever, which is new every morning.
‘Do not worry’, is God’s word to you. And may your response be ‘God has said it, I believe it; and that settles it’
4) A removal of all lack – a good ending:
You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord – that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. [James 5:11] That he was a blameless and upright man, was God’s report about Job! And for no fault of his own, he went through a sudden spate of tragedies that left him bereft in all respects. But consider the outcome, the intended end of the Lord, says the word of God. His latter days were more glorious than his former, for God is compassionate and merciful. God intervened in his time of suffering, to fulfill all the lack in his life. He will certainly intervene in your life, in any painful suffering that you may be going through now, for He is a merciful God. And it will all seem like a light affliction that soon passes away, to see you restored and well.
And as you await God’s divine intervention, just keep talking to God in prayer. But you beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. [Jude 20] He will lead and guide you as you pray, giving you a promise that will remove all disquiet concerning what you are going through, that you may await your expected good ending in faith , guarding yourself in His love. His love for you is much greater than your faith. You can indeed be safe and secure!
5) Draw near – to the God of mercy:
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need. [Hebrews 4:16] Call upon the Lord, to receive – for the God of mercy wants to manifest it in your life. It is why He saved you so that He may demonstrate His goodness in you. Come to Jesus to ask and receive, seek and to find mercy and grace.
Mercy deals with your past; grace deals with your present, and gives empowerment for your future. And God says to you, His precious child ‘Draw near to receive it, for I will remember your sins no more’! He has indeed removed your sins as far as the east is from the west, all by His infinite mercy. Your sin not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the Cross, and you bear it no more! Praise the Lord – it is well, it is well with your soul !
May your heart be filled with thanksgiving and praise, for you have a compassionate and merciful God. In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
