Mercy vs. Injustice

In this excerpt from his teaching series The Parables of Jesus, R.C. Sproul distinguishes mercy from injustice.

[robgrant]

Clarity is Dr. Sproul's gift and we all benefit from it.

[krazoChrist]

Genesis 18:25 "Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" (ESV)

It is difficult to grapple with the idea of free will, along with the idea of a Sovereign God who predestines the end from the beginning; but the two concepts are not mutually exclusive, it is just difficult for us to comprehend the magnitude of God's sovereignty in a way that reconciles our understanding of freedom. Are we free to do what God has not forseen? No. Does God choose who will be saved based on how they are predicted to respond? No, because that would render God dependent on our actions. God does as He pleases, and no action on our part, past, present, or future, can merit salvation. The often unasked question is, how then does God decide whom He will save, and whom He will not save, and for what reason? The Bible happens to answer that question.

1 Corinthians 1:27 "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God."

So, God's decision to save the specific people He chooses to save is based on His own desire to (1) humble the self-righteous, and (2) to glorify His own righteousness. He has chosen the dregs and scum of humanity as a way of condemning the proud and arrogant, and as a way of displaying His grace and mercy at its most graceful and merciful. For, if even the greatest humanity has to offer is deserving of wrath, how much more so the least of us? Yet, God has chosen the least in order to display His power at its greatest, by not only forgiving the most wretched, but also by sanctifying them with His own Spirit, and by perfecting them through the glorification obtained by His own precious blood. It is all for the glory of God.

[readJames]

I miss RC!...beautiful memories on tape like this!

[ineedtruth.]

If I don't receive mercy at least I hope my family does. So frustrating they won't wake up to what is happening.

[winnen]

There is no such thing as NON-JUSTICE. You cannot find one(1)Reformed theologian in the history of the church who ever used this term. God is JUST in Christ in showing mercy to His Elect.

[norbertjendruschj]

Every judge will tell you from personal experience that the 3 categories of justice, injustice and grace are not so neatly seperated as Mr. Sproul thinks.

[austind]

What a sad worldview.

He openly admits there is no distinct between those who will suffer eternal conscious torment and those who will inherit paradise but an unknowable will.

Let the horror of that sit for a second before you rationalize it.