From Law to Grace

"Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!" (Deuteronomy 27:26 NIV)

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed. (Galatians 3:10 CSB)

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it. (James 2:10 ESV)

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. (Romans 3:21-22 NLT)

For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!) (Romans 4:15 NLT)

I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (Galatians 2:21 KJV)

What then shall we say? Shall we continue in sin so that grace may increase? (Romans 6:1 BSB)

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. (Romans 6:15 KJV)

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. (John 14:15 BSB)

The Relationship of Law, Sin and Grace

And where there is no law, there is no transgression. (Romans 4:15b BSB)

To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone's account where there is no law. (Romans 5:13 NIV)

Let us examine the relationship between law, sin and grace. Without the law, there is no sin. And without sin, grace will not be needed.

This is actually a universal principle, not something found only in Christianity.

For example, there is a law in Singapore that forbid bringing cooked meat from Malaysia into Singapore. If there is no such law, bringing cooked meat into Singapore from Malaysia will not be a transgression. If there is no transgression, then forgiveness is not required.

The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21 CSB)

Church versus Bar

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32 ESV)

Happen to see this on the internet by chance:

QUOTE
A man went to church. He forgot to switch off his phone and it rang during prayer. The pastor scolded him. The worshippers admonished him after prayers for interrupting the silence. His wife kept on lecturing him on his carelessness all the way home. One could see the shame, embarrassment and humiliation on his face. After all this, he never stepped foot in the church again.

That evening, he went to a bar. He was still nervous and trembling. He spilled his drink on the table by accident. The waiter apologized and gave him a napkin to clean himself. The janitor mopped the floor. The female manager offered him a complimentary drink. She also gave him a huge hug and a peck while saying, "Don't worry man. Who doesn't make mistakes?" He has not stopped going to that bar since then.
UNQUOTE

Profit motivation seems to work better than gratitude-motivation.

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (Colossians 3:12-13 ESV)

We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19 ESV)

God is Faithful

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23 ESV)

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24 ESV)

But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. (2 Thessalonians 3:3 NLT)

We are not saved by our faith. We are saved by God. We believed that He is faithful and true to His promise that He will save us to the uttermost.

It is because of the LORD'S lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, Because His [tender] compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness.(Lamentations 3:22-23 Amplified Bible)

For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. (Malachi 3:6 KJV)

But you are the same, and your years will never end. (Psalm 102:27 CSB)

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 NLT)

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13 NASB)

For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day. (2 Timothy 1:12 BSB)

Saved By Grace Through Faith

For by grace are ye saved through faith; (Ephesians 2:8a KJV)
God saved you by his grace when you believed. (Ephesians 2:8a NLT)
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith (Ephesians 2:8a NIV)
For by grace you have been saved through faith. (Ephesians 2:8a ESV)
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, (Ephesians 2:8a BSB)
For by grace you have been saved through faith; (Ephesians 2:8a NASB95)
For you are saved by grace through faith, (Ephesians 2:8a CSB)

We are saved by grace through faith. What does that mean?

We are saved by God's grace. We are saved by God because of His grace. The grace of God puts you in a position to hear God's message of salvation. Either we are born in the right time at the right place, or we travel to the right place at the right time with our hearts are ready to receive the message. We are saved because of God's sovereign will, predestined before the foundation of the world. We are saved because God provided the means of salvation. And we are saved when Christ died for our sins.

We are not saved by our faith. We are saved through our faith. Our faith is the response to God's grace. We accept the fact of our salvation by faith. There is no other way. We are already saved by God and now we have to believe that we are saved and act accordingly. We have to trust that God is faithful, and that He is able to save us to the uttermost. It is our part to believe and to have faith in God's faithfulness.

For those who have never heard of the good news of God's salvation or have rejected it, they are not saved. God has not extended His grace to them.

So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided." (Genesis 22:14 NIV)

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:24 ESV)

If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13 NASB95)

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 NLT)

For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. (Ephesians 1:4 CSB)

They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us. (1 John 2:19 BSB)

The God of Jacob

Esau replied, "Is he not rightly named Jacob (the supplanter)? For he has supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright, and now he has taken away my blessing. Have you not reserved a blessing for me?" (Genesis 27:36 Amplified Bible)

I was glad that I am not a righteous man with a strong sense of justice. When I read how God allowed Jacob to steal Esau's blessings, I did not say, "What kind of God is this, accepting the cheater and rejecting the cheated!" Instead, I said, "If God can accept Jacob, He can surely accept me!"

And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. (Luke 15:2 KJV)

God's Choice

And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, "The older will serve the younger." Just as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." (Romans 9:10-13 NASB95)

Consider this, why does God choose Jacob over Esau, Judah over Joseph and David over Saul? Using our normal human common sense, morality, karma and justice, we would do it the other way.

