God of Grace & Mercy - God of Justice & Mercy??

TROWEL & SWORD

Resources - Leadership

March 2005

God of Grace & Mercy
Using the Canons of Dordt to Help Answer the Tough Questions

Rev. Geoff van Schie

Depending on the Mercy of God

It is a common understanding that Jesus used parables to make his teaching clear so that all could follow and understand what He had to teach. Yet Scripture teaches exactly the opposite.

On one occasion when Jesus was teaching in parables, his disciples asked a very important question: “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” (Matthew 13:10). What they were actually asking was “Why do you teach the people in riddles?”

Jesus intentionally taught in parables so that only some would hear and understand and from others His meaning would remain hidden: “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them… This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand." (Matthew 13:11-13, NIV). When we take this in, Jesus’ remark at the end of the parable makes a bit more sense: “He who has ears, let him hear.” (Matthew 13:9, NIV).

What the Canons teach is that God’s mercy is revealed in the sending forth of the Gospel: “In order that people may be brought to faith, God mercifully sends proclaimers of this very joyful message to the people He wishes and at the time He wishes. By this ministry people are called to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. [Canons Heading 1 article 3].

As we go out with the Gospel we need to do so with a biblical understanding both as to our task as well as the possible outcomes. This is vital for at least three reasons:

We do constrain our evangelistic work: ‘The elect will come in so we need not go out’. (hyper Calvinism).
We do not become discouraged with what we may experience: Rejection of the Gospel and even ourselves
We avoid the trap of trying to make the Gospel acceptable by trying to take away its offensiveness to the sinner.

In the parable of the sower Jesus made clear that the Gospel would be received in various ways. Each of the soils represent different classes of people as to their reception of the Gospel – essentially, of Christ Himself. The reality of our fallen world is that every human being has no capacity to accept Jesus as a needed saviour to save them from an angry God much less believe that He is God’s only payment for sin.

The Canons remind us of what we can expect as we go forth with the good news concerning Jesus: “God's anger remains on those who do not believe this gospel. But those who do accept it and embrace Jesus the Saviour with a true and living faith are delivered through Him from God's anger and from destruction, and receive the gift of eternal life.” [Canons Heading 1, article 4].

Fallen humanity has always been quick to play the ‘blame game’ (Gen. 3:12,13). We will come across those who will seek to lay the blame at God’s feet for the rejection of the Gospel.: "One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?”" (Romans 9:19, NIV). The blame always rests with fallen humanity to whom God owes nothing: “The cause or blame for this unbelief, as well as for all other sins, is not at all in God, but in man.” [Canons Heading 1, article 5]

That any receive the Gospel joyfully is purely by God’s undeserved grace and mercy! “Faith in Jesus Christ, however, and salvation through Him is a free gift of God. As Scripture says, It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). Likewise: It has been freely given to you to believe in Christ”. (Philippians 1:29).

As we go about our mission tasks, we must remember that only God can make the Gospel understandable to the sinner. Only He can lead a person to acceptance of Christ. Our job is to go and cast the seed wide – to everyone. Then we are to plead for His mercy that those who hear it will give be GIVEN to believe and to accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord.

Such an approach to evangelism makes us depend on God alone for the fruit of our labour and takes away the pressure we can place upon ourselves to try and make the Gospel acceptable so that we might win converts.

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