Who God IsSample

God Is Gracious/Merciful & Righteous/Just

We take comfort in doing what we feel is right as God is gracious and merciful. He is so slow to anger and is great in lovingkindness. We don’t realize that God may be slow to anger, but He sure gets angry and His anger lasts for a moment and, yes, His favor a long time.

Have we noticed that in the moment of anger God killed Aaron’s sons when they gave unholy fire to the Lord? It’s the same God who killed Ananias and Saphira for lying to Him. Couldn’t God see, their intent, they sold their possessions to give to the Lord? Yes, they did keep a little bit for themselves. Did this really warrant death?

By those standards, I should be consumed by God’s wrath, but His mercy and grace have given me opportunities to turn to him. The Bible is clear that God's grace and mercy are for me to turn to Him and to be more like Him. Just as I have experienced His grace and mercy, I need to be gracious and merciful to my fellow human beings. This means I willingly choose to show love and not hurt them the way they deserve.

So where is my justice? God says revenge is mine. Many times, like Jonah, we are waiting to see God punish our enemies. We get angry and upset when we believe He doesn’t do it.

Here, God wants us to be gracious and merciful like Him. Just as He gives us opportunities to turn to Him, He is waiting for our enemy to turn to Him. When that happens, our enemy now becomes our brother/sister and as Christians, we go through the process of reconciliation.

Can this God be just and righteous? The gracious merciful God of today will be the righteous judge on the Day of Judgment when there will be no grace and mercy. All of us need to give an account of our actions. Justice will prevail on that day. As humans, we tend to judge others, but God wants us to judge ourselves and be found blameless by His standard.

So as human beings we need God’s grace and mercy to be gracious and merciful to our fellow beings and also constantly judge ourselves so we will be found righteous on the Day of Judgment. The opposite is dangerous.