{"id":3540,"date":"2015-06-20T11:43:14","date_gmt":"2015-06-20T15:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/?p=3540"},"modified":"2015-06-20T11:43:14","modified_gmt":"2015-06-20T15:43:14","slug":"justice-and-mercy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2015\/06\/justice-and-mercy.html","title":{"rendered":"Justice and Mercy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As we know, it was God&#8217;s undeniable sense of justice that demanded that He allow Jesus to be sacrificed on the cross. \u00a0However, it was God&#8217;s\u00a0mercy that allowed this perfect human to be killed for the sin of all mankind. \u00a0While we can do nothing to earn and thereby exact from God forgiveness, we are able to come humbly and ask for forgiveness that can only be given by a merciful Lord.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Message<\/em> says in I John 1 verses 5 through 7, &#8220;This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: \u00a0God is light, pure light; there&#8217;s not a trace in darkness in him.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we&#8217;re obviously lying through our teeth&#8211;we&#8217;re not living what we claim. \u00a0But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God&#8217;s son, purges all our sin.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>While\u00a0we cannot earn our deliverance. \u00a0We can live our deliverance. \u00a0Though in her early 20&#8217;s Polly lived a life that would make a sailor blush. \u00a0Before she was in her teen&#8217;s, she knew more about worldly activities than many others who have lived long, hard years of debauchery. \u00a0But she had a heart that yearned for God&#8217;s kiss of mercy. \u00a0Her walk for complete of deliverance has been hard because there is no family support or living arrangements that would encourage Christ-like deportment.<\/p>\n<p>A few years ago, she accepted Jesus as her Savior. \u00a0Slow but surely she is walking toward the wholeness that God&#8217;s mercy promises. \u00a0I&#8217;m learning from her by her misses, skips and successes. \u00a0I&#8217;m grateful that she is a part of my life and I&#8217;m able to be a part of her growth.<\/p>\n<p>Within the mentally challenged community, there are many young adults like Polly. \u00a0It is a joy to be included in the sphere of their friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As we know, it was God&#8217;s undeniable sense of justice that demanded that He allow Jesus to be sacrificed on the cross. \u00a0However, it was God&#8217;s\u00a0mercy that allowed this perfect human to be killed for the sin of all mankind. \u00a0While we can do nothing to earn and thereby exact from God forgiveness, we are&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":387,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,20,3,40,49,16,8,4],"tags":[690,21,699,701,13,387,689,679],"class_list":["post-3540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-church","category-developmental-disabilities","category-faith","category-inspiration","category-intellectual-disability","category-mentally-challenged-community","category-simple-truths","tag-autism-spectrum","tag-christian","tag-faith","tag-inspiration","tag-intellectual-disabilities","tag-justice","tag-mentally-challenged-community","tag-mercy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Justice and Mercy - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Justice and Mercy - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As we know, it was God&#8217;s undeniable sense of justice that demanded that He allow Jesus to be sacrificed on the cross. \u00a0However, it was God&#8217;s\u00a0mercy that allowed this perfect human to be killed for the sin of all mankind. \u00a0While we can do nothing to earn and thereby exact from God forgiveness, we are&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2015\/06\/justice-and-mercy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-20T15:43:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda G. Howard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Justice and Mercy - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Justice and Mercy - A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","og_description":"As we know, it was God&#8217;s undeniable sense of justice that demanded that He allow Jesus to be sacrificed on the cross. \u00a0However, it was God&#8217;s\u00a0mercy that allowed this perfect human to be killed for the sin of all mankind. \u00a0While we can do nothing to earn and thereby exact from God forgiveness, we are&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/simplelife\/2015\/06\/justice-and-mercy.html","og_site_name":"A Simple Life, a Childlike Faith","article_published_time":"2015-06-20T15:43:14+00:00","author":"Linda G. 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