This is Part 4 of an 8-part series, which was originally developed for a 13-week adult class, with some of the parts taking more or less than a 45-minute class period. I am starting to post the series on SermonCentral, and plan to post the remaining parts over the next few days as time permits.
I developed a set of slides on PowerPoint for use with the series and will be happy to share the PowerPoint files. The prompts reminding me to advance slides and activate animations are embedded in the sermon below. If you want to request the slides send me an Email at sam@srmccormick.net specifying what part(s) of the series you are requesting. Be sure to include the word “slides” in the subject line of your message; otherwise I am likely to miss it. I would find it interesting to know the location and a few words about your personal ministry if you will include it in your message. Allow several days for me to respond.
====================================
Outline of the series:
I. Introduction to the series
II. God’s Plan from the Beginning
III. God’s Plan Now and Our Problem with It
IV. Justice vs Mercy and the Plan of Salvation
V. The Only Way to Eradicate Sin
VI. Providence – What God Provides in Earthly Life
VII. Providence and Civil Governments
VIII. Providence, Miracles and Phenomena
====================================
DIVINE PROVIDENCE
*Click for title of series - DIVINE PROVIDENCE
* Click when ready for Outline
IV. Justice vs Mercy and the Plan of Salvation
*Click for the plan as presented so far
Up to this point in the series, we have been seeing what God’s providential plan was from the beginning in the garden of Eden and continuing to the present time. We found that his requirements under the plan for our choices and conduct are no different for us than they were for Adam and Eve.
The plan required that they - and we - know what God wants, choose rightly, and act upon that right choice, which amounts to obedience to a sovereign who has the right to direct our lives.
If we choose and act as the plan directs, we will be rewarded with an eternal home in glory.
I said last week that there is a problem with what I have presented so far.
The problem is that no one fulfills this plan’s requirements.
In that respect we are no different than Adam and Eve who failed to meet the requirement placed on them. So if the plan, as presented here, didn’t work for Adam and Eve and ensure that they had a home in God’s specially prepared paradise, how can it work for us?
Is there a problem with God’s plan?
There remains a problem, but God’s plan isn’t the problem.
The problem is that this isn’t the entire plan.
If this depiction is God’s complete plan, it’s a plan that won’t work for us, just as it didn’t work for Adam and Eve – for exactly the same reason.
In fact, this plan--as far as it goes--isn’t even true without the rest of God’s plan.
We are all living proof of that.
*Click to activate WE NEED HELP
To work and be effective at accomplishing what God desires, this model depends on help.
And there is help. The help we need is part of the plan.
God willingly and abundantly provides it.
This plan won’t save one sinner without THE PROVIDENTIAL HELP GOD PROVIDES.
And that is what we’re going to talk about for the rest of our time in this series—
(1) what God provides, both to accomplish salvation for us who--like Adam and Eve--fall into sin, and
(2) what God provides as help and support for this earthly sojourn.
Justice places us in the same condition as the Ephesians Paul wrote to:
Ephesians 2:11-12 ESV …remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands; remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
That’s what our condition is without Christ.
We can’t get to salvation and everlasting life in glory without him - there’s no path for it.
In the earlier sermons in this series, we talked about that God required in the garden, and what he requires now. God’s requirements in principle are so closely parallel that one may rightly say that they are the same, although the specific instructions differ. There are many ways of stating what God requires of man as captured in what I call “nutshell” passages, where in a verse or two the whole gamut of commands and instructions that might be cataloged in extravagant detail are boiled down to a verse or two. A quick review of some examples of “nutshell” passages would include:
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 - And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
These expressions of what God requires are based on JUSTICE. Judgment is where justice is rendered.
Jesus echoed the same thought in these words:
Matthew 7:21 ESV "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 7:24 ESV "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
*Click for Micah 6:8
The prophet Micah captured the essence of God’s requirements this way:
Micah 6:8 (KJV) - He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Note that Micah 6:8 is different from the other nuggets we examined that summarize the requirements under God’s plan. What’s different about this one-verse summary?
It includes mercy.
