God is Merciful
“To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:26
Because we have all sinned (Romans 3:23), none of us could ever earn or deserve the righteousness of God. Justice, what is deserving, is for mankind to spend eternity in hell fire and brimstone.
God is just, but He is also merciful. Because of His mercy, the Father sent His Son, Jesus, to remove the sin penalty and reconcile us back to God. When we repent and surrender to Christ, we become one with Christ. Then through Christ, we can be one with the Father. We cannot come to God in our good works – we could never fully justify ourselves. We must come through dependency and obedience to God through Christ, receiving His grace and His righteousness.
This is why Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father except through Me (John 14:6).” No other religion has a spotless sacrifice to pay for sins, only Christianity. Only Jesus can reconcile us back to God.
A just God would be fair and execute judgment and punishment, but in James 2:13, the writer says that “mercy triumphs over judgment.” This is true of our initial salvation, as well as our continually surrender. I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” God knows the human condition. He knew He would have to send Jesus for us. He knew we would need continual transformation. There is more than enough mercy to keep us in right standing with God.
God also wants us to lean on Him to live in a right walking, meaning, He wants us to surrender to Him and live a holy life. The Bible says the just (those who have been made righteous) will live by faith (obedient reliance.) We didn’t start our relationship with God based on our works, so we shouldn’t try to walk it out by works; rather, we live by submission to grace. Through Christ, we didn’t just receive the righteousness of God; we BECAME the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Corinthians 1:30). We have a new nature after receiving Christ as our Lord. Through His mercy, we receive it, and we are transformed by it.
Application: Don’t condemn yourself for where you are at on your journey of faith. Instead, thank God that He is just and merciful. Never take His grace for granted, but humbly receive it and surrender to it.