God and the Nations

God’s Mercy to the Nations

Acts 14.16-17; Rom. 2.4

Nations rise and then fall because of God’s will. God is governing the nations of the world. But we need to have a balanced view of God’s dealing with the world. We should not think that God is harsh and looking for any reason to judge people. And so in this installment in the series we turn to another aspect of God’s nature that is being revealed to the nations of the world.

We turn to two passages. The first is in the book of Acts where we join Paul and Barnabas on the very first missionary journey. This is the first time the Gospel will be preached to completely Gentile regions. The key to this entire context is found in the summation, when Paul and Barnabas return to the Church in Antioch, and tell “all the God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14.27). Paul usually went first to the Jews and the Synagogue. But when the Jews rejected the message and began to even get violent, Paul turned exclusively to the Gentiles. When they came to the city of Lystra Paul healed a crippled man there. The people, who were used to worshiping the old Greek gods, thought that Paul was Zeus and Barnabas was Hermes! The local pagan priest was even preparing a sacrifice! The text for this message is what Paul and Barnabas said to the people to stop them from making a sacrifice to them and worshiping them. First, they affirm that they are only men and not gods, but that they do have a message of good news from the true God. Secondly, they tell the people to stop worshiping vain idols and turn to the one, true God who created everything. This living God, though they did not know Him, had been the source of everything good in their lives. In the past, Paul and Barnabas say, God had let these nations go their own way, and worship their own gods, but now God was turning His attention to the Gentile nations and offering them some good news. But actually, God had always been good to these pagan Gentiles.

The second text is from Romans. In the first chapter, Paul speaks about the idolatry of the Gentile nations who had long ago turned from worshiping the true God. God’s wrath is being revealed against the unrighteousness of these pagan nations. In Acts Paul and Barnabas said that God had let the nations go their own way. In Romans Paul says the same thing, but affirms that this is an aspect of God’s wrath. But that is not the whole story of God’s dealings with the pagan nations of the world. Like the speech in Acts, Paul also affirms in Romans that God had mercy on the world as well. In case the Jews became proud, Paul reminds them that God has been merciful to all men and is the impartial judge of both Jews and Gentiles. Final judgement is coming. But in the meantime, God has been merciful to all men, including the pagan Gentiles.

The Reality of God’s Mercy

What is Mercy?

First of all, let’s simply affirm the reality of mercy. God is merciful to the human race! And we should attempt to define mercy. What is mercy? It is also called lovingkindness in Scripture. It is impossible to be merciful without being loving or caring. But this is not sentimentality or romantic notions. Mercy is love in action. This is something that must be practiced and not just felt. Mercy may be motivated by a feeling, but it is always expressed by actions. But in a negative sense, mercy is withholding or suspending judgement or vengeance. Even though there might be a just cause, mercy forbears and waits patiently. In contrast to a desire for swift justice or vengeance, mercy turns the other cheek and absorbs the blow without striking back in wrath.

But withholding something is not the only aspect of mercy. There is also a positive action of mercy. Mercy meets the need of the other and helps where there is a lack. Mercy is not concerned about who deserves help. The best kind of mercy is shown even to an enemy. When we think of showing mercy we cannot help but associate it with words like kindness, tenderness, and gentleness. Mercy alleviates pain and does not inflict more of it. There is a desire in mercy to do good and to provide what is best for others in need, even when there is a cost involved. In this way, mercy is a kind of humility or condescension. One must often kneel and get down low to show mercy. Mercy is moved by compassion and pity for those who are knocked down and hurting. It is no wonder that the medical profession is often associated with mercy.

Mercy is illustrated by Jesus in a couple of His most beloved parables. The Good Samaritan was merciful to the man who fell among thieves, while others walked on by and failed to show mercy. And this Samaritan was merciful even to someone who would have regarded him as an enemy. The Prodigal Son received mercy from his father upon his return home. Instead of punishment the young man who had wasted all his father’s inheritance was welcomes with a hug, a kiss, and a party. All of this was not much to the liking of the elder brother, who had no mercy on the returning Prodigal. We all need mercy at some point, though we do not always hope or expect to receive it, even from God the Father! But at some point we all need help and we are dependent on someone else. Mercy does not only require humility in the giving, but also in the receiving. Proud people will have trouble both showing OR receiving mercy from another.