Mercy--and the love of it--is a requirement. Mercy is something we must both give and receive.
NASB and some other translations say “do justice, to love kindness…”
Vines Expository Dictionary shows that “mercy” is a larger word than “kindness.”
Mercy means something “kindness” doesn’t necessarily include.
This is the only one of those summary verses that mentions mercy.
Without mercy, God’s plan would be predicated solely on justice.
And having sinned, we can never meet the demands of justice and be in harmony with God.
Stone cold justice demands that we be separated from him.
Justice places us the condition as those Ephesians Paul wrote about:
*Click for Eph 2:11-12
Ephesians 2:11-12 ESV …remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands; remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
That’s what our condition is without Christ.
We can’t get to salvation and everlasting life in glory without him.
There’s no path for that.
*Click to return to general outline
*Click again to activate MERCY
That--mercy--is what God wants us to love, while “doing justice.”
By showing mercy to others, we demonstrate one of God’s own characteristics, for he is a merciful God, and he wants us to be a merciful people.
The prophet’s capsulizing what God requires in this way doesn’t mean we cast justice to the winds.
We need to be redeemed--bought back--and that can only be accomplished by paying the ransom.
The ransom is steeper than we know, and there’s not any way around it.
It’s hard – even for God. Paying the price for sin darkened the earth while Jesus was dying.
It was hard – even for God – but not impossible.
Nohing is too hard for the mighty outstretched arm of the Lord. (Jer 32:17)
A wrong CHOICE and DISOBEDIENCE choice is terrible, but there is a path back.
There was a road home for the prodigal son.
And at home--not justice but mercy--waited, and more--much more.
The son had a glimmer of hope for a servant’s job.
He arrived to a joyous welcome and a grand feast - and one resentful brother who thought justice was more appropriate.
He hoped there might be – at best – employment in his father’s house.
He didn’t understand his Father’s heart.
Jesus mentioned the two seemingly opposing forces of justice and mercy as “weightier matters” in rebuking the Pharisees.
*Click for Matt 23:23
Matthew 23:23 NASB Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
How is it that these 3 things are “the weightier matters of the law?”
Let’s see what they are:
1) Justice: Recompense for wrong done
2) Mercy: When justice rightly deserved, is set aside
3) Faithfulness: Faithfulness keeps us attuned to what we have been calling the part of the plan we have been saying all along is the standard for our behavior.
What have we learned? Is God a God of justice or of mercy?
How can you seek/do justice and yet love mercy?
The words of Solomon remain true, as we read earlier in Ecclesiastes 12:14 - For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Shall we look at Solomon’s words and say justice is more important and let mercy go by the way?
If so, how can we reconcile giving justice the pre-eminence when we have such passages as:
*Click for Psalm 51:16-17
Psalm 51:16-17 NASB For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
In David’s mind contrition was more agreeable to God than the mandatory sacrifices required under the law at the time.
Are we to settle on mercy as the dominant doctrine? Jesus said
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7).
Granting mercy to others is clearly the way to receive mercy from God…
…and mercy from God is in turn the only way out of our dilemma with sin.
*Click for black slide
What does that mean? Let Jesus explain.
Matthew 18:21-35 - Parable of the debtors - read, emphasizing v33
I read the following dialogue somewhere, and can’t remember the source – if I could, I would give credit for it to the author. It shows how reasonable people can have very different points of view. I’ve adapted it slightly for our use.
Here is the dialogue as best I can remember it:
(Justice says) That was the law, correct? So the king did nothing wrong in seeking justice. The man owed him and couldn’t pay him. The king had a right to receive his due pay. The man owed a debt.
Matt 18:26-27 ESV So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.
(Justice says) But he wasn’t obligated to do so. The law said that he should pay his debt.
(Mercy says) Correct. The king showed mercy. The servant begged for more time. The king was moved by his circumstance and let him go.
(Justice says) But the law clearly was on the side of the king. A debt was owed.
(Mercy says) And the king forgave that debt. Read on.
Matt 18:28-30 ESV But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.' So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.
