The Demands of Mercy

If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You, That You may be feared (Psa 130:3-4).

We understand the demands of justice. Justice demands that evil is repaid. Justice demands that wrong is righted. Justice demands that the right is vindicated and the wrong is dealt with. Justice demands these things.

What about mercy? What are the demands of mercy? Mercy demands ... nothing. No, I'm not talking about the fact that mercy demands nothing of us. I mean that there are no demands on mercy. Mercy has no obligations. It is not required to do anything. It is a free gift, not a required one.

The psalmist wrote, "If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?" Justice, you see, demands that we would all be repaid for our sins. Mercy has nothing to say about it. If God were to simply damn all humans He would be acting with complete and perfect justice and there would be no one to complain. It would be ... good.

So when Christ paid the price on our behalf ... when God "made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor 5:21), the sheer act of mercy was not required. There was no such obligation. There was no demand for mercy. It was a free gift.

Oh, magnify the Lord with me! (And, whatever you do, don't ask for "fair" from God.)