Henry Krabbendam - James - World Evangelical Alliance

other gross transgressions of God’s law for that matter, in well-deserved perspective.
Against this backdrop James’ message lights up. It is abundantly evident
that it requires sheer mercy to reflect the holiness that it takes to pass the
judgment. It takes mercy to get to the point of loving anticipation of the day
of Christ’s appearing (2 Tim. 4:8). This allows for only one conclusion and
one course of action. Freely you have received, freely you give! “The recipient
of mercy should likewise be merciful” (Burdick, 181). The mercy that has
turned you around and secured for you the pathway of life must be passed on
to folks who experience the same condition of potential doom that you did at
one time. Since God’s mercy was and is limitless, it only stands to reason that
we display the same mercy, and do not make the grievous error of curtailing
ourselves in this regard (Mt. 5:6).
In other words, if one’s deliberate speech and action does not comport
with the evangelical thrust of the law of liberty, that is, if for lack of mercy
their net effect is sin and destruction, rather than holiness and prosperity (as
in Jam. 2:2-4), retaliation rather than mercy can be anticipated (Rom. 2:6; 1
Cor. 3:8), when facing the Judge of the whole earth (Gen. 18:25; Ps. 75:7;
Acts 10:42; 2 Cor. 5:10). “Judgment is merciless to the one who has shown
no mercy” (Martin, 71). In short, condemnation will be meted out to anyone
who does not show mercy of any and all sorts, whether pitying mercy, forgiving
mercy or relieving mercy, whenever and wherever these are called for
(Mt. 18:23-35; 23:1, 14; 25:41-46a; John 7:53-8:11). 239 On the other hand,
when mercy is in evidence in our day to day dealings with our neighbor, reflective
of the experienced mercy flowing forth from the cross, the resurrection
and the ascension of Christ, then, and only then, may there be confidence
in the face of God’s judgment that mercy will prevail (Ps. 18:25-26; Hos. 6:6;
Mt. 5:7; 6:14-15; 18:23-25, 35; 25:39-40).
This interpretation seems preferable to the one in which God’s mercy,
upon encountering evidences of human mercy (Manton, 193), is said to override
his own judgment by virtue of the cross on which the demands of his
justice are fully met. It is undoubtedly true that only “Calvary and the great,
eternal acquittal” can be the basis for the display of divine mercy that “wins
the day before the judgment-seat” (Motyer, 104), and “tips the balance in
239 Incidentally, this undoubtedly provides a rationale for ecclesiastical censures, ultimately
inclusive of excommunication, first of all, in cases of gross partiality, but then also by implication
in cases of any and all sins that are comparable in seriousness or magnitude. In fact, it
serves as a compelling, ironclad, rationale. It is also an act of compassion to bind on people’s
hearts what they can anticipate in the Judgment in prayerful hope that it will produce repentance.
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