Matthew 9:9-13
Jesus Came for Sinners
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
John 1:14
Jesus is Full of Grace and Truth
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Ephesians 2:1-10
Made Alive in Jesus
1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time,gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace,expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
What would become of us if God did not offer us mercy and grace?...God's mercy and grace are two of the greatest gifts we are given from Him...Jesus says that God wants us to learn that God desires mercy and not sacrifice...And God is rich in mercy, and we are made alive in His Son...And God is full of grace...It is by His grace that we have been saved through our belief and faith in God...Grace is a gift from God...We often want justice, but do we want God's judgment in the end...We need help from Jesus for our own decisions and choices and God's judgment for the sins we do...Mercy is a deliverance from judgment...And God's mercy is also a gift for those who believe in Him...Mercy and grace are a path to eternal life...
Reverend R. C. Sproul said this about mercy and grace..."As soon as we talk about deserving something, we are no longer talking about grace; we are talking about justice...Only justice can be deserved...God is never obligated to be merciful...Mercy and grace must be voluntary or they are no longer mercy and grace."...
We do not deserve God's mercy and grace...In the daily choices and decisions we make we fall short of the glory of God...But as Jesus taught the good news, mercy and grace can be seen in Him...We see that Jesus is much about mercy and grace...And mercy and grace and best seen in the salvation that Jesus brings us with His death on the cross...Jesus' sacrifice brought us His mercy and His show of LOVE...There is love, where there is mercy and grace...