Articles
Believe It!
We, as the unquestionably imperfect people we are, sometimes doubt that God can be so merciful, so loving, and so forgiving — not because there is any reason to doubt His word, but because we recognize we fail Him so often. If you sometimes doubt in this way, or even if it is just that you recognize your unworthiness of His mercy, love, and forgiveness, let’s stop and think together for a few minutes.
The Surety of God’s Word. Before we even get into the mercy, love, and forgiveness of God, let us be reminded of one of the basic characteristics of God: He does not lie. He cannot lie. This is stated within His written word as an assurance to all who may read it or hear it. When Paul introduced himself in the letter to Titus, he described himself as “a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ” (Titus 1:1), and one who lived “in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began” (Titus 1:2). Paul lived in this hope [i.e., an earnest expectation] not because he thought he was worthy or thought he could do enough good deeds to merit eternal life, but because he could be 100% certain it was possible because God said so. That was enough!
When the writer of the book of Hebrews addressed their hope made possible by Christ, he went back to the great promise made to Abraham and the oath God made that confirmed it as the “two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie” (Heb. 6:13-18) as the solid basis for our confidence in that hope. When God said He would bless Abraham, that was immutable [unchangeable]; when He made an oath to confirm it [though unnecessary, since it is impossible for Him to lie], that was just as immutable. In other words, there should be absolutely no doubt that the promise would be fulfilled. And, of course, it was.
The point the writer is making is that the basis for Abraham believing God’s promise to him is the same confidence they should have had in God’s promises to them of eternal life in heaven, where Christ as our “forerunner has entered for us” (Heb. 6:19, 20): God does not lie. Eternal life in heaven? Believe it!
Consider, also, that Jesus noted, in His prayer to the Father not long before He was taken away to be tried and crucified, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). This echoed what the psalmist wrote about a thousand years earlier — “The entirety of Your word is truth” (Psa. 119:160). Let us take that for exactly what it means: Every word spoken by God is true. We should also rightly conclude that every word of God that has been written down by those inspired by Him (cf. 2 Tim. 3:16) are also true.
The depth of this fact should make it unsurprising to find within the written word that “the Spirit is truth” (1 John 5:6) or “that God is true” (John 3:33), and that we who are Christians “are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 5:20). Add to this the fact God does not change (Mal. 3:6), and that Jesus Christ “is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8), and we can only conclude there is no reason to ever doubt their word. Believe it!
With that established, let us now consider the mercy, love, and forgiveness of God.
The Mercy of God. The best word to describe God’s mercy must surely be immeasurable. The psalmist reveals to us, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy…For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him” (Psa. 103:8, 11). I think we get the point he is making here about the mercy of God: It is beyond measure! The written record of God’s dealings with the Israelites throughout the Old Testament would show this to be true, but the same could be said of God’s dealings with the whole of mankind throughout history! Though God could have acted to punish the Israelites so many times throughout their history, He chose instead to be merciful and, as the psalmist noted, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities” (Psa. 103:10). The same could be said for His dealings with us! Though He has had numerous reasons to punish us, He has not. Paul reminded the Christians in Ephesus that though we were dead in our sins and following after our fleshly desires, “God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:1-5).
The Love of God. The love of God is inseparable from His mercy because His mercy is an act of love. And that love? Let us note, first, that God said to Israel, through Jeremiah, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jer. 31:3); though they had been faithless, he was still faithful; though they ceased loving Him, He loved them still. But the love of God was not restricted to the Israelites, as we know, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). In His mercy, though we were undeserving, God loved us still, and sent His Son to die for our sins, that we might have the hope of eternal life.
Consider, too, that as John wrote, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). The very nature of God is love; everything He does and says originates and emanates from love. Just as surely as every word He speaks is truth, so every act or word is based on love. [We may not think so, but neither does every child think their parent loves them when they are being punished, or doesn’t get everything they want.] Yes, even when we think God is being unfair or too harsh or withholding blessings we should be enjoying, He is doing whatever He does as an act of love. The problem is, for mankind, we cannot see the end result of His actions as He can. What we would like to think would be an act of ‘love’ may, in fact, be detrimental to us or even a danger. When we think God is being ‘unloving’ toward us, just go back to this basic characteristic of God and re-evaluate your estimation of God. He only acts out of love. Believe it!
The Forgiveness of God. This is where the love and mercy of God come together: in His forgiveness! Paul pointed to God’s forgiveness as our standard, reminding the Christians in Ephesus that they must be “kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32). In these words, we are reminded that God was willing to forgive us while we were still sinners, and we should thus be willing to forgive others in the same way and to the same degree. But that forgiveness God offers did not cease at the time of our initial obedience; it continues, and it continues because we still need it!
To the early disciples, John reminded them that, as Christians, we still sin (1 John 1:8, 10), but that is no reason to despair, thinking we are a complete failure! [That is what the devil wants you to believe!] No, when we sin, as Christians, we have this confidence: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9), If you doubt this, go back to our introductory words of this article: God’s word is true! He does not lie!
Believe it when you hear that God loves you! Believe it when you hear that He is merciful and willing to forgive — over and over and over. — Steven Harper
