Tag: mercy

Are You a Friend of Sinners?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date August 7, 2016

It’s Hard to Embrace Those Who are Different from Us but We Should

The word sin is an unpopular one in today’s culture. Postmodern thinking rejects moral absolutes and advocates that anything goes. Under an ideal of tolerance, society claims that to label an action as sinful is judgmental, closeminded, and unacceptable.

Ironically they become intolerant of people who talk about sin.

In reality, everyone sins (Romans 3:23).

It’s just that we downplay or even ignore our own sins, while we recoil from the sins of others, which we deem as more objectionable or even abhorrent.

The Bible says Jesus is a friend of sinners (Matthew 11:19, Luke 7:34). This slur comes from his detractors, and he repeats it. They intend it as criticism, but we see it as a badge of honor.

We admire Jesus for hanging out with the people that the righteous religious society rejects: prostitutes, adulterers, tax collectors, lepers, the sick and unclean, other races and mixed races, and so forth.

It seems Jesus accepts everyone the religious leaders discard. In fact he makes a point to do so, often going out of his way to welcome them. He embraces them; he loves them.

We respect Jesus for doing so. Shouldn’t we do the same? Shouldn’t we be like Jesus?

Shouldn’t we make a point to behave more like Jesus and reach out to those the organized church reviles?

Who might this be? The other political party? Muslims? The LGBTQ community? Pornographers? Those with a criminal record? The list goes on. There is no end.

Hosea writes that God desires mercy not sacrifice, that is, offering mercy trumps following a bunch of rules (Hosea 6:6). Jesus confirms this and adds that these folks are the reason he came (Matthew 9:12-13).

Let’s be more like Jesus and befriend those who the church rejects.

Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.

Read more in his books, blog, and weekly email updates.

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Tags Jesus, love, mercy, postmodern, sin

Bible Insights

Where Do You Stand on the Judgement Versus Mercy Debate?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date December 29, 2015

If you’ve been reading along in our New Testament reading plan, you’ve just finished the book of Titus and will wrap up your Bible reading for the year with the short book of Philemon.

Congratulations for finishing! (Next year let’s read the entire Bible together. Look for posts here each Tuesday that align with the reading plan.)

The book of Philemon is actually a letter Paul writes to Philemon. In it Paul advocates for mercy instead of judgement for their mutual colleague, Onesimus.

Onesimus deserves a stern dose of justice for running away, but Paul pleads for mercy instead.

This sounds a lot like Jesus and us. Our misdeeds demand judgement but Jesus offers mercy to everyone, but only those who follow Jesus can actually receive his mercy and grace.

God’s Law demands justice, but his love gives grace. Jesus makes the difference.

The Bible doesn’t say if Philemon extends Onesimus the mercy he doesn’t deserve or demands the justice that he does, but I think Philemon sets aside judgement and justice to present mercy and grace—just like Jesus does for us.

Thank God for Jesus, for mercy, and for grace!

What do you think Philemon did after reading Paul’s letter? How would you have treated Onesimus?

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Tags grace, justice, love, mercy

Bible Insights

God’s Sovereignty Allows Him to be Benevolent

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date April 22, 2010

God is sovereign; it is one of his characteristics. To be sovereign means to have supreme rank, power, and authority.

The word sovereign appears hundreds of times in the Bible (mostly in the Old Testament) and is usually used as a title for God or in addressing him, as in “Sovereign Lord.”

Many people object to the idea that God is sovereign; it offends them or causes fear. That may be because of a tendency to see sovereignty from a human perspective.

They assume that God’s sovereignty allows him to be malevolent. That is, he is just waiting for us to mess up and then he will do us harm—or give us grief just because he can. But that is not his nature.

God is good and just. His sovereignty actually allows him to be benevolent. He wants to do good to us, to offer us good things we don’t deserve (grace) and to withhold punishment that we do deserve (mercy).

God’s sovereignty allows for benevolence; his love prohibits malevolence.

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Tags grace, love, mercy, sovereign

Bible Insights

Fasting for the Right Reasons

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date March 5, 2009

Fasting for the Right Reasons

Although many people ignore its practice, fasting is demonstrated in the Bible and is an encouraged practice. (See the blog entry, “When You Fast…“.)

However, fasting rightly requires fasting for the right reasons. Here are some of them:

To humble ourselves before God [Ezra 8:21]
To prepare for spiritual battle [Matthew 4:1-2]
To ready ourselves to hear God [Acts 13:2-3]
To seek God’s mercy [Matthew 4:1-2]
When praying for others [Daniel 9:3]
When seeking God’s guidance [Ezra 8:21]
When mourning death or loss [2 Samuel 1:12]
To repent from sins [Jonah 3:5]

Wrong reasons for fasting includes to earn God’s attention or favor, out of a sense of duty and obligation, or to gain the respect of others.

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Tags fasting, mercy, prayer

Bible Insights

Do You Want Justice or Mercy?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date February 19, 2009

Do You Want Justice or Mercy?

I have a friend who pursues justice; she wants everything to be fair. The bad thing about absolute justice is that it leaves no room for mercy. In many ways, justice and mercy are opposites:

Mercy is getting off with a warning, while justice says you deserve a ticket.
Mercy is having a test question thrown out, while justice says you got it wrong.
Mercy is receiving probation, while justice says you deserve jail.
Mercy is getting a second chance, while justice says there are no “do-overs.”
Mercy is being permitted to retract your chess move, while justice says “sorry, you took your hands off it.”

In a paradox of Godly proportions, God is both fully just yet full of mercy.

Justice says that an imperfect person cannot be in the presence of a perfect God, while mercy through Jesus allows us to do so anyway.

Thank God for his justice and his mercy—and for paradoxes!

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Tags justice, mercy, paradox

Bible Insights

Are Grace and Mercy the Same Thing?

Post author By Peter DeHaan
Post date October 28, 2008

Are Grace and Mercy the Same Thing?

Are grace and mercy the same thing? That might seem so, since they are both good things that God gives us. However, in some respects they are opposites. Consider these simple definitions:

Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.

Mercy is not getting what you do deserve.

For example, if I were to give you $100, that would be an example of grace.You didn’t deserve it, didn’t earn it, and I wasn’t obligated to give it to you. Grace is something that is freely given to people who don’t merit it.

On the other hand, if you hit my car, you would need to pay to have it fixed. Or I could forgive you; that would be mercy. You should rightly repair my car, but I willing choose to let you off the hook and not hold you accountable.

God shows us grace when he gives us good things that we didn’t earn and don’t deserve.

Also, God shows us mercy when he doesn’t hold us accountable for the wrong things we do.

Since it is through Jesus that we can receive both grace and mercy, you might consider them to be opposite sides of the same coin. So maybe they’re the same after all.

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Tags grace, Jesus, mercy