REALITY SAN FRANCISCO COMMUNITY GROUP MATERIAL WEEK 4 GOD IS MERCY & GRACE EX 34:6, EPH 2:1-10
God is Mercy & Grace Luke 18:9-14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Discuss in your groups your first reactions to this parable. When we read this parable about the Pharisee and the Tax collector we see a stark contrast. The Pharisee devotes his prayer to God as a justification of himself. I fast twice a day. I give tithes, he says. You could translate the Pharisee s prayer into I do not deserve to be punished. Contrast the Pharisee with the Tax Collector and you see a much different condition of the heart. Be merciful to me, a sinner! says the distressed man. You could translate the Tax Collector s prayer into, Please don t give me the punishment I deserve. For us to understand, receive and then express the Mercy and Grace of God, there must first exist in us a humble heart. The postures of the two men in Jesus parable communicate the condition of their heart before God. The Pharisee stood alone, sizing up those around him while praying. The Tax Collector on the other hand, will not even lift his eyes to heaven and when he cries for Mercy he beats his chest in desperation. Perhaps one of the most frightening contrasts between the two men, and one that we should consider for our own walk of faith, is that the Pharisee seems to think he can live his life apart from the Grace of God, while the Tax Collector understands that there is no hope for him without the Grace of God. Can we live without God s grace in our lives? Are you living that way now?
Have you considered the need of God s Grace & Mercy in your own life? Why or why not? What does your answer reveal about how you consider God s Grace & Mercy? Mercy: Not Getting What You Deserve When the Pharisee says, Thank you that I am not like other men he makes a fatal theological flaw. The Pharisee has determined that God somehow ranks his people based on their performance. Nothing could be further from the truth. As we studied last week in Romans 3, Paul reminds us there is therefore no distinction, ALL have fallen short of the glory of God. This means that God is no more pleased with Mother Theresa than He is with Charles Manson. God hates the evil of this world and in each of us. And because we have all missed the mark we have earned the consequence: eternal separation from God. However (one of the most glorious words of grace), God has not condemned us without first offering Mercy. He s willing to withhold the consequence. Discuss the concept of Mercy in your groups. How does God s Mercy demonstrate His love for us? Grace: Getting what you don t deserve God does not stop with Mercy, withholding the punishment we deserve for our sinful nature, but extends to us also His Grace. Grace embodies the free gift of salvation, given to us by God through the crucifixion of Christ. Paul says that there is no greater expression of God s love for us than the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 1 Unfortunately, for most of us the power of Grace has become less relevant than it should be in our lives. Dietrich Bonhoffer referred to this as cheap grace 2, where we take for granted no only God s generosity to us, but also the severity or our sin towards God. Read Psalm 51 together. This is a Psalm of David, following the prophet Nathan s confrontation of the King regarding his sin with Bathsheba. How does this Psalm express God s Grace & Mercy? Have you ever been in a place of desperation such as David in this Psalm or the Tax Collector in Jesus parable? 1 Romans 5:8 2 Bonhoffer, Dietrich; The Cost of Disciplineship
How do we see that receiving God s Grace & Mercy is tied to the condition of our heart? Take time to pray together. Use this time to repent and receive God s Grace & Mercy that He offers freely to all who receive Christ as their Savior. The Cross: The manifestation of Mercy & Grace Ephesians 2: 1-10 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of man kind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. At Calvary, Christ manifested both the Mercy of God and the Grace of God. As Packer puts it, God s grace is receiving God s riches at Christ s expense 3. God demonstrated His mercy in that we were not punished for our deep sinfulness. We do not get what we deserve, instead Christ get s what he does not deserve the wrath of God toward evil. Just as amazingly, God demonstrated His grace by extending to us the reward of salvation. We get what we don t deserve, instead Christ doesn t get what he deserves instead of intimacy with God the Father, Jesus is separated from God given and the punishment of death. How great is God s love for us! Sometimes we tend to think that God in the Old Testament is a God of wrath, while God in the new testament (through Jesus) is a God of Mercy. We need to remember that God isn t merciful because Christ died on the cross, but instead Christ died on the cross because God is merciful.4 Read through Ephesians 2: 1-10 again in your group and discuss it. 3 Packer, J.I., Knowing God, p.128 4 Tozer, A.W., Attributes of God, p. 82
Have you considered recently the great weight of your sin? Have you considered the great price that Christ paid for you personally? Have you considered God s Mercy & Grace extended to you?