Mercy is in the Nature of God

Mercy is a Divine attribute. It is God withholding His righteousness indignation and judgment from people who really only deserve wrath. Wrath is actually the ONLY thing we deserve from God! We have sinned against Him repeatedly and offended His holiness. We deserve nothing from God, certainly nothing good, yet in His mercy, God does not treat us as our sins deserve. God is not obligated to show us mercy, or give us any consideration, yet He does so anyway. An atheist was arguing with a Christian. The atheist said, “I can prove that God does not exist!” He then pointed his finger to the sky and cried, “strike me dead right now!” Nothing happened. “You see that God does not exist,” said the Atheist smugly. The Christian man was not intimidated. “You have not proven that God does not exist,” he replied calmly. “You have only proven that God is merciful.” And so He is merciful, even to those who shake their fists at the sky in open rebellion and blasphemy.

Mercy means that God is long-suffering or tolerant of sinners. This does not mean that God is infinitely tolerant, but that He does not have a short fuse with sinners. God can and does overlook sin, at least for a time. In fact, there was a period of history in which God overlooked or winked at the sin of humanity until the time came for Jesus to make atonement for sin (See Rom. 3.25). This meant that God had forbearance where He did not demand a payment for sins from humanity because He planned to make that payment Himself at the Cross of Christ. In the same way, God is putting off the time of final judgement on the world and giving a time of mercy. This does not mean that God condones sin or is soft on justice. Eventually, all sin will have to be paid for, either by the sinner himself, or through the application of the atonement accomplished by Christ on the Cross. When I decided to go back to school for another degree, my student loans were put in a state of “forbearance.” This meant that I did not have to make payments while I was in school. The debt was still there and would have to be paid. But there was a time of mercy when no payment was required and there was no penalty. Up until Christ came to put away sin, the world was kept in a state of forbearance by God. Until the final judgement comes, the world is once again in a kind of forbearance where God is not exacting payment for sin.

We must understand that if God were not like this then there would be no human life at all. If God were only just then humanity would have been wiped out a long time ago! Perhaps we fail to appreciate how patient God has been with humanity and how much He has endured. God Himself has been afflicted in His dealings with humanity. He has made Himself vulnerable. God has actually allowed people to rebel against Him, and even to abuse Him, without taking immediate steps against these sinners. Even angels are amazed by God’s mercy to humanity! In showing this mercy to humanity, God has had to lower Himself to some degree. He has had to come down in order to be merciful. Any revelation of God to men involves some kind of Divine condescension. Moses asked to see the glory of God. And God agreed to let Moses see the afterglow, while hidden in the cleft of a rock. This was merciful of God to even allow Moses a little glimpse of His glory. And as the Lord passed by He said, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7 ESV). If there were no mercy, then there would be no revelation of God at all. Perhaps the whole human enterprise is for this very purpose: to allow God the opportunity to be merciful and reveal this aspect of Himself and His glory. Apparently, there are “vessels of mercy,” or people whom God created in order to show His mercy to them and through them (Rom. 9.23). We must understand that God is free to be merciful to whom He will. “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Ex. 33.19; Romans 9:15 ESV). Sometimes we are surprised by God’s mercy, like Jonah was when he was sent to preach to Nineveh. We have no claim to the mercy of God and we should be thankful if we have received it!

Mercy is the Theme of History

And so, in many ways, the mercy of God has been the theme of humanity history. We can see example after example of God’s mercy in Scripture. It is a theme seen on almost every page of the Bible! Even when God did react in wrath, it was almost always mixed with mercy. Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden, but they were not instantly exterminated. Even as they were being cast out of Paradise, there was the hope of the promise that the seed of the woman would eventually bruise the serpent’s head (Gen. 3.15). In His mercy, God Himself promised to root evil out of the world. When Cain had killed his brother, God confronted him, but did not remove him from the earth, and even put a mark on him to keep others from harming him.When the world became so wicked that God was sorry He had made man, Noah still found grace in the eyes of God and was saved along with his family. When they came together to build the tower of Babel God was displeased and He confused their language and scattered the nations. But He did not make an end of the nations.