Jacob and Esau
Why does God choose the one who cheat over the one who was cheated to be the ancestor of His chosen people Israel?

Judah and Joseph
Why does God choose the one who enslaved over the slave to be the ancestor of the tribe where the kings of Israel would come from? Wasn't Joseph exemplary his in conduct when he forgave his brothers who sold him into slavery? Why wasn't he chosen?

David and Saul
Why does God choose the one who committed adultery and murder over the one who did not to become the ancestor of the Messiah?

Me and many others better than me
While I was pondering over this, I remembered that God also choose me over many people who are probably a better person than me.

Meritocracy is not in the dictionary of God. Rather, God is merciful. In His mercy, He sent His only begotten Son Jesus to die for our sins so that we can be saved, even though we do not have many good works or worse, none at all. Theologians called this salvation by grace.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:30 ESV)

No One Good And Righteous

Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were there, their righteousness would save no one but themselves, says the Sovereign LORD. (Ezekiel 14:14 NLT)

Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. (Luke 23:50-52 ESV)

And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. (Mark 10:18 ESV)

As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one. (Romans 3:10 BSB)

All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:3, Psalm 53:3 BSB)

How is it that there is no one good except God and there is none righteous, but Joseph of Arimathea was good and righteous and Noah, Daniel and Job were righteousness?

God Passes Over Sin

God publicly displayed him at his death as the mercy seat accessible through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed. (Romans 3:25 NET)

"Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has set a day when he is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man he has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead." (Acts 17:30-31CSB)

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:2 ESV)

God does not condone sin. But God can overlook all sin legally and allow sinners to live without being unjust because He had sent His Son Jesus to die for the sins of the world, past, present and future. Thus when Adam sinned, the world was not destroyed straightaway. God can now be justified when He allow us to live while we are yet sinners, giving us an opportunity to be saved. Mercy and justice are reconciled in Christ Jesus.

Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. They know God's justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things. Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God's judgment when you do the same things? Don't you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can't you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? (Romans 1:28-2:4 NLT)

Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrongdoing. Why then do you tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? (Habakkuk 1:13 NIV)

Many people are confused by God's mercy. When they see the wicked who sinned terribly live without suffering any consequences, they demand that God punishes them. But they overlooked that they themselves are also sinners who commit small sins. They forgot that God is just and punishes all sin, big and small. Because their own sins are small, they did not see them as sin and thought they are righteous.

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus. (Romans 3:23-26 NLT)

If We Are Saved By Christ Why Read the Bible And Go To Church

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. (Romans 3:21-22 NLT)

If we can be saved by believing that Christ had died for our sin and without keeping the requirements of the law, why do we need to read the Bible and go to church?

Let say a man believed in Christ at the age of 16 and then for 80 years he did not read the Bible and go to church. At his death bed at 96, what will happen?

He may remember that he is a Christian but and he does not know what to do. All his friends and relatives are non-Christians, and none can advise. Some of his friends and relatives may think that Christianity is like all other religions. So they called a Roman Catholic priest to perform last rites for him. But he said, "I am not a Catholic. I remember that it is not like that. Does anyone have a Bible for me to check?" Then when offered a Bible, he will flip the pages and hope to find the answer, but will he find it? Then they may get a pastor, but will he end up with a pastor who know the gospel or just some liberal pastor who is equally clueless about salvation? Of course, by the skin of his teeth, he may remember that eternal life is to trust in Jesus and once again cried out to the Lord for mercy before he passes on.

When we do our daily work, whether we are bosses who run big companies or clerks who do daily operation, don't we plan our work to ensure success? If we put so much effort into work and do not count for eternity, why are we neglecting the work that is needed to assure our eternal life?

While we do not need to read the Bible and go to church to be saved, we need to build our faith and assurance. If we have no knowledge of our Saviour, how can we have the faith that He will save us on that day? We will not even know that salvation is as easy as believing in Christ. Let say we have a friend whom we did not meet for 80 years. Will we be able to recognise each other when we meet? If we did not read the Bible and go to church for a long time, will we believe that Jesus is still willing to save us? And we will not know that it is written in the Bible that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life (John 3:15).

And what about the family and children? We spent money on the children's education to ensure that they will slog hard in the world in work that do not last for eternity. But what about their eternal salvation? Without us leading the way to go to church and read the Bible, the children will not know Jesus. They will be on their way to eternal damnation while having a good education and slogging hard in the world to make money that they cannot bring with them.

Christians who do not go to church and read the Bible are reducing the probability of their own salvation and cutting off the knowledge of eternal life from their loved ones around them. 

But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God's love. And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives. (Jude 20-23 NLT)

Salvation Without Keeping the Law

But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. (Romans 3:21-22 NLT)

For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!) (Romans 4:15 NLT)

God told us that if we believe in Him, we will be saved. We are saved by what we believe, not what we do.

