The Justice of Mercy (Expanded)

The Justice of Mercy (Expanded)

Last week we began discussing the subject of mercy as it relates to Justice. We looked at the scripture Romans 4:5

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."

We agreed that it was a bit odd that a just God would justify (make free of blame) the ungodly. On further study, we realized that the ungodly became ungodly because of the sin of one man, Adam. Therefore, since it was no fault of the ungodly that they became ungodly, then it makes sense or it is just that they are saved from the burden of sin. Here enters Jesus Christ, who was and is and is to come. Loved by God before the foundation of the world and thus is no better candidate to act as the second Adam to pay the price of the sin of the first Adam. Still, it was a very great act of sacrifice. God died that man could be saved: for it is written, the word was God and Jesus Christ is the word in human suit. If anyone can find any greater sacrifice than this, please present it!

Well, we have already began today's discussion which is a quote by a man named Charles Spurgeon:

"Justification without sanctification would not be salvation at all"

We have studied the word justification, we learnt that it means to 'make free from blame". Sanctification can be defined as "to make holy or to set apart as sacred" For the purpose of this study, let us use the "To make holy" definition.

Holiness means to have the inability to sin. God is Holy. God does not have the ability to sin.

Here enters Jesus Christ, who sacrificed His life for the justification and sanctification of man which is salvation.

Therefore to give an expanded definition of salvation in christ, it would be that:

"God in his mercy redeemed all from the sin of Adam and made all free from blame from all consequences of sin and finally making all unable to sin achieved by believing in the sacrifice of His son on the cross and the further renewal of the soul by the Holy Spirit."

This is huge right! I bet you are sceptical about the whole inability to sin part as a part of our salvation. It took a while for me to begin to believe it too. But as I was taught further, I began to see its truth.

Imagine it like this, Jesus' death is worth zillions of dollars (uncountable money) and with it he could by anything he wanted. So he bought our freedom from all consequence of Adam's sin. This restored all to the original state of man, that is, created in God's image and his likeness. And since God is holy, man in Christ is also Holy. Yet, Adam who was also created in the image and likeness of God , that is, holy - still sinned. Why?

This is because Adam's sin emanated from the weakness of His mind. Satan was able to deceive Adam's mind, and so Adam sinned. Which means as Joyce Meyer said: 'The mind is the battlefield'. With this knowledge, Jesus also received a very important gift for us from the Father, The Gift of the Holy Spirit!

One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to help strengthen our mind by making it new also. You see, Man comprises of spirit, soul and body. That is, man is a spirit that has a soul and lives in a body. The salvation given to us freely by God's mercy is for a new spirit. However, this leaves our soul and body unchanged from the effects of Adam's sin. Our soul therefore becomes new again by the help of the Holy Spirit. With our cooperation, the Holy Spirit takes old data (corrupted) from our soul and replaces it with new (holy) data that is contained and guided by the word of God (the holy bible).

How does this work? what is my part? How can I cooperate with the Holy Spirit? All these are valid questions. Some of the answers include:

1) Reading the bible

2) Praying

3) Meditating and Confessing the word

4) Allowing the chastisement of God

5) Submitting to God

6) Asking and receiving God's mercy

7)The works of righteousness

We may study how these help us in the renewal of our soul in later articles.

Today, we can confidently hold this to be true. We are justified and sanctified in Christ - our reborn spirit is free from blame and cannot sin. However, like Adam our minds can still be deceived and then we do what we ought not to do. It is in this area that we see one of the roles of Jesus Christ our High Priest. He provides us with the mercy we need when we sin.

Yet again, we see God justifying an ungodly act. Why, because the sin was caused by the deception of the enemy and the weakness of the mind of the person who perpetrated the sinful act.

So, are you saying that a Saint who sins and asks for mercy from God gets away with it? If that is the case, then let us keep sinning and continue to receive mercy for it: says some.

First, as we mentioned in the previous article, our justification doesn't mean justification from human laws. If a Christian (justified and sanctified) gets caught by the human law, that one faces the full consequences of the human law. Repentance before God may cause the rays of hope and life to shine in causing a release of favour and power (as God remains the supreme Judge over all) in that one's situation and cause the mercy of the human authority to ensure freedom and promotion for such.

However, if the person is so clever that he evades all human laws, then God himself steps in to discipline. And family, the chastisement of God no be small thing oh, that is, as the bible says it is grievous! Especially, if the person(s) who are victims of that person(s) acts cry out to God in their pain. Family, it is a dangerous thing to fall into the hands of God. The thing is regarding chastisement, God doesn't look at whether the person is a Christian or not. Since He causes His rain to fall on both the righteous and unrighteous then it is just that his chastisement falls on both the righteous and unrighteous. It is discipline meant for anybody who is deserving. The beauty of it is that, to the ones that change their ways when he chastises them, he gives them a second chance, for it is written that He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. God deals with the unrepentant according to his pleasure.

Because, Justification without sanctification would not be salvation at all - To be made free from blame of sin without being made Holy would only be a measure of Salvation and not its fullness!" Yet we should all have a strong desire that when we meet God on that great day, He would say to each one of us: WELL DONE MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL
SERVANT.

Mat 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

The way we achieve this is by not only staying in the sanctification of our spirits which is automatically received when we became born again, but we should also sanctify our souls by which we present ourselves as a living sacrifice (Sons and Servants) unto God alone by the help of the Holy Spirit.

Family, this is another look at how mercy is just in all actions. The bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. In our operations on the Earth, let us do so in the holy and reverential fear of the Lord and we would find that prosperity, good health, long life and other fruitfulness are all little things to our Almighty God.

Thanks a lot for reading.

If you haven't gotten on the train of salvation, it is still here at the station waiting. The conductors are still shouting 'O fe ni igbala - Salvation is free'. You need no fare, so you need no money or special actions to get on it. Just enter believing.

If you have gotten on the train and for some reason you got off, no matter legitimate you may believe the reason is for getting off, you must know that God is good and He is ready to restore. Please get back on the train now, there is no departure time. It leaves when its captain, God is ready to leave.

You can please say this prayer as so many have prayed such, are doing and will do.

Heavenly Father, I ask and receive your mercy in salvation. I want to be free from the consequences of sin and to be able to live free from sin. I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and master and Saviour. Thank you Lord. Amen.