Becoming a theologian: God's Mercy

Today, we will be looking at God's mercy. Mercy can be defined as the tendency to do good or compassion which causes a person to overlook injuries, or to treat an offender better than he deserves. As we examine God's mercy, we will look at three things.

1. God is merciful
2. Because of God's mercy, He forgives our sin
3. God wants us to be merciful to others.

God is merciful

For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath.

Deuteronomy 4:31

As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

James 5:11

• There are many verses that talk of God's mercy and compassion towards us.
• God's mercy includes having compassion on us and taking care of our needs.
• God's mercy means He will never forget the promises that He made to us, no matter what we do.

Because of God's mercy, He forgives our sins

⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Ephesians 2:4-5

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

• Surely you remember that we are sinners (Romans 3:23) and that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), but God:
• made us alive in Christ,
• saved us, and
• cleansed us from all unrighteousness
• Does that sound like God is treating us better than we deserve?

God wants us to be merciful to others

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Luke 6:36

• In order to understand what it means for us to be merciful to others, let's look at this story from Matthew 18

²³"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. ²⁵Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. ²⁶"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' ²⁷The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

Matthew 18:23-27

• Did the king have mercy on his servant?
• Let's continue reading...

²⁸"But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. ²⁹"His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

Matthew 18:28-29

• The amount that the first servant had owed the king was a lot of money. The amount the second servant owed the first wasn't much by comparison
• If the first servant had mercy on the second, what would he do?
• Let's read on and see what happened...

³⁰"But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

³²"Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' ³⁴In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

³⁵"This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."

Matthew 18:30-35

• Did the first servant have mercy on the second?
• What happened when his lack of mercy was found out?
• What does this mean to you?
• Aren't you glad that God has mercy on you?