WEEKLY DEVOTION: Called entirely of God’s mercy

— “So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.” Rom. 9:16 (Read Rom. 9)

Why am I a Christian? Why was I brought to know and trust in Christ Jesus as my Savior from sin, death and eternal damnation?

Do I deserve it? Certainly not! God would be perfectly just if He left me to my sinful ways and hardened my heart to Him and His Word. After all, look what He did to Pharaoh in the Old Testament. Am I in some way less skeptical and hardhearted than Pharaoh? Consider King Saul. I am a sinner like Saul and no better than he. Why hasn’t God rejected me? Think of all those upon whom God’s judgment fell. Why hasn’t it fallen upon me? Think of all the lost and condemned sinners of our day who do not know and trust in Jesus. Why do I know and believe?

God’s Word gives us the answer: “So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.”

The fact that I was brought to Christ in Baptism and He was revealed to me through His Word is of God’s grace and mercy alone. The fact that I now know Jesus as the Son of God and my Savior and believe that God accepts and forgives me because of the innocent sufferings and death of Jesus Christ is entirely of God’s gracious working. I did not choose Jesus, He showed mercy and chose me!

The fact that I continue to trust in my crucified and risen Savior and look forward to His return is not because of my lifestyle or my works; I come short. It is entirely of God’s mercy in Jesus!

Entirely of the grace of God, I was chosen before the foundation of the world, predestined to be saved and recreated in Christ’s image, and called to faith and preserved in that faith through the Gospel of forgiveness (cf. Eph. 1:3-14; 2:8-10; 2 Tim. 1:9-10; Rom. 8:28-30; 9:15; Ex. 33:19; Phil. 1:6; 2 Tim. 4:18).

And the same thing is true of you: “It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy.”

By the grace and mercy of God in Christ Jesus, you and I have been grafted into spiritual Israel. In God’s mercy, you and I have been made children of Abraham through faith in Christ Jesus (cf. Gal. 3:26-29) even while many physical descendants of Abraham were cut off because of unbelief - they sought to be righteous by their own works rather than through faith in the perfect righteousness of Jesus, who suffered and died for all sin and rose again in victory. We who once were not a people are now, because of His mercy, the people of God.

Thank You, O God, for showing mercy to me and bringing me to know and trust in Christ Jesus, my Savior. In His name, I give You all glory and praise. Amen.

[Devotion by Randy Moll. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

News, Pages 7 on 09/12/2012