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NASB | James 2:13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | James 2:13 For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; but [to the one who has shown mercy] mercy triumphs [victoriously] over judgment. |
Subject: How does mercy triumph over judgment? |
Bible Note: Mommapbs, Mercy is an eternal virtue of God, whereas His judgment is temporal. I imagine that in His kingdom judgment will have seen its day and God's mercy will suffuse the atmosphere. Is God’s judgment merciful? In Romans 2:4 Paul stresses that God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. In Romans 9:14-18, Paul further develops this theme by denying that God's election is unjust. In v.15 he quotes Exodus 33:19, "And He said, I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion." Paul means to show that God’s justice is outweighed by His mercy, as demonstrated by His sparing the children of Israel after Moses' agonized plea following the apostasy of the golden calf. Even though God foreknew Israel's sin, their abandonment of Him, He still had mercy on them; and even though God promised a future punishment, He still hearkens back to the Covenant, His blood promise to Israel, reminding Moses that without His covenant oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Israel would be toast. By citing Exodus 9:16 (Rom 9:17), Paul shows that Pharaoh’s hardness was part of God's plot to reveal His power to the world. The citations of His dealings with Israel (v.19) and Pharaoh during the Exodus (v:17), demonstrate that God's desire has always been to show mercy for as well to preserve a righteous remnant (Rom 9:23-24), while the rest remain hardened (Rom 11:7,25). Hardening is not a preordained state that causes a person to sin, but a disciplinary measure for stubborn, hard-core resisters like Pharaoh (Exodus 7:14; 8:15). We are given a choice. We rebel. God entreats us, warns us and wants to show us mercy. If we ignore His entreaties, at some point, bang!, we be lithified. I don’t know whether mercy triumphs over judgment in any absolute sense this side of Heaven since both are dispositions of God towards us. Thus the cross is a triumph of God’s mercy meant to lead us to repentance so that we may not be judged according to His wrath. Colin |