Be Merciful !!

We can show mercy to others because God has shown mercy to us.

"Blessed are the merciful [to people], for they shall obtain [abundance of ] mercy [from God]." (Mat 5:7, NKJV).

Q: Does this mean that we should never reprove? Even when God tells us to... reprove?

Even when He has sent you “to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.”???

A: Mercy is something that God does not give us what we rightfully deserve. We deserve the wrath of God for all our sins, but in Christ Jesus we received forgiveness and salvation as a free gift from Him.

1) Apostle Paul says when you reprove a brother, do it with gentleness knowing that you too have the same evil potential to fall in to the same sin but for the grace of God (Gal 6:1-2). To have a empathetic heart towards others is to show mercy to them.

2) To speak and do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty [i.e. grace] is to be merciful to others (James 2:12-13).

3) We do not and cannot open the eyes of those who are in darkness, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict and draw then towards the message of the forgiveness of the Cross (John 16:8). It is our duty to preach the gospel with a heart of mercy and not condemn people with our message (Matt 28:19; John 3:17).

4) When people have a hardened heart of unbelief and do not receive the message of the Cross, the Holy Spirit may reprove through us as He did through Stephen the first martyr of the Church (Acts 7:51-52). Yet we see that it is not Stephen who spoke but the Holy Spirit is the one who spoke through him (Acts 6:10; 7:54-60). Notice the merciful heart of Stephen when he spoke such great reproof in Acts 7:60 in which he says, "Lord, do not charge them [i.e. my killers] with this sin." O glory to God!!! What a merciful heart just like Jesus on the Cross Stephen exhibited to his killers (Luke 23:34). Praise the Lord!

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