Even when His chosen nation, the people of Israel, sinned against Him and broke the covenant, He did not destroy them completely but had compassion on them. And God let the nations go their own way, in spite of their idolatry, and did not destroy them in His wrath. God is managing the history of the world according to mercy, not according to wrath. When people fixate on all of the tragedies of human life and then ask why God allows such things to happen, they are forgetting all of God’s merciful dealings with our Race. God is certainly more merciful to us than we are to each other! If we were in God’s place, and had to deal with all of the offenses and rebellion of sinners like ourselves, we would have kicked the world to pieces long ago and been done with the human race! No parents would tolerate the kind of rebellious children that the heavenly Father has tolerated for so long.

The Revelation of Mercy

Creation is a Witness

God has revealed His mercy to all people, though not in the same ways. The creation itself is a witness to the mercy of God and this revelation is available to everyone equally because it is all around us every day. In a previous installment we touched on the fact that God has given both general and special revelation. General, or natural revelation is given to all nations through the created world. Special revelation, which is also recorded in Scripture, was given specifically to the Jewish nation. Any revelation that God give to men is really a merciful act. If God wanted to remain hidden from men, He could do so and no one could find Him out. God must make Himself known for us to know Him and He has mercifully done so. The fact that God did not make Himself known to everyone all at once is because there had to be a period of preparation before the fuller revelation of God was made in Jesus and the Gospel. And even this revelation is only preparatory for the New Creation.

Creation has a limited vocabulary about God. The natural world can tell us something of God’s existence and His Divine power (See Rom. 1.20). Man should be able to conclude from the world that someone or at least some powerful force that is not a part of the world caused the world to exist. Man must either choose to believe that matter itself is eternal, having no point of origin, or that all material things in the universe have an origin that is itself non-material. In other words, we must choose between a materialist worldview or a supernatural worldview. Most men have chosen to believe in something supernatural, or something that is above or beyond nature. The modern, materialistic atheist is a relatively new thing in the history of human thought. Even the ancient pagans believed in the spiritual or supernatural. What is completely illogical and inexcusable is for men to worship the creation rather than the Creator. Unfortunately, mankind has a long history of idolatry, even up to modern times. To worship the creation is to fixate on the gifts of life rather than on the Divine Giver of those gifts.

Creation is a sign pointing beyond itself to something else. God made the world as a kind of stage where He is making Himself known to His creatures. Parents give good gifts to their children as an expression of love and care. And good children are grateful for those gifts and acknowledge the source. Only bad, spoiled children take the gifts and turn their backs on their parents to play alone with their toys. But humanity has been very much like spoiled, ungrateful children in our relationship to our heavenly Father!

Even though God is giving a witness to all men through the created order, this does not mean that men are listening to that witness. It is possible for us to close our ears and our minds to God. And this is what sinful mankind has in fact done. But it is possible to seek and find God, even for the pagan nations who had received no special revelation, as Israel did (See Acts 17.26-27). God has given all people an opportunity to seek and to find Him, if they want to. Even the pagans, who did not know the God of Israel, still had an opportunity to seek the true God. God gave humanity good dreams (C.S. Lewis), and filled the hearts of all people with a longing or a desire for something that is beyond this world. In the end, everyone will get what they want. Those who seek will find. To prove this, the Bible gives many examples of pagan people outside the covenant of Israel who did find the true God. There were people like Rahab, Naaman, Ruth, the Queen of Sheba, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, and all those God-fearing Gentiles the Apostle Paul found in the Jewish synagogues, who found out about the one, true, living God who made the world.

Many people are concerned these days about whether or not pagan people who have never read the Bible or heard of Jesus can be saved. This is a difficult question which the Bible does not directly answer. But we need not have any concern about God not being fair or giving everyone an opportunity. God has been more than fair. He has been merciful. He has revealed Himself to all men, though not with the same amount of light. And in the end, God will only hold each man responsible for the light that was given to him. You can be sure that if a person does not respond to the lesser light of general revelation, he will not respond to the greater light of Christ, who is the Light of the World.

Life is Good

God’s mercy has been revealed to all men through what God has made. The world is a good place for man. Life is good. God’s original thought about His creation was that it was very good. God has blessed creation. Yes, there is also a curse because of sin. But even the curse does not completely cancel the blessing of God on creation and the basic goodness of human life on earth. Sin brought pain and death into the world, along with frustration and futility. This means that man never gets everything he wants out of life in the world.

