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Can I depend on God’s mercy to save me? The Universalists seem to think that God’s love, mercy, and grace will ultimately triumph over all evil, resulting in the eternal salvation of every mortal who ever lived. Is this a proper concept of mercy? If not, what view ought I to adopt concerning God’s mercy and those to whom it is manifested?

Some fundamentals are in order. Though God’s love, mercy, and grace are essential to the salvation of every soul, none of these can save apart from a righteous response from the hearer of the gospel. God’ love is absolutely and undeniably unconditional. That means that He loves every person robed in human flesh. He loved every soul that perished in the flood; He loved every person who died in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; He loved the oppressive Egyptians who perished in the collapsing walls of the Red Sea; He loved the rich man in Luke 16 who was confined to Hades and eternal torments. But, God’s love alone cannot save! Otherwise, none of those mentioned would have perished. God’s love is unconditional; salvation is not.

Unlike love, God’s grace and mercy are not unconditional. For emphasis, we will state it another way; the obtaining of God’s grace and mercy is conditional. This point is proven in many, many biblical texts, but one which demonstrates it very clearly comes from the work of Hosea. There are numerous symbols in the book, many of them graphically portrayed in the personal tragedies in Hosea’s life. The children born to him by his wife, Gomer, are powerful object lessons which testify to the fact that God’s mercy had boundaries to it; it will reach very, very far, but it is not boundless! His mercy never perishes (Psalm 136), but there are conditions that result from the choices of men that make the extension of mercy inconsistent with God’s overall purposes. As noted in the first two chapters of Hosea, God had extended mercy to Israel, but a time was coming when that mercy would be denied. Likewise, a people who had not been the recipients of God’s mercy would be favored by becoming known as God’s people.

Can I count on God’s mercy to save me? The answer is, “Yes and no!” If by, “…count on His mercy,” I mean depend upon it alone and that in spite of my response to His call for salvation, the answer is, “No!” If by count on God’s mercy, I mean throw myself on the mercy of the heavenly court while doing all I can possible do to please Him, the answer is, “Yes, I can depend upon God’s mercy to save me!” The same answers can also be given concerning God’s grace. Neither grace nor mercy is a license to ignore God’s demands upon my life.

Paul answered these questions for all time when he wrote, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6.1-3). The line of demarcation between God’s grace and continuing in sin is drawn at the waters of baptism just as surely as that line was etched in the stone of Jesus' tomb! God’s mercy is available to all who submit in humility and seek it on His terms!

Questions:

1. Do you believe that God loved the people who perished in the flood? If not, why did He send Noah to preach to them, seeking their repentance (see 2 Peter 2.5)?

2. Does God chastise those whom He loves (see Hebrews 12.5-12)? Is the absence of chastisement a sign of the presence of God’s love? Is the presence of chastisement a sign of the absence of God’s love?

3. Will love alone save? Will mercy alone save? Will grace alone save? Will anything alone save?

4. What connection does Paul express between baptism and the believer's death to sin?

"The Way" from Kevin Pauley

A World of One