Daily Word

For just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they to have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all. Romans 11:30-31. Salvation history is structured to feature God’s great mercy. God saved the Gentiles when one would only expect the Jews to be saved, but in the future He will amaze all by His grace again by saving the Jews, so that it will be clear that everyone’s salvation is by mercy alone. The final now in this text does not mean the promise to the Jews in now fulfilled but that the promise of Jewish salvation could be filled anytime. The disobedience of the Jew leads to God’s mercy reaching the Gentile; the mercy of God to the Gentiles leads to the reception of mercy to the Jews. There is no difference…All have sinned, and God has mercy on both. What does “mercy” mean to you exactly, and how does your understanding of it impact your relationship with Christ on a daily basis?