The Justice of Mercy

The Justice of Mercy

The work of salvation begins by the Justification of the ungodly.

Romans 4:
4  Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5  But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

'Worketh not' here doesn't mean unemployed (on a lighter note), it means that a person that doesn't do the works of the law to make himself righteous before God. This is the lesson Jesus was teaching the man that came to ask Him: What shall I do that I might inherit eternal life?

Mark 10: 17  And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?
18  And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
19  Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
20  And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these have I observed from my youth.
21  Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
22  And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
23  And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
24  And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
25  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
26  And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?
27  And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.

Now, I might have heard some parts of this taught somewhere before, I thank God for my many teachers: the aim of this scripture is not to say that rich people won't go to heaven. No! Afterall, the bible says clearly that it is God that gives us the power to make wealth. The point Jesus was teaching here is that no one can go to heaven and have eternal life by the works of the law.

The man came in search of eternal life. Jesus gave him the response that was obtainable at the time: have you done what the law of Moses stipulated?

The man said truthfully that he had been keeping the laws from the days of his youth. Yet, Jesus found something the man hadn't done and apparently couldn't do (not because Jesus wanted pour sand inside the man's garri - that is to just find fault unnecessarily -, infact it is written that Jesus loved the man for his sincere effort) but because he wanted to show us all that no man by working the works of the law can receive eternal life. I bet if the man ran and sold all that he had and gave the poor, Christ will point out another fault that would have stopped the man in his tracks and that is why He pointed out that the man should afterward "come, take up the cross, and follow me." Jesus hadn't died yet, so Jesus was showing Him the way to salvation that was to come, that now is.

That is what Paul was teaching when He said in Romans 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

The man was trying to pay the debt of sin by his wealth of 'human goodness'. Yet, the bible shows us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (outside of being sanctified in Christ).

And when the disciples were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, WHO THEN CAN BE SAVED? Jesus looked upon them saying.

"With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible."

But really, this is where it gets interesting: the words of Jesus here were incomplete, sort of. He had given a more complete version here:

Mar 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

Believing is what makes all things possible. Therefore, it is not of works of human goodness (which I am of the opinion is the definition of 'riches' in the context of the passage) that we get justified. It is by believing in Christ. And this is what Paul showed us of Abraham:

Romans 4
1  What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
2  For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3  For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

So by believing, God justifies the ungodly. Ungodly not because of their own works either, but because of the fall of Adam, where because of the sin of one man, all men sinned and became ungodly.

Romans 5:12 (T4T translation)  What you can learn from what I have written so far is as follows: All people are sinful, and that is the result of Adam, the first man whom God created, sinning long ago. Adam died because he sinned. So, all people who have lived since then die, because it is as though all people sinned when Adam sinned.

To Justify means: "The state of being free from blame."

So what God did in Christ was to ensure that we become justified (free from blame of Adam's sin) by believing in Him.

Romans 5: 18  So, because one man, Adam, disobeyed God's law, that resulted in all people deserving to be punished. Similarly, because one man, Jesus, acted righteously by obeying God when he died, the result was that God is able to erase the record of all people's sins and enable them to live eternally.
19  It was because one person, Adam, disobeyed God that all people became sinners. Similarly, it is because one person, Jesus, obeyed God when he died that the record of many people's sins will be erased.

This is the Justice of Mercy!

And as Charles Spurgeon said:

"If God has justified a man:
It is well done!
It is rightly done!
It is justly done!
It is everlastingly done!."

Which means whatever it is a person has done outside of being in Christ, it is important that you know that God is always ready to justify you, to make you free of blame, and give you eternal life.

Now, a justified person in the sight of God, may not be justified in the eyes of human laws. God respects the authority he has given to man to govern and He will not violate it, but rather he would cause something beautiful to come out of what may be a precarious situation. As Pastor Poju puts it, the work of mercy also includes second chances!

So in reality a justified person may be incarcerated according to human laws, yet submitting that situation to God may cause the birth of something beautiful as we see in the cases of Joseph; and Paul and Silas.

As Bishop Keith Butler pointed out in a tweet: "The clock is, indeed, ticking. Jesus is soon to return. I know - they have been saying that for years. That means we are so much closer - closer than you think. Man's time on the earth will soon experience a great shake-up. Are you ready?"

We have seen how gaining eternal life is so easy. No money is required. No special acts are required. Just belief. Believe that Jesus Christ as died for our sins, no matter how ungodly you may think you are, He has paid the price. Do not wait and say I will do this tomorrow, God is calling you now and today if you have read this article, do not close your mind, you have nothing of eternal value to lose but everything of eternal value to gain. Why don't you say this short prayer with us:

Heavenly Father, I thank you for you are the God that justifies the ungodly, I believe that you have paid the price for my sins and I accept you as my Lord and Saviour and I receive eternal life.

Next time we would study further on the quote by Charles Spurgeon: "Justification without sanctification would not be salvation at all"

Thanks for reading.

I pray that God continues to give us in Christ Jesus: his mercy, grace and peace in Jesus name, Amen.