3)
For we
ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy,
hateful, and hating one another.
4)
But after
that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5)
Not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by
the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6)
Which he shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
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is the mercy of God which reveals to us and illuminates the truth of salvation.
Despite how humble or knowledgeable we are, neither trait could gain us
salvation. We are totally dependent upon the mercy of God.
The
“mercy” that we desire for ourselves is unequal to God’s mercy. The chief
difference is that when God shows mercy, He is doing so in order to alleviate a
problem.
The
fact that God is merciful means that He extends to all an opportunity to accept
the truth of salvation. In that He has u been merciful to us all, we must be
willing to exercise patience with those who do not know what we have been
taught.
Undoubtedly,
we have a tendency to forget that we were purchased to be committed wholly to
God’s purpose. This lapse of memory” sometimes is responsible for our attempts
at “specialization” in ministry. In that we submitted ourselves to salvation,
we have tacitly agreed to be accessible God for any and all purposes.
Without
a doubt, we are a people who love to murmur and complain. In fact, we seem to
do this more than praise God. This, despite the fact that we are “saved
according to is mercy.”
Sadly,
many of the saints of God are visibly unhappy. his can
be explained primarily by the fact that happiness is matter of what one chooses
to focus upon. Therefore, one can say that what one “looks like” will largely
be determined by what he “looks at.”
Oddly,
we often conduct ourselves as if the devil is not supposed to fight us. We must
never forget that he is pulling-out-all-stops” to win. He will try to destroy
whomever and whatever gets in his way.
All
manner of people seem to be joining the side of evil, but no matter how many
join him or what their station in life, they and he will lose in the end.
Playing with the devil is a gamble that will never pay-off. It’s not even worth
the effort.
Because
of our preoccupation with ourselves, we fail to appropriate many of the things
that the Lord has already granted. The fact of the matter is that the harder we
work at gaining for ourselves, the less we end up getting from God. We deal
with many things as problems when all we need to know is that if all things are
“under the feet” of God and His body, and we are a part of that body, all
things are under our feet, as well.
We
have a responsibility to praise God, for through our praise, the devil is sent
the message that the child of God will not succumb to his trickery and deceit.
Praising
God is as easy as ceasing from complaining and willing ourselves to tell Him,
“thank you” no matter what the conditions or circumstances.
No
one wishes to deny the fact that we will be talked about sometimes. Things will
happen that we will not always like but despite this, God is still to be
praised.
Whenever
we refuse to magnify the Lord, the devil is the one who wins over us, for his
point is to keep us from victory. And praising God is what brings us that
victory.
Our
reality is that if we live to please God, everything will be fine and He will
show Himself to be God in all things. In that it was Jesus who saved us from
sin; it was only He who could bring salvation; and so, it is He, alone, who is
worthy of our allegiance.
Those
of us who were the most morally “perfect” would still have gone to hell if it
were not for baptism in Jesus’ name and the mulling of the Holy Ghost. Believe
it or not, we are also not saved according to our own commitment to be saved.
We are saved only because of the mercy of God.
We
are serving a God of power and authority, who requires only that we accept
what He says. It will be only those people who give themselves wholly to Him,
who will be prepared to inherit the place prepared for them—Heaven. Perhaps
this is the greatest way in which the Lord has granted us mercy.