(Justice says) The servant did nothing wrong--he was entitled to be paid back. Just because the king forgave his debt shouldn’t imply that the man is obligated to forgive someone else’s debt. If you owed me twenty dollars and
(Mercy says) But the man was in the same position as his fellow servant; he didn’t have the money to pay him at that time. The man never came to him and said, ‘I won’t pay you.’ He simply asked for more time. Who knows what the agreement might have been between the two men? Maybe it was such that the man had lent the money saying, ‘Pay me back when you can.’
(Justice says) But it was the servant’s right to put the man in prison. Just as it was the king’s right to put the servant in prison. The law is the law!
(Mercy says) But mercy is greater than the law.
(Justice says) That cannot be! Nothing is above the law!
(Mercy says) Do we not see what this story is really about? Let’s finish the chapter.
Mat 18:31-35 ESV When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
(Justice says) That isn’t right! It’s not just!
(Mercy says) How is it not just?
(Justice says) The man was under no obligation to forgive the debt owed him just because the king had forgiven him. That makes no sense. The man owed a debt and was responsible to pay back that debt. Why should the servant be obligated to break a contract with another— just because his contract had been cancelled out?
(Mercy says) He should have desired to do it. Mercy had been given him.
(Justice says) This man owed a debt. Why, just because one person forgives, another is forced to also do likewise makes no sense to— especially when that chapter concludes to say that I must forgive everyone— no matter the debt or the crime.
I only forgive those who deserve to be forgiven.
(Mercy says) And who really deserves to be forgiven?
(Justice says) Well, no one. If they break the law— they must pay the penalty. They don’t deserve to get out of whatever punishment is given.
(Mercy says) So do you believe forgiveness should be based on merit? Who then merits forgiveness? Is it the person who is truly sorry? Is it the person who made a mistake? Is it the person who simply didn’t realize the crime?
(Justice says) No, ignorance of the law is no excuse.
(Mercy says) So if it is left up to you, no one deserves to be forgiven.
(Justice says) No one deserves it. No one really earns it or merits it.
(Mercy says) Then what does this passage mean? (Back to the tall weeds.)
This passage is not just about forgiveness, It’s about mercy, the product of compassion. Neither man deserved forgiveness. No one does.
The law was clearly in favor of the man to whom the money was owed. God wants us to understand that the law is clearly in his favor. We do not deserve forgiveness because of anything we’ve done to deserve it. But God in His compassion shows mercy on us and he forgives. Jesus is teaching us to do the same.
(Justice says) I’ve never needed anyone’s forgiveness. I obey the law. I don’t compromise it.
(Mercy says) The Lord doesn’t compromise the law or do away with it. He shows the way to satisfy it through Christ. He loves the law because the law reflects his holiness— his perfection. He doesn’t want you to forsake the law, but rather to understand the need for mercy . . . because you have needed someone’s forgiveness— you need God’s forgiveness, because without it you will face an eternity separated from him. (End of conversation)
We must conclude that God did not devise a plan for realizing his goal for the human race that leads to eternity with him in glory--on a plan whose requirements absolutely no one ever meets.
That is the reason that, though this is the standard of conduct, but it’s not God’s whole plan.
We can never be saved from sin, or adhere to this plan without THE PROVIDENTIAL HELP GOD PROVIDES.
That providential help is what we’re going to talk about for the rest of our time in this series—what God provides for our salvation and as help and support for this earthly sojourn to accomplish salvation for us who--like Adam and Eve--fall into sin
Justice and mercy are not equals. One is greater.
Lest there be any whether this is what the parable means, James puts it as plainly as it can be stated:
*Click for James 2:13
James 2:13 ESV … judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
James makes no bones about the fact that as we have observed in the last few minutes, there is tension and even conflict between these two polar opposites, for that is an undisputable fact. But neither does he make any bones about which of those two principles stands triumphant.
Mercy defeats justice.
If what James wrote isn’t true, there is no hope for the human race. If mercy doesn't prevail over justice, God might as well have destroyed Adam and Eve and made an end of the human race at the moment they ate the fruit.
