Mercy Now and unto Eternal Life

We were brought to initial salvation because of God’s mercy and we come forward to the throne of grace to seek mercy and grace throughout our Christian life in this age.

Then Jude 20-21 admonishes us “But you, beloved, building up yourselves upon your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” Here we pray and labor for building up to remain in the love of God.

And we are awaiting mercy “unto eternal life.” From our initial salvation we already have eternal life but we are waiting for the fuller experience of this life in the coming kingdom age. Even to enter into that stage of salvation we need the Lord’s mercy.

To enter into eternal life, as in the earlier portions of our Christian life, we alone in ourselves are not qualified. We need what the Lord has prepared for us, what He accomplished in His death and resurrection, what He is to us and works into us. He is our qualification. This is God’s mercy to us.

Since God has been abundantly merciful to us, Jude 22-23 exhorts us to be merciful to others. Eventually all God’s chosen people will be together with Him in New Jerusalem. This will be an eternal display of His mercy and of His many other divine attributes.

Posted by Don on August 5, 2024

https://newjerusalem12.wordpress.com/2024/08/05/mercy-now-and-unto-eternal-life/