Don: We are still covering the woes to the Pharisees, found in Matthew 23. Specifically, we’ve studied two “weightier matters of the law”—justice and mercy, and today we’re moving on to faith. Some people call it faithfulness. Or as it’s translated in Titus 2:10 (in some translations) fidelity, which is an interesting concept and something…

Last week we spoke about confession and our role, if any, in the process of forgiveness. Must we confess to be forgiven? Does God want our contrition in return for his mercy? And why does God forgive us for his sake? For as long as there have been Christians (and quite frankly even before that)…

We’ve been talking about mercy, or what we’ve called the path to forgiveness—a trait and a characteristic that Jesus calls a “weightier” matter of the law. Last week, we saw that in Biblical verse after verse God says that he forgives us for his sake. We’re trying to understand what exactly that means. That God…

Last week, the question was raised: How far does God’s mercy extend? Do we have to ask for mercy in order to get it? In other words: Is God’s mercy conditional upon our asking for it? Mercy is defined as the act of withholding deserved punishment. Grace, on the other hand, is defined as the…

In His fifth “Woe to the Pharisees” Jesus singled out three elements—justice, mercy and faith—as being the weightier matters of the law. It’s almost as if He’s quoting this passage from the Bible: “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to…

Throughout Scripture, justice is linked to God’s righteousness and considered foundational to both God’s character and His throne. If so, what is it that we should think about when we talk about the justice of God? If you were to ask Job’s friends, or if you were to ask Job himself, you’d get different answers…