God has made it this way because of sin. But there are still many good things for man to enjoy in life. Human life is not completely bad. Life is actually a mixture of both pain and pleasure, and both come from the hand of God and are designed to cause us to seek Him. We should think of this world as the front porch of a house. The porch is inviting and we like to be there. But we don’t live on the porch. God has designed the world to cause man to desire something more because God has more to give than what is in this world. The curse of sin and death means that this world is a temporary place for us. And we must consider the finite nature of life on earth when we are in pain or enjoying ourselves. Neither state will last. The pain need not make us bitter. The pleasure should not intoxicate us and make us too easily satisfied in this world.

God is the source of everything good in life. It is God who keeps the created order in order so that the earth continue to support human life. God sends the rains on the earth so that man can produce the crops needed for his food. “You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man's heart” (Psalm 104:14-15). When we sit down to eat and we pause to give thanks to God we are acknowledging this basic truth that God is the source of everything good in our lives. He gives us our daily bread and we depend on Him for it. Being thankful means acknowledging God as the source of every blessing. We must realize that God is good to all men, even the wicked who are not thankful to Him. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. Life is our opportunity to become familiar with the goodness of God and learn to prefer or desire God Himself. Those who reject God have no reason to expect anything good when their lives in this world have ended.

God is not simply good to mankind He is generously good. This principle is illustrated by the abundance and richness of the creation itself. Creation contains a vast variety of things for man to experience and enjoy. God has not just provided enough for us to barely subsist but has given us a rich bounty or resources to use and to enjoy. The richness and abundance of creation is a picture of the nature of God. God is not a skinflint or a miser but is generous with His creatures. Jesus taught us to remember this when we pray to God for what we need. When a child asks her parent for something like a piece of bread, no caring parent is going to give her a stone. And God is much more generous than even the most loving parent. This is not to encourage avarice. We are still to ask for our daily bread, but realize that God is already willing to give us what we need and even more.

It was God who made it possible for man to enjoy life in the world. Pleasure is a gift from God. God is not some kind of harsh taskmaster who treats us like prisoners or slaves. And being a spiritual person does not mean that we must be ascetics. Asceticism is the harsh treatment of the body and the denial of all physical pleasures. But pleasure itself is not a sin. Everything in this life that is within the will of God can be lawfully enjoyed. Nothing is sinful if glorifying God is at the center of everything we do. In fact, enjoying all of God’s good gifts is the very essence of spirituality. He gives us all things in this life to enjoy (1 Tim. 6.17). Of course, we can pursue pleasure and not God. But the idea that anything pleasurable must be sinful is not a Biblical idea.

More Revelation was Necessary

It is necessary to point out that, as much as God has revealed to man in the created world, the creation is itself only a partial revelation of God. There are certain things we can know about God through creation. First of all, we can know that God exists. We must start with that affirmation before we can move to anything else. But we can also conclude from creation that God is both wise and powerful. However, there are things we cannot know about God from creation. We cannot know that God is personal. That is, God might just be a kind of force rather than a personality. And then we cannot know from creation that God has any kind of purpose for human life. God made the world and made us to inhabit the world. But the creation does not tell us why God did these things. Creation cannot tell us that there is only one God. Perhaps the world was the result of several Divine beings working together. Creation cannot give us any hope of anything beyond death. In fact, death seems to just be the normal course of creation. If there is any hope of some kind of life beyond death, this must come from somewhere outside nature. Creation cannot bestow eternal life.

Creation is also an impersonal revelation. We often personify creation as if the world could speak to us. But it doesn’t really speak to us. The creation is not like mankind in that respect. We were made to rule the creation and to have fellowship with God. We cannot have the kind of fellowship with the creation that our hearts are longing for, though many people try. But what happens when we try to get close to nature? The first thing that often happens is that the vastness of creation makes us feel small. This is something God probably intends (See Psalm 8.3-4). But humility is one thing. Insignificance is another thing. Creation does not care for us. It is not looking at us at all. That is why we often feel alone and alienated when we get close to nature. Creation is to God what a painting is to an artist. The painting can tell us a little about the artist, but the painting is just a thing and is not itself the real person who made it.

