Remembering God’s Mercy
by Ezra O'Leary
The human measure of divine characteristics has always been interesting. Earthly expressions of damnation and wrath know no bounds. You’ll not struggle to find believers who will judge a person worthy of hell without equivocation if a particular sin goes without repentance or is committed too many times. No matter what the extenuation in circumstance, the conception of God’s punitive measures does not struggle to exceed imagination.
Unfortunately this abundance of imagination doesn’t tend to extend to God’s mercy in the same degree. Time and again religious wisdom reaches beyond even the cruelest levels of human sadism to warn others what God is capable of for punishment. These punishments can come in return for something as taking God’s name in vain inadvertently in the moment, or ascribing to the wrong religion despite an honest desire and attempt to be close to God.
Imagine what these religious leaders would deem as the Godly punishment for putting Jesus to death? Continuous physical and spiritual torture notwithstanding, the punishment for simply not believing is harsh enough let alone cruelly going after God in human form. If the punishment for blasphemy is eternal damnation, what is the cost of killing God?
Fortunately for them Jesus’ divine standard of mercy deemed them worthy of forgiveness. As Jesus lingered close to death his final words regarding his tormentors was a plea for exactly that: Forgive them father, they don’t know what they are doing.
Dare to believe God’s love and mercy are more than you can express. Moreover, dare to share such a message with others. You may find your faith in your own salvation strengthened.
"These punishments can come in return for something as taking God’s name in vain inadvertently in the moment, or ascribing to the wrong religion despite an honest desire and attempt to be close to God."
I don't begin to disagree that too many Christ followers throw hell and damnation ahead of love and forgiveness. However, I think it is foolish to deny the fact that punishment in and of itself does exist. It is useless for me to spend time talking about the punishment of sin. The men and women who crucified the Christ fall into the same category as you and I, (Romans 3:23). The unfortunate result of being in this category can be found in Romans 6:23. Bottom line…people will be judged according to these scriptural text. 2 Corinthian 5:10 assures us that not only the unjust, but even the just shall be judged according to his deeds done in the body.
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I find those most comfortable with condemning others are quite sure of their salvation, due to their own religious experience. I think this is what emboldens them to judge others who don't belong to the same sub-culture, don't use the same religious jargon, or express the same experiences of salvation.
I'm glad then, that the text above doesn't deny that punishment exists, only that there can be a tendency for some people to distort its emphasis and marginalise love in the process.
The disappointing truth is that even a sincere attempt to get closer to God by following a different religion than Christianity is as effective as sincerely believing your spouse is NOT cheating on you, even though you have them caught on tape. One, your first assumption is that this person is trying to get closer to the same God that is the creator of heaven and earth, and is the same God found in the Bible. Unfortunately, that is most likely not the case. It is more or less a desire to rid themselves of some cognitive dissonance. Second, with the assumption that scripture is inherent, and the only source of actual truth, and since truth transcends personal experience, then according to the Bible, i.e. your videos tape of your spouse cheating. To believe your spouse, or another religions path to God as being another way to God or the way of God, is ignorance.
It might be ignorance, but is all ignorance unworthy of mercy?
If I'm living in a Pashtun village, or some other isolated area where all I've ever heard is Muslim or some other doctrine, am I excluded from mercy even though I've never heard a word of Christianity in my entire life? If the whole world that I know around me teaches me one thing, even though the truth is another, am I judged unworthy of mercy, even if I know not what I do?
Now, concerning the dare to believe God's love and Mercy are more than I can express. I completely back that sentiment. 1 John 4:8 (God is Love). That statement alone is incomprehensible to me because as a human being I am not Love. In fact, my corruptible nature is proof of my inability to love as God loves, especially if God is Love. Also, if we take time to analyze the ministry of Christ we see that it is a ministry consisting of loving the loveless, helping the needy and bringing heaven to earth in way that was tangible and changed lives.
Keep on Keeping on Ezra, but don’t replace God's love as a coverall for judgment
I don't see it as a coverall for judgement, just a coverall for me making a call on how I think God will judge someone. I believe judgement of an individual is between God and the individual.
The focus of qualifying the text above appears to have centered around following the wrong religion, and implies that this somehow excludes people from mercy. And yet, I wonder if anyone here would choose crucifying Christ over following the wrong religion, if the attempt to be closer to God was genuine. Why would Christ forgive the crucifixtion and not the wrong religion?