Grace means No Equal Opportunity - 2

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9 BSB)

For you are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 7:6 CSB)

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 14:2 ESV)

When I was still a new Christian, I read from the Bible that God had chosen Israel. Then I thought to myself, "God is so unfair. What about the other nations?" As I grew older, I came to realize that equal opportunities are not always given to everyone for everything in life, not just in matters of salvation. Everything depends on your time and place in history.

For example, when I was young, I used slide rules to perform calculations in school, but my children used calculators. Similarly, while I had to visit a library and manually copy notes from reference books to do my homework, my children simply Google for information. And now, we even have the convenience of ChatGPT to help me rewrite some of these.

Many founders of false religions feared the charges of unfairness and tried to tell us that their gods or buddhas or supermen had given equal opportunity to all to believe. Only the God of the Bible told us the plain truth - salvation is by grace. There is no equal opportunity.

Why did God choose the nation of Israel? Because any man can write a book and claim that it is from God, but only God can create a nation.

Has any other god dared to take a nation for himself out of another nation by means of trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, a strong hand, a powerful arm, and terrifying acts? Yet that is what the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, right before your eyes. (Deuteronomy 4:34 NLT)

Grace means No Equal Opportunity

See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. (Colossians 2:8 ESV)

Do not be deceived by false religions and vain philosophies that teach about equality of men. This is the truth, which you can see for yourselves if you are not blinded:

1. All men are born unequal;
2. All men are not given equal opportunities;
3. All men are sinners and will receive God's justice.

In the context of this truth, the Bible tells us that salvation is by the grace of God. Not everyone will be given the opportunity to hear the good news.

"Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you." (Matthew 11:21-24 ESV)

If you have the opportunity to hear the good news that Jesus had died for your sins, grab it. Believe it! You are better than a person who strike first prize in lottery. You have won something that you can bring beyond the grave. You have eternal life.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3 KJV)

Are You Envious Because I am Generous?

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.
About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 'You also go into my vineyard,' he said, 'and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went.
He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing.
About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. 'Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?' he asked.
'Because no one has hired us,' they answered.
So he told them, 'You also go into my vineyard.'
When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the workers and pay them their wages, starting with the last ones hired and moving on to the first.'
The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when the original workers came, they assumed they would receive more. But each of them also received a denarius.
On receiving their pay, they began to grumble against the landowner. 'These men who were hired last worked only one hour,' they said, 'and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the scorching heat of the day.'
But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Did you not agree with me on one denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. Do I not have the right to do as I please with what is mine? Or are you envious because I am generous?'
So the last will be first, and the first will be last." (Matthew 20:1-16 BSB)

Everyone has a certain idea of justice. If I put in more effort, I expect more reward. If I do not get it, I feel wronged. How do you feel when someone who put in less effort than you get the same reward as you?

However, when we face God, we may not want to talk about justice. We will prefer that God to be merciful. But some feel that they are good and demand justice from God. Since all have sinned, justice from God means hell for men.

Grace is unfair. We do not get what we deserve. We deserve hell but Christ died for our sins. Whether we sin more or sin less, we get the same pardon from God if we believe that Jesus had died for our sin.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 NASB)

Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. (1 Corinthians 1:22-24 NIV)

How then can I answer him or choose my arguments against him? Even if I were in the right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy. (Job 9:14-15 CSB)

Why We Need to Read the Bible and Go to Church

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31 KJV)

If we are saved by believing that Christ had died for our sin, why do we need to read the Bible and go to church? This is really due to our sinful nature and our deceitful heart. We can believe in something and then change your mind later. We can deceive ourselves. We need to strengthen our faith by knowing who we believe, why we believe and experience His grace. While we are saved by faith, we are assured of our salvation by our personal knowledge of God and our experience of His grace.

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9 BSB, NIV)

And finally, there is another reason why we need read the Bible and go to church. We are exhorted by the word of God to do so.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV)

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11 NIV)

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:25 NLT)

Knowing God will lead us to know ourselves. Knowing ourselves will lead us to depend on God's grace to grow in faith and assurance of our salvation.

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-8 CSB)

Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won't be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. (Ephesians 4:14 NLT)

Strengthening Our Faith

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. (1 Corinthians 15:3 NLT)

And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." (Acts 16:31 ESV)

The Bible teaches that you are saved by believing that Christ had died for our sin. If that is sufficient, why do we need to read the Bible and go to church since it does not add anything to our salvation? This is really due to the nature of faith. You can believe in something and then change your mind. That is why we are saved by God's grace through faith, and not by our faith in God. So we need to strengthen our faith so that we will not fall away. We can strengthen our faith by knowing who we believed and who we are.