The only way God could really make Himself known is by inserting Himself into the world. And this is exactly what the Gospel declares concerning the incarnation of the Son of God. God Himself has come into creation as a man in order to redeem, regenerate, and glorify creation. The incarnation of the Son of God was the first stage in the New Creation which will culminate in the resurrection of the dead and the New Heavens and Earth. We learn from the incarnation that the material world God made is not inherently evil or unspiritual. God Himself took on a body. Even in the resurrection we will still have bodies in which we will inhabit a real earth. The curse that is presently on creation must be lifted in the end and the creation must be saved just as we will be saved. The world in this present form will have to pass away. It was really just a starting point anyway, like the scaffolding that surrounds a new structure while it is being completed. God means for us to share in the glory of that New World when it finally comes in its fullness.

The Reason for Mercy

A Space to Repent

We now turn to the reason for God’s mercy. Mercy is never just a feeling but is always something actual and something helpful. When God has mercy it is not just that He has warm affections for us but it is a real action that comes to our aid in a time of need. But what is our true need? This is not a simple question. The Bible goes to great lengths to illustrate the human condition. The Scriptures clearly teach that man is fallen and alienated from God because of sin. Sin is the ultimate problem for humanity. The Bible also teaches salvation from sin. That is, a man can be changed from being a fallen, alienated sinner to being something entirely new and different. What makes this change possible? The mercy of God is what makes the salvation of sinners possible. On a larger scale, it is mercy that makes it possible for a nation to change. This change is also called repentance in Scripture and it is only made possible through the preaching of the Gospel of Christ and the mercy of God. If God were not merciful to the nations of the world, then no change would be possible and we would all die in our sins and be forever separated from God. But God shows His mercy to men by enabling them to repent, to change, and to then be acceptable to Him instead of coming under His wrath and judgement. We cannot change ourselves, or transform our basic nature, but we can move in a certain direction and make ourselves open to receiving the grace and mercy of God.

This turning to God, or repentance, is absolutely necessary for every nation and every individual person because, by nature, we are alienated from God. We are naturally turned away from God and we must turn around and walk in another direction that is toward God. We know that in Adam we are dead to God and are already rejected and condemned (See Rom. 5.12-14). Something has to change. But it is not God who must change. We must change if we are to become acceptable to God. It is God’s mercy that makes this change possible and it is our realization of our true condition, or our need for change, that makes us turn to God for His help. And God wants to help us. He wants all men to repent and come to know Him (1 Tim 2.4).

It should be obvious then that when we turn to God there are other things from which we are turning away. We cannot embrace God and also embrace that which is opposed to God. So turning to God means turning away from sin. Repentance means that the former state of alienation, or separation, between us and God is gone. There is peace between man and God instead of hostility and enmity. Repentance is the end of our rebellion against God and the acceptance of His will. The whole point of repentance is to actually turn to God and to begin to know Him as a friend rather than as an enemy. Repentance is more than behavior modification or morality, which can be achieved without God. However, it is not possible to turn to God without also turning toward a life of holiness, or separation from ungodliness.

So God’s mercy must be seen against the dark backdrop of His wrath. Wrath is God’s response and opposition to everything that is unlike Himself. The wrath of God is a controversial subject today. Many people simply reject the notion that God is capable of wrath. The Bible is very clear that God is capable of wrath. There is a part of us that wants God’s wrath because we want justice and we want to see evil successfully overcome in the world. But no one wants to think that he is himself under the wrath of God. We must remember that God is not a man. God’s wrath is a perfect expression of His perfect righteousness and holiness. God’s wrath is never petty or overblown like a man who selfishly loses his temper because he does not get his way. God is the true God and has a right to express His opposition to evil in His world. God is also merciful. Wrath and mercy perfectly coexist in God’s nature. Mercy does not cancel out God’s wrath, it delays it for a time and gives us a chance to turn to God. But eventually all opposition to God must be overcome. When the time comes we want to find ourselves at peace with God rather than being His enemies and opposed to Him.

Every person is on a collision-course with God. We will all stand before the presence of God one day in full realization of His person and presence. There is coming a day of judgement and accountability for every man and every nation on the earth. The ultimate measurement for any nation or individual man is in either being in agreement with God or being in opposition to Him and His will. Before that day of accountability comes, it is the mercy of God that gives us a chance to be ready for that Divine inspection. In the end, it will only be what God thinks of us that counts. The mercy of God can make us into something that will be both glorious and pleasing to God.

