Romans 9:1-18
How do you earn the mercy of God?
What is the definition of mercy? It means:
1. Compassionate treatment, especially of those under one's power; clemency.
2. A disposition to be kind and forgiving:These two definitions talk about the aspects of God's mercy towards us. He has ultimate power over us. He created us in His image (Genesis 1:27), so He controls our span of years. He formed us in our mother's womb and knows every hair on our head. He also knows that we all have a sin problem for all have fallen short of His glory that He intended for us. And yet He is merciful. So how do we earn it?
Does it depend on your lineage? When you read through Romans Chapter 9, St. Paul is quite clear that he feels sorry for his brothers and sisters who are Jewish because they have not embraced the Messiah. He is clear that they may be of the "physical" lineage of Israel, but they have missed the point that God was going to come into the flesh and offer Himself for the sins of the whole world. They had all of the promises, covenants, prophets and promises and yet he declares them cut off from the promises in Christ. So the lineage does not really matter in attempting to earn God's mercy.
How about good works? You may be thinking that I am pretty good person. I did not kill anyone, I have not cheated on my spouse or maybe you feel like you have not done any of the other "really big" sins. Maybe you constantly say your prayers as a means to earn favor before God. If you have broken any of the commandments you have broken them all. "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) Jesus also teaches in the Gospel of Luke that even when we have done all that we should have done we can not boast before God. (Luke 17:10) So works does not earn you God's mercy.
The reading is quite clear, in case you missed it let me show it here :"So then it (mercy) depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy." (Romans 8:16) God's mercy is unmerited on our part, it does not depend on our movement towards God. It is all about His movement towards us in compassion, clemency, and forgiveness because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Our sinful nature makes it impossible for us to move towards God. He knows this, that is why He left the throne of glory and became man. He took our punishment of death upon Himself and then took His life back again on Easter Sunday. He did this so that God's judgment could always be kept perfect. We deserved death, so God was merciful and sent His Son to die for you so that you could have life and have it more abundantly. This the merciful God that we serve and worship. He came to us, to live among us and die for us, so that we could come to Him. Our God is merciful not because of anything that we can do, but because His Son has died for you while you were yet a sinner. Jesus Christ made your relationship right with God. It is a free gift that is there for you to take, completely unmerited and undeserved. Just take the gift and your life will never be the same.
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