Dimensions

of
Mercy

copyright 2000
by
Malcolm B. Mathieson, Jr.
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“Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard, and a maid approached him
and said, ‘You also were with Jesus of Galilee.’ But he denied it
before them all, saying, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!’
When he went out to the porch, another maid saw him and said
to the bystanders, ‘This man also was with Jesus of Nazareth!’ Again
Peter denied it, this time with an oath.
After awhile the bystanders approached Peter and said, ‘You
certainly are one of them - your accent betrays you!’ Then Peter
began to curse and swear, saying ‘I don’t know the man!’ Immediately
the rooster crowed, and Peter remembered the words of Jesus:
‘Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times.’ And Peter left
the courtyard, and cried bitterly...” (Matthew 26:69-75)

We might reasonably expect Peter’s story to end here. Deserting a

human leader in this way is bad enough, but Peter had clearly, firmly
stated before all the other disciples that Jesus was the Messiah, the
Son of the Living God. At a time when many of Jesus’ followers were
leaving Him because of His doctrine, Jesus asked the twelve, “Will
you leave also?” Peter was the one who answered for them all:
“Master, who would we go to? You have the words of eternal life.”
Peter had bragged that he would die with Jesus rather than leave
Him. Peter’s honor died in the courtyard of the High Priest.

But Peter’s story did NOT end there. Instead, Peter became the
boldest of the twelve. During Pentecost, we find him in the Temple, no
less, publicly accusing the priests of having murdered the Messiah!
AND claiming to have seen that Messiah raised from the dead!

In Luke 24:33-34 we discover that Jesus appeared to Peter

separately from the rest of the twelve disciples. In the book of Acts,
Peter is once again an aggressive tornado. He cannot be bought out,
scared off, or shouted down. He acts like a man unconscious of guilt.
Given Peter’s meeting with the resurrected Christ and then this kind
of behavior, what must we conclude about Peter’s sin?
It was forgiven.
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God did NOT record this to embarrass Peter, but to encourage those
who are afraid of God because of their sins.

Do you know how much God loves you? Do you realize that nothing
you can do will make Him stop loving you? God told the prophet
Ezekiel, “Tell them that the Supreme God says, ‘As surely as I live, I
have no pleasure in the death of the wicked. I would rather that they
turn from their evil ways and live.’ ” (Ezekiel 33:11) Jesus said, “I did
NOT come to call the righteous to repentance - I came to call
sinners to repentance.” (Mark 2:17b)

God is not waiting with a big stick to beat you for your sins. He
doesn’t need your permission to punish you. 1st John 1:9 tells us that
when the Holy Spirit points out your sins to you, it’s because God is
offering you a pardon rather than a punishment: “If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us AND to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” John also wrote, “...if anyone does sin, we have an
attorney with the Father. Jesus Christ the Righteous is our attorney,
and He is Himself the payment of our fine for sin...your sins are
forgiven for His sake.” (1st John, chapter 2, from verses 1, 2, and 12)

Everywhere you turn in the Bible you find the same love reaching out
to you. Look what God does with your sins:
1) Isaiah 38:17: “...You [that is, God] have put all my sins behind
Your back.” Out of sight, out of mind. The obvious meaning is that
God has no interest in our sins.
2) Isaiah 43:25: “I...will remember their sins no more.” God
Himself says that He will deliberately choose to forget our sins.
3) Psalm 103:11: “...as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His love for those who honor and respect Him.” Instead of
your sins hanging over you, God’s mercy hangs over you...all the way
up to Heaven. (IF you honor and respect Him.)
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4) Psalm 103:12: “As far as the east is from the west, so far has
He removed our rebellion from us.” Remember that it’s doubtful that
King David, the author of this Psalm, knew the earth was round. Even
if he did, east was still many lifetimes away from west...because
people of that time were limited to traveling by boat, animal, or foot.
Twenty-five HUNDRED years passed before Magellan was able to
sail all the way around the earth. Obviously David is using the most
forceful, absolute illustrations he can think of to convey his
awareness of being totally, completely separated from his sins.
5) Micah 7:19: “...[the Lord] will throw all our sins into the
deepest part of the sea.” Remember that Micah knew less about the
ocean bottom than he did about the stars - at least he could SEE
the stars! The most skillful, best-equipped aqualung divers of today
only descend to about 130 feet. The “deepest part of the sea” (the
Mariannas trench) is about 35,800 feet deep: 275 times as far down.
Anything lost overboard in Micah’s day was gone forever [repeat,
GONE FOREVER] if the water was only 150 feet deep. Once again,
the illustration has obviously been chosen to portray total and eternal
removal of our sins.
6) Psalm 103:17: “...from everlasting to everlasting the mercy of
the Lord is upon them who respect and honor Him.” How would it be
possible to make a more definite statement than that?