A Motivation to Turn to God

The mercy of God is what motivates us to turn to God and come to Him for help. If we did not know God was merciful and kind, then we would not come to God. In fact, there are many people who do not think God is merciful and they spend their lives trying to hide from God, just as Adam and Eve did in Eden. We should fear God. But we should also come to God for help. But there are many people who are ashamed to come to God and do not believe that He would receive them or forgive them for their sin. But this is a failure to understand the true nature of God. God is always ready to receive those who come to Him. Unfortunately, the view of God as a harsh taskmaster who is just waiting to find fault and to punish His servants is still alive and well in the minds of many people today.

That being said, we should not misconstrue the mercy of God as an excuse to keep on living in sin and alienation. The purpose of God’s mercy is to lead us back to Him, not further away into alienation. Mercy is help, not a license to continue in sin. God is really interested in us being with Him, not just that we keep the rules and tow the mark. God is a loving Father who wants to give generously to His children. But we must be in a position to receive from God’s hand. But if we leave the Father’s house, like the prodigal in Jesus’ famous parable, we will find ourselves in need with nowhere else to turn. But there are also people who remain alienated from God even while going about their religious duties and being outwardly moral. This is why we all need the mercy of God. The irreligious, immoral person needs mercy as well as the religious and outwardly moral.

But the message of the Bible is that we must come to God while His mercy is available. We must not delay because the days of mercy are limited. If we do not take advantage of God’s mercy, then we will only be storing up wrath for the Day of Judgement (Rom. 2.5). Every nation and each person individually is either storing up wrath or looking forward to salvation. The good news is that the mercy of God has come to us through Jesus Christ and has offered us a way to escape God’s wrath. That is why the Gospel is good news! There is both a warning about the wrath to come in the Gospel as well as a promise of salvation. But today is the Day of Salvation! We must heed the warning and make our escape, like Lot from Sodom, while we have the opportunity. Unfortunately, there are many people who do not believe they have anything to fear and therefore are not motivated to take advantage of God’s mercy. There is a false Gospel being preached today that gives a false peace and tells people they have nothing to fear, even if they do not repent and turn to God. Satan’s original lie was “you will not die.”

Satan’s lie has always been that we cannot really trust God. Satan wants us to believe that God is something like a cosmic kill-joy who delights in keeping us from really enjoying ourselves. But if we are going to come to God we must trust Him and believe that He is good and has our best interests in mind. Trust is fundamental to any relationship. Alienation, on the other hand, is always the result of a lack of trust. But many people continue to believe that they are better off without God. Adam and Eve made that choice in Eden and every nation along with every individual has repeated that choice to have a life apart from God. But what looks like glorious freedom and autonomy only turns out to be death in the end. There simply is nothing good apart from God. We cannot be happy without God. God did not make us to be apart from Him. The mercy of God says we can come home and be eternally happy.

A Crucial Practice

We rely on the mercy of God. But being merciful to others is a difficult practice. We tend to want mercy from God for ourselves, while we also routinely deny mercy to others. In fact, we tend to want mercy for ourselves and justice for those who offend us. We fail to remember that we have offended God and though we deserve justice, He has shown mercy. Being merciful does imply some kind of cost, even pain. The person being merciful is absorbing the cost himself, which is exactly what God did for us in the Cross of Christ. We can afford to be merciful even to our enemies because we are leaving the burden of justice to God. But we continue to struggle with this balance of justice and mercy.

God treats His enemies with mercy and kindness and He expects His people in the world to do likewise. Those who are not merciful will not receive mercy themselves. This does not mean that we must tolerate and subject ourselves to any and every kind of treatment or behavior. But it is particularly important that the people of God show mercy when being persecuted. We bless those who curse us and pray for those who persecute us. In this way we show ourselves to be sons of our Father in heaven, who basically does the same thing to humanity. In a world of anger, violence, resentment, and vengeance, God’s people are salt and light.

We have already seen that the Gospel is good news about the mercy and kindness of God to the nations of the world. The people of God who are representing God among the nations must act in a way that is in harmony with this message. We must be merciful. Many people avoid the Church and Christians because they do not perceive mercy but only judgement and rejection. What many people do not understand is that being merciful and encouraging repentance are not mutually exclusive activities. What many Christians do not understand is that we must be merciful and kind to those who are far from God, but without being unequally yoked up with them. Above all, Christians must remember the mercy of God to us when we are out there in a world that is far from God and in desperate need of His mercy.