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Re: Bulletin Board [message #12094 is a reply to message #12087]

Fri, 30 September 2016 19:36

james
Messages: 2137
Registered: April 2008
Location: Birmingham, AL

Senior Member

Examples Given of Mercy and Forgiveness for Our Encouragement...

"For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope."
Romans 15:4

God is a just God who doesn't ignore sin in our lives, yet He is a merciful God who forgives us when we confess our sins and doesn't hold them against us. He restores fellowship and will use us if we're willing to submit to His will. This is displayed throughout scripture from A to Z (Adam to Zacchaeus) After Adam and Eve disobeyed God He didn't give them what they deserved but rather disciplined them in love and blessed them with children and long life. Abraham wasn't perfect, he lied about Sarah being his wife to protect himself; yet He became the father of a multitude of nations. Moses disobeyed God's instructions and it cost him entering the promised land with Israel; still he was allowed to enter into the very presence of God and speak person to person with Him. David murdered Urriah the husband of Bathsheba and committed adultery with her; still God spoke of him as a man after His own heart and blessed him exceedingly.

In the NT we're shown through scripture that Zacchaeus was a dishonest tax collector getting wealthy at others expense, but when Jesus came to visit him and changed his life he immediately began displaying fruits of repentance by restoring to those he had taken from. Peter denied Jesus and look at what happened after The Holy Spirit entered Peter's life, boldly proclaiming Christ as Lord and Saviour, healing and instructing believers in righteousness. Paul went about persecuting Christians before Jesus revealed Himself unto him and then look at the results, the Gentiles were presented with The Gospel of Grace unto salvation through his ministry.

All these examples and many more reveal the characters of men, but even more importantly, it reveals the character of God. It shows us believers today how God's mercy and grace has always been evident in the lives of those we look to as examples (both of what to do as well as what not to do) and as men we will sin (miss the mark) but that God is a God of multiple chances and that gives us hope. Encouragement from fellow believers is edifying and we're told to do so, but encouragement from God's Word is even more so edifying and builds hope and patience.

“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,”

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