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God determined the principle: “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” (Matthew 9.13). This principle is as true today in the Christian Dispensation as it was in the two previous dispensations, the Patriarchal and Mosaical. God’s passionate desire to win man’s heart has never abated since the first sin of our forefathers and will remain just as fervent until the last tick of the clock shall have been heard. God, our beneficent Father, wants all men to experience repentance (2 Peter 3.9), a genuine change of our heart’s allegiance that places God in the center of our otherwise meager existence.

The fallacy of the Pharisees can be simply stated. They thought that God would accept their acts of worship even when they were performed out of a sense of obligation rather than arising out of a heart that was overwhelmed with devotion toward God and a sincere desire to become like Him. This was the condition that prompted Jesus to say on one occasion, “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5.48). Luke recorded a significantly similar sermon in which Jesus said, “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” (Luke 6.35-36). The point was unmistakable; the Father is merciful (perfect) and so should we be! Once again, the condition of heart was of far greater value to God than mere outward conformance to rules.

Contrary to what I have heard taught on many occasions, God’s desire (even demand) for man’s heart was not instituted with the coming of the Gospel era. Long before Messiah set foot on this earth, God had clearly communicated the fact that heart-based devotion to Him was an absolute mandate. There is an old story about a young lad who was in trouble with his dad. After repeated threats from the dad, the boy was finally persuaded to sit down and listen to his father’s instructions. After repeated sighs, fidgets, and obvious attacks of nerves by the kid, the dad asked why he was so uncomfortable and ill at ease. The young lad was absolutely truthful when he said, “I have been forced to sit down on the outside, but I am standing up on the inside!” That, all too often, is how we have been with God; our “obedience” has been on the outside while we stubbornly rebelled inside!

Consider some passages from Deuteronomy (a book meaning second statement of the law). “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6.5). “And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul…” (Deuteronomy 10.12). “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.” (Deuteronomy 10.16). “And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.” (Deuteronomy 11.13,14). “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” Deuteronomy 30.6).

Living under a system of liberty (Galatians 5.1 & James 1.25), why would we want to go back under an inferior law that bases our acceptability to God upon our perfect obedience! It simply makes no sense once we step back and take in the big picture. God desires mercy and not sacrifice! (Continued)

Questions:

1. What evidence is there that God has pursued man passionately since the first sin of our forefathers?

2. Jesus said we are to be perfect like the Father. In what attribute did He state that the Father was perfect?

3. What does it mean to sit down on the outside but to stand up on the inside? Do you think God is pleased with such “obedience?”

4. Can law and liberty coexist? Do they in the life of a believer? Explain how this system can be compromised if we move too far to the right or left.

"The Way" from Kevin Pauley

The First Sin