Doing Justice and Loving Mercy: Compassion Ministries, Mentor's Guide, MG16

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D O I N G J U S T I C E A N D L O V I N G M E R C Y : C O M P A S S I O N M I N I S T R I E S

passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. [4] But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, [5] even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— [6] and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, [7] so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, [9] not a result of works, so that no one may boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. The story of our personal redemption is a story of transformation. Paul here tells the Ephesians the time line of their own new life in Christ, from their own tragic death in trespasses and sins, and enslavement to the tyranny of the devil to release, freedom, and good works in Christ. This story of transformation is the same for all true believers in Christ. Christian deliverance is movement, from the moment of the invasion of the Spirit into our worlds with his grace and salvation, to the full circle of our own good works and compassion that expresses a redeemed life. At the heart of all of this is the mercy of God, as Paul argues brilliantly, the “great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” It was mercy and love in the heart of God that motivated our great God and Father to send his own Son into the world on our behalf, and mercy and love in the heart of the Messiah that allowed him to die such a vicious and unjust death on our behalf. All of this momentous work was by grace, God’s undeserved favor which redeemed, infused the life of God into us, raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly places. Now, through the ages to come God will use us as trophies of his matchless and indescribable goodness revealed in the person of Messiah Jesus, and all of this, amazingly, is through God’s grace. Now, in light of such a wonderful and gracious salvation, what is the most appropriate expression that God’s people can extend? What is the inevitable manifestation of hearts made alive through the mercy, love, and grace of the eternal God in the death of his Son? How should we now then live? Paul is clear. In Ephesians 2.8-10 he lays out the truth regarding our salvation and its effects in our lives: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” We have been delivered from

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