Habakkuk asked God during one of their chats to “remember mercy in His wrath.” It’s tucked away in Hab. 3:2. I cannot remember or recall the number of times I have uttered this to God in the form of a prayer request, a plea for mercy. I am staggered at God’s goodness to me in light of all my sin. I’m not referring to my sin that I committed prior to him saving me, but the sins I have committed after salvation. I am stunned over and again as I reflect on God’s mercy to me post-salvation.
Why does he tolerate me? Why does he put up with me? Why does he forgive me over and again? I could be hopelessly discouraged by my on-going sin patterns as well as my short, interludes with sin as I seek to satisfy my flesh. I think about sin. I leap into it. I enjoy it for a season and then the pangs of guilt begin to nip at my conscience and I’m brought to a place of repentance again. I inevitably end up asking God to remember mercy in his wrath.
And he does. He is a mercy remembering God! Why is this? Why doesn’t he pour out his wrath on this unrighteous soul? The reason is quite simple as far as an answer is concerned. It’s the Gospel. He remembers mercy because he has already poured out his wrath for my sin. He poured out his wrath on his Son and he will not pour out his wrath on me because that pouring on his Son on the Cross was sufficient to pay for any sin that I can commit.
Does this give me a free pass?
In a sense, it is a free pass, but in another sense it was a horrible price to pay. And God paid it himself. This does not, as some might surmise, encourage me to sin all the more. No, quite the opposite, because of his kindness to me, his remembrance of mercy, I am more motivated than ever to walk in holiness. It is his kindness to me that changes me. He was kind through the execution of his Son.
The Gospel is stunning!
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