For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (2 Timothy 1:12 KJV)

God Use Sinners

It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former, however, preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains. What then is the issue? Just this: that in every way, whether by false motives or true, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice. (Philippians 1:15-18b BSB)

By faith Rahab the prostitute wasn't killed with the disobedient because she welcomed the spies in peace. What more can I say? I would run out of time if I told you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. (Hebrews 11:31-32 CEB)

God use sinners to do His will. He used Rahab, Jephthah and Samson. God also use unbelievers like Jeroboam II to save Israel. He even spoke through unbelievers like Balaam. He has no other choice. All men are sinners.

As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Romans 3:10-12 NIV)

All have turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. (Psalm 14:3 Psalm 53:3 BSB)

Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins. (Ecclesiastes 7:20 NIV)

Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin"? (Proverbs 20:9 BSB, CSB)

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8 ESV)

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption (ἀπολυτρώσεως) that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24 CSB)

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:30 ESV)

God Gave Jesus to Secure Our Salvation

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)

When two persons break the same law, and one is punished and receive justice, but the other is pardoned and receive mercy, would this be fair?

Mercy is inherently unjust and grace is unfair. Thus every time when God pardons a sinner, He is committing injustice.

How does God reconcile mercy and justice? God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus, to die for the sins of the world. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus had died for their sin. Mercy is now freely available to the sinner because God had paid the price for justice.

But justice remain for those who refuse to believe.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8 KJV)

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)

God's Will, God's Grace and Man's Faith

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV)

How do we know God's will for us? We always want to know the answer, especially when we faced a dire situation not specifically mentioned in the Bible. Although we know our ultimate destiny of eternal life, sometimes we may lose all we have on earth, just like what happened to Lot, who lost everything in Sodom and Gomorrah but kept his life (Genesis 19:29). So if we place a lot of value on our present life, we may be very disappointed with God when unpleasant things happen to us.

So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived. (Genesis 19:29 BSB)

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6 ESV)

He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God] - yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11 Amplified Bible)

Setting KPI For God

For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans - that ruthless and impetuous nation which marches through the breadth of the earth to seize dwellings not their own. (Habakkuk 1:6 BSB)

Men love to set KPI. They even set KPI for God on how a perfect God should be like. Did God accept the KPI?

Crime and Punishment
When Israel sinned, God ought to use a more righteous nation to punish Israel or punish Israel Himself. But God raised the cruel Babylonians to punish Israel (Habakkuk 1:6). And then God later punished the Babylonians for punishing Israel (Jeremiah 25:12).

Word Transmission
Until heaven and earth shall pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall pass away from the law (Matthew 5:18) but in the course of transmission of text of the Bible, there are some minor changes in the jot and tittle. It is less than 0.01%, but still, it is one missing jot or one additional tittle. But the KJV-only believers cannot believe that the almighty God could not preserve a perfect original text for us. God would fail our KPI for Him if He cannot do that. In fact, He did more than that. He even divinely inspired the KJV translation. God passed our KPI for Him with flying colours. Did God really care about our KPI for Him?

Word Accuracy
It is appointed for man to die once (Hebrews 9:27) but Lazarus died twice (John 11:43). Did the Bible contradict itself? Is the mustard seed the smallest of all seeds (Matthew 13:32, Mark 4:31)? If Jesus was to be in the grave three days and nights (Matthew 12:40), how do we fit those between Good Friday and Easter Sunday? Did Bible meant it to be 72 hours exactly because God is very precise? Three days and nights must be 72 hours because God is perfect to the jot and tittle. Are we celebrating Good Friday and Easter Sunday wrongly? Or are we interpreting the Bible more strictly than God Himself?

Christian Witness
The Bible recorded that God use holy men like the apostles to spread the gospel. But in our days, God chose to use the colonialist, the slave traders and drug traffickers to spread the gospel. Africans were enslaved, taken from their home and sold to Christian lands to be given the opportunity to hear the gospel. Opium traders humiliate China to bring the gospel to their land. Shouldn't a perfect and holy God do better than that? Maybe He should roll out the red carpet to welcome the Africans and Chinese into the Kingdom of God and today, there will be no Black Life Matter movement and there will be no Chinese Communist party harping on the century of humiliation by Western imperial powers. Looks like we have better ideas than God.

World Creation
Then the ultimate KPI, the favourite of unbelievers and atheists, why can't the perfectly good, almighty and all-knowing God create a world without sin? Then Jesus would not need to come to the world to die for sin. Atheists use God's failure in this KPI to prove His non-existence. If God exists, why are there evil and sufferings in the world? Why can't the One who knows the end from the beginning think ahead?

What are you going to do with a God that fail your KPI?

From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. (John 6:66 BSB)

So Jesus asked the Twelve, "Do you want to leave too?" Simon Peter replied, "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God." (John 6:67-69 BSB)