NOTICE that these six verses tell us that our sins are separated from
us in God’s mind, in all dimensions of space, and in time. That is a
very thorough disposal of hazardous waste. But God does NOT stop
there:

(Isaiah 1:18) “ ‘Come now, let us reason together,’ the Lord says.
‘Even if your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
even if they are as red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’ ”
Scarlet and crimson were “fast” dyes - they didn’t fade. That
was uncommon in those days. God is saying, “If your sins are
permanent, indelible, too strong for any priest or psychiatrist to help
you with, bring them to Me. I, the Lord, can deal with any sin.”
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(Colossians 2:13-14) “And you, who were dead in your sins and your
uncircumcision, God has made alive with Christ. He forgave all our
sins; He blotted out the records that were against us.” First God says
that He washes out the record of your sins, then He pours ink on the
legal records so that no one can ever read them again.

GOD COULD NOT POSSIBLY SAY IT ANY PLAINER! “God did NOT
send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order to
save the world through Him.” (John 3:17)

I have quoted from the Old Testament, written before Jesus was born.
Remember that the system of laws and sacrifices the Jews observed
(usually called “the Law of Moses”) was the valid and God-ordained
prelude to the coming of the Messiah. Since the death and
resurrection of Jesus the Messiah, we are not bound by those laws,
but by that which those laws represented: the Messiah’s sacrifice of
Himself for us. Writing in Hebrews chapter 10 to Jews of his own
time, the apostle Paul said the following:
1) the Law of Moses was a shadow of what was to come,
2) it was not possible for the sacrificing of bulls and goats to take
away sins, and
3) we are all sanctified (made holy in God’s eyes) by the offering of
the body of Jesus.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except by Me.” (John 14:6) The book of Acts says, “Neither is
there salvation in any other, for there is no other name given under
heaven among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) If this
sounds narrow-minded, remember that God is offering salvation and
a pardon for sins to anyone who will trust and rely on Jesus. It is true
that if you become a Christian you should do the things Jesus
commands, and especially share the good news of free salvation with
others.
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However, this is what you should do out of gratitude BECAUSE you

are saved, because it is necessary so that you will be a believable
witness when you tell others about Jesus, and because you want to
earn a reward in Heaven. This is NOT how you become saved.

In Acts 16:30-31, the apostle Paul and Silas (who were in jail for
telling people about Jesus) told their jailer that in order to be saved he
should believe in Jesus. Period. No more required. End of story. BUT
notice that BECAUSE the jailer believed, he acted: he took Paul and
Silas out of jail, treated the wounds the officers had inflicted on them,
and the jailer with his entire household was immediately baptized.
BECAUSE he believed. Got it? Jesus said, “If you love Me, obey My
commandments.” (John 14:15 and 21; also 15:10) He also said, “If
you are ashamed of Me and of My words, I will be ashamed of you
when I return in My glory and in the glory of My Father and the holy
angels.” If you want to know what Jesus’ commandments are, read
the New Testament.

If you are a new Christian, I recommend that you first read the Gospel
of John (not 1st, 2nd, or 3rd John), and then maybe Galatians. Just start
reading. I guarantee the answers you’re looking for are in the Bible
somewhere. Some answers are more obvious than others, but
everything you need to know is there. There will always be some
questions you can’t find answers for. I’ve been a believer in Jesus
since 1959, and I don’t have it ALL figured out, but I have had so
many questions answered and doubts resolved that I know I’ve got
the answer sheet to the exam of Life. It would be great to have a copy
of Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, and also a Thompson’s Chain
Reference Bible, IF you have the time to study with them. All you
really have to have, though, is enough of the Bible to cause you to
believe in Jesus. Any translation that you can understand is good
enough. Good luck. I’ll see you in Heaven.