THE Epistle to the Romans teems with deep and rich expressions of God’s mercy, and the more thoroughly the sinner takes his true place as snob before God, the more will he appreciate this mercy, which brings with it all that he needs for time and eternity.
In the first part of the Epistle, special care is taken to trove what man, be he Jew or Gentile, really is before God; and the first point I would seek to press upon the reader is the language of the Holy Ghost through Paul in chap. 3:9, “We have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin.”
Certain it is, dear friend, that if you are still unsaved this is your condition, “under sin.”
You may be glorying in your fancied freedom, while all the time the case is proved that all, and therefore you, are under sin. This surely is to be under its dominion, a slave to it, in short, and exposed to all its consequences. From this verse the Apostle goes on to affirm that “there is none righteous,” none that doeth good, none that seeketh after God, &c. Suppose, then, that such a company were arraigned before the tribunal of God, who must ever judge in righteousness, what must be his inevitable sentence? Why, every mouth is stopped, and all the world become guilty before Him (Rom. 3:1919Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. (Romans 3:19)). What witnesses would avail at such a court? You might bring forward testimonies to your morality, amiability or even righteousness, but there it is proven that you are under sin, for all are guilty, for all have become so; and therefore you are subject to the judgment of God.
Will you still plead not guilty, and try to escape this just sentence which is passed upon all?
This surely is madness, and only proven the hardness of your heart and the deceitfulness of the sin you are under. Far better that your mouth should be stopped, as it must be sooner or later; that you should bow to the sentence of guilt passed upon all by God Himself. Nor is this all, for the verse at the head of this paper asserts that God hath concluded all in unbelief. How sweeping this is all proved under sin, every mouth stopped, all the world become guilty, and all concluded in unbelief; and all this stated by God Himself, who knows the human heart thoroughly, and man’s state by nature.
If these things be so, how urgent is your necessity, dear unconverted reader, to face them now, when you may learn how to escape all the dire consequences of such a condition! Your standing before men may be all that is commendable, and this may do for a time, when you are enjoying life and health; but measure yourself in the presence of God, in the light of eternity. Bowing to His word, reason thus with yourself: If all are under sin, I must be; if all are guilty, I am necessarily so; if all are concluded in unbelief, I must be an unbeliever; and if this be so, then clearly I am exposed to the righteous judgment of God, and am just awaiting the execution of it.
Think of an earthly tribunal—the prisoner and the witnesses on both sides are heard, the jury retire and again come forth, the judge asks their verdict, and amid the deathless silence of the court the word “guilty” is pronounced. The judge then, turning to the prisoner, tells him it is his solemn duty to pass sentence upon him, that the unanimous verdict of the jury is that he is guilty.
Shall the prisoner be unmoved? will it avail him aught to plead “not guilty,” to refuse to believe what is proved against him? The sentence is passed, he retires from the bar to his cell, there to await the execution of that sentence. True it is that such a verdict and such a sentence passed by man might be a false one, but not so with God, who needs no jury to decide the matter, but knows all Himself.
If, then, He has proved you to be under sin and guilty, will you still refuse to believe it? Alas, too many do, and go on under the dominion of sin, thus deepening their guilt and increasing the judgment that must ere long fall upon them, “that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thess. 2:1212That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:12)).
But, now, if all this be the background of the picture presented to us in Romans, what is the picture itself? “That He might have mercy upon all.” What news for guilty ones! And this standing out in bold relief, the more so that the background is so dark. If you accept the judgment, and own your guilt and unbelief, then the mercy of God comes gushing forth upon you, as upon all who will receive it. A tenderhearted judge might long to set the condemned man free, or at least to extenuate his sentence, but as a judge he cannot; he is bound to act according to the laws of the country. Ere the day of execution arrives, however, the door of the prisoner’s cell is opened, an officer enters with a document in his hand, containing the death warrant? No; for that had been already given; but a message of mercy from her gracious majesty the Queen, with her own signature and seal attached to it. The prisoner now, perhaps, confessing his guilt and dreading his doom, according to the verdict of the judge, receives this pardon according to the Queen’s word, and, believing it, his fears remove, he rejoices with trembling, and leaves the cell a free man.
This is mercy at the expense of justice, yet still it affords us an illustration of our theme.
How shall God act, Himself the judge? Can He change the sentence? Shall He make light of the sin, or lessen the guilt? Never! How, then, can He have mercy upon all?
The cross of Christ is God’s wondrous answer to this question. There, dear friend, you may see the Son of God Himself―the spotless victim, the substitute for man, bearing all the terrible judgment due to our sin, suffering, the just for the unjust, taking the place of the guilty.
There mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace kiss each other. Oh! learn in your very heart the meaning of that cry, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” and, having accepted your place as under sin, guilty and unbelieving, even now believe that God’s beloved Son has taken your place, and borne all the judgment that your sin demanded.
“He took the guilty culprit’s place,
And suffered in his stead;
For man, O miracle of Grace!
For man the Saviour bled”
Thus it is that God’s rich mercy can gush forth from a heart of deepest love, as from a throne of unsullied holiness, and reach you in all your sins with a free pardon and a full salvation.
Yes, “mercy upon all” is our glorious theme.
In righteousness now God delights to show it.
Do you now, then, accept this mercy, with all the blessings it brings in its train―pardon, peace, salvation, eternal life? yea, every blessing may now be yours, and all through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has set Him forth, a propitiation (mercy-seat), through faith in His beloved.
This is the mystery of love, this is how God can be just, and yet the Justifier of him that believeth in Jesus. Even thus, that Jesus Himself has borne all the sins and been judged for all the sin, so that God can have mercy on all who simply believe in Him. The prison-door flies open, the messenger of God unfolds the pages of His own Word. There I see all my sins portrayed, all my sins exposed, and now believing, I learn that all the value of Christ’s work and all the preciousness of His blood is put to my credit; that God is satisfied and His justice vindicated at Calvary’s Cross, and in righteousness His mercy reaches me, laden with all the fruits of the victory of Jesus, and I am free.
The mercy is as true as the guilt, but you must own the latter in order to appreciate the former It may be my reader is awakened, conscious of guilt and unbelief, yet though the word of God tells of mercy—you hesitate to accept it; you think of your unworthiness, and of how you have despised that mercy so long. This you cannot own too deeply. Nevertheless, the same word that proves your guilt assures you of mercy, and that upon all; therefore you may claim it. You may even now rejoice as a recipient of it. Instead of waiting for the execution of the judgment, you discover that this is all past as regards your sins, and now you just wait for the glory, where you shall only learn more and more of the boundless mercy of God, that reached even you, through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now we believe in this mercy; then we shall learn all the unmeasured love of God, and the richness of the mercy that could save us from the eternal wrath, which we deserved, and secure for us eternal glory, giving us even now the title to be there. Surely we should more often sing
“O God, we acknowledge
The depth of Thy riches:
For of Thee, and through Thee,
And to Thee are all things;
How rich is Thy mercy!
How great Thy salvation!
We bless Thee, we praise
Thee, Amen and amen.”
T. E. P.