God's Mercy (James 2:8-13)

If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,” you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For He who said, “DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,” also said, “DO NOT COMMIT MURDER.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
(James 2:8-13, NASB)

Many belief systems or religions believe that if your good outweighs your bad, you’ll get to heaven or some kind of an eternal realm of peace or nirvana. What that percentage of good over bad no one quite knows.

The Bible tells us something very different. "All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory" (Rom. 3:23). "There is none righteous" (Romans 3:10). Or as James puts it, if we “stumble in one point, we have become guilty of all.” And each of us has stumbled … at least once.

We are all deserving of judgment, and if it were up to us, we wouldn’t get anywhere near heaven. But God is merciful. He, through His love and grace, offers freedom from our sin. He offers liberty. He offers forgiveness. To everyone.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life” (John 3:16). “If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

We are sinners. We do deserve judgment. We do deserve eternal separation from our God. We don’t deserve mercy. We don’t deserve grace.

But when we accept God’s gift of salvation, we don’t receive judgment or eternal separation from God. Instead, we receive His mercy and grace.

What an amazing God we serve!