Healthy Churches Transform Communities through Compassion, Mercy & Justice
Compassion, Mercy & Justice in the Bible
- Revealed in his laws
- Various Laws on compassion, mercy and justice (Ex 22:25, Lev 14:21, 19:9, 23:22, Prov 28:27, Ex 22:22-24)
- Law of the Tithe (Dt 26:12)
- A command (Dt 15:11)
- Reiterated by his prophets (Is 3:14-15, Jer 5:26-29, Amos 5:21-23, Micah 6:8
- Jesus Condemns Pharisees for not practicing these (Mt 23:23-24)
- Acts Church practiced care for poor believers (Acts 9:36, 10:4, 11:29-30)
- Apostles urges Paul to remember the Poor (Gal 2:10)
Compassion, Mercy & Justice are rooted in God’s Character (Exo 34:4-7)
- Compassion
- The strong tie God has with those whom he has called as his children (Psa. 103:13-14)
- God’s unconditioned choice (grace). (Hos. 11:8-9)
- God’s compassion is his willingness to show us favor.
- Anger is the Opposite of Compassion (Amos 1:11-12)
- Gracious – giving something one doesn’t deserve (2Sam. 12:22, 2Kings 13:23)
- Mercy is Displayed in the Character of God by
- Slow to anger (Prov. 15:18, 2Pt 3:9)
- Abounding in love (Hesed)
- unfailing love; covenantal faithfulness, kindness.
- undeserved power of God that sustains life (Psa. 6:4-5, Mic 7:18)
- enduring, persistent, even eternal. (Isa 54:10
- Abounding in faithfulness. (1Ki 10:6, 2 Tim 2:13)
- Emet = truth, accurate, reliable
- Justice is displayed by:
- Forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin
- Punishing the wicked (Ex 34:7).
Healthy Churches are filled with individuals who reflect the heart of God for the needy and poor.
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