A Merciful God

2Cor. 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Deuteronomy 6:4-6

4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: 

5 And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 

6 And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart:

Jesus had to obey this commandment every second of every minute, every hour, every day, every month, year in order to qualify as the perfect lamb to die on the cross.

Do you see the need for 100% complete obedience and surrender to the Father.
Complete focus, attention, devotion.

Every single thought, every word, every act  … complete obedience.

Who among us can claim this for a lifetime, a year, a day, an hour ?

before we responded to the call of the Father to come to the Son (John 6:44)

we were:

desperately wicked (Jerem 17:9)

altogether filthy (Psalm 53)

unclean thing (Isaiah 64:6)

judged and condemned (John 3:18)

unrighteous (Rom 1:18)

darkened heart (Rom 1:21)

unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: (Romans 1:29-31)

sinners (Rom 5:8

children of wrath (Eph 2:3)

we have nothing to offer God , in an of ourselves

Rom. 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Rom. 3:24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

gift = δωρεὰν  = a free gift, gift for nothing, for no cause

John 15:25 “But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’  (same word = δωρεὰν)  

(fulfilling Psalm 69:4) Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies; What I did not steal, I then have to restore.

so Romans 3:24 might be easily read as
being justified by Him, in response to nothing we have done or could do, by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

Rom. 3:25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;

Rom. 3:26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Once we respond to the call to come to the Son, and use the ability He gives us to see our need for the Savior and accept Him as Lord,   we enter into a different state of being.

Positional state

(declared righteous by the Father)

experiential state

(begin to see the work of all members of the Triune God in our hearts and minds)

The Father even has a different list of names and characterizations to describe us.

I AM …	REFERENCE
blameless and free from accusation	Colossians 1:22
vessel of Christs glory	Colossians 1:27
firmly rooted in Christ and am now being built in Him	Colossians 2:7
made complete in Christ	Colossians 2:10
spiritually circumcised. My old unregenerate nature has been removed	Colossians 2:11
buried, raised and made alive with Christ	Colossians 2:12,13
I died with Christ and raised up with Christ. My life is now hidden with Christ in God. Christ is now my life	Colossians 3:1-4
an expression of the life of Christ because He is my life	Colossians 3:4
chosen of God, holy and dearly loved	Colossians 3:12; 1 Thess. 1:4
a son of light and not of darkness	1 Thessalonians 5:5
given a spirit of power, love and self discipline	2 Timothy 1:7
saved and set apart according to God’s doing	2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 3:5
His brother	Heb. 2:11
a holy partaker of a Heavenly calling	Hebrews 3:1
can  come boldly before the throne of God to find mercy and grace in a time of need	Heb. 4:16
born again	1 Peter 1:23
one of God’s living stones	1 Peter 2:5
a member of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession	1 Peter 2:9,10
an alien and stranger to this world in which I temporarily live	1 Peter 2:11
an enemy of the devil	1 Peter 2:11
given exceedingly great and precious promises by God by which a partaker of God’s divine nature	2 Peter 1:4
forgiven on the account of Jesus’ name	1 John 2:12
anointed by God	1 John 2:27
a child of God and I will resemble Christ when He returns	1 John 3:1,2
loved	1 John 4:10
like Christ	1 John 4:17
I have life	1 John 5:12
born of God and the evil one, the devil, cannot touch me	1 John 5:18
redeemed	Revelation 5:9
healed	Isaiah 53:5
established, anointed and sealed by God in Christ, and given to the Holy Spirit as a pledge guaranteeing my inheritance to come	2 Cor. 1:21; Eph:1:13,14
led by God in triumphal procession	2 Corinthians 2:14
to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing	2 Cor. 2:15
being changed into the likeness of Christ	2 Corinthians 3:18
Since I have died, I no longer live for myself, but for Christ	2 Corinthians 5:14,15
a new creation	2 Corinthians 5:17
reconciled to God	2 Corinthians 5:18,19
minister of reconciliation	2 Corinthians 5:18,19
made righteous	2 Corinthians 5:21
given strength in exchange for weakness	2 Corinthians 12:10
crucified with Christ	Galatians 2:20
a son of God and one in Christ	Galatians 3:26,28
Abraham’s seed, an heir of the promise	Galatians 3:29
an heir of God since a son of God	Galatians 4:6,7
a saint	Ephesians 1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2
blessed with every spiritual blessing	Ephesians 1:3
I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame before Him	Ephesians 1:4
I was predestined, determined by God, to be adopted as God’s son	Ephesians 1:5
sealed with the Holy Sprit	Ephesians 1:13
redeemed and forgiven and a recipient of His lavish grace	Ephesians 1:6,7
made alive together with Christ	Ephesians 2:5
raised up and seated with Christ in Heaven	Ephesians 2:6
God’s workmanship, His handiwork, born anew in Christ to do His work	Ephesians 2:10
I have direct access to God through the Spirit	Ephesians 2:18
a fellow citizen with the rest of God’s family	Ephesians 2:19
I may approach God with boldness, freedom, and confidence	Ephesians 3:12
righteous and holy	Ephesians 4:24
a citizen of Heaven, seated in Heaven right now	Philippians 3:20; Ephesians 2:6
capable	Philippians 4:13
rescued from the domain of Satan’s rule and transferred to the kingdom of Christ	Col 1:13
redeemed and forgiven of all my sins. The debt against me has been cancelled	Col. 1:14
the salt of the earth	Matthew 5:13
the light of the world	Matthew 5:14
commissioned to make disciples	Matthew 28:19,20
a child of God	John 1:12
I have eternal life	John 10:28
given peace	John 14:27
part of the true vine, a channel of Christ’s life	John 15:1,5
clean	John 15:3
Christ’s friend	John 15:15
chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit	John 15:16
given glory	John 17:22
justified and completely forgiven and made righteous	Romans 5:1
I died with Christ and died to the power of sin’s rule over my life	Romans 6:1-6
a slave of righteousness	Romans 6:18
free from sin and enslaved to God	Romans 6:22
free forever from condemnation	Romans 8:1
a son of God; God is spiritually my Father	Romans 8:14,15 & Galatians 3:26; 4:6
a joint heir with Christ, sharing His inheritance with Him	Romans 8:17
more than a conqueror through Christ who loves me	Romans 8:37
I have faith	Romans 12:3
sanctified and called to holiness	1 Corinthians 1:2
given grace in Christ Jesus	1 Corinthians 1:4
placed into Christ by God’s doing	1 Corinthians 1:30
I have received the Spirit of God into my life that I might know the things freely given to me by God	1 Corinthians 2:12
given the mind of Christ	1 Corinthians 2:16
a temple, a dwelling place of God. His Spirit and His life dwell in me	1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19
united to the Lord and am one spirit with Him	1 Corinthians 6:17
bought with a price; not my own; I belong to God	1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; 7:23
called	1 Corinthians 7:17
a member of Christ’s Body	1 Corinthians 12:12-20
victorious through Jesus Christ	1 Corinthians 15:57