Not of Merit but of Mercy

 

 

Not of merit but of mercy

Cannot be earned by you or me,

No payment is thus exacted

Yet in fact, ‘tis not free.

 

There I go a wandering

Amidst my conflicting spree,

Ah, but need I remind you again

Free did cost somebody?

 

Life eternal is costly

Though to the saved it’s free;

Costing Jesus every drop of blood

Shed on Mt Calvary.

 

How dare I try to earn

What’s been given free

Naught of merit but of mercy,

Offered by Christ to me?

 

‘Tis true, rewards of merit,

Must be dutifully earned

But to apply this to Jesus’ sacrifice,

Does God’s mercy spurn.

 

 

It is not gratefulness

And certainly not appreciation

To even think of trying to merit

The gift of salvation.

 

No amount of money

And no resumé of works

Can merit the kingdom of heaven;

Not even in the church.

 

While works can’t save

They accompany the saved

And testify of God’s saving power

Even beyond the grave.

 

Blessed are the dead

Which die in the Lord

That they may rest from their labours

And their works follow them.

 

Ephesians 2:4-7

 

But God, who is rich in mercy,

For his great love wherewith he loved us,

Even when we were dead in sins,

Hath quickened us together with Christ,

(By grace are ye saved;)

 

And have raised us up together,

And made us to sit together

In heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

 

That in the ages to come

He might show the exceeding riches

Of his grace in his kindness

Towards us through Christ Jesus.

 

 

Not of merit but of mercy

All that we have in Christ,

Any attempt to earn the Father’s love

Spurns the Son’s sacrifice!

 

Stewart Russell © June 5, 2025

 

What Depth of Love!

 

 

Love was a cross

On which a price was paid

When the prince of glory

On the same was laid.

 

What depth of love!

What abounding grace!

What encompassing mercy!

God took our place!

 

None could pay it

But the Redeemer

Who gave himself willingly

For the transgressor.

 

It was God Himself

In the person of His Son

And thus, in a very real sense,

Became our ransom.

 

Spirit hath not blood

Yes, I know this is true

But God was in Christ Jesus

For me, for you.

 

 

What depth of love!

What abounding grace!

What encompassing mercy!

God took my place.

 

‘Tis mystery all

That such depth of love

For a single worthless sinner

Came from above.

 

Were I the only one

Christ would have died,

God’s love for all is the same

As for a single child.

 

Unfathomable love,

Wonder working love

That brought God my Saviour

From heaven above.

 

 

What depth of love!

What abounding grace!

What encompassing mercy!

God took my place.

 

Stewart Russell © February 4, 2025

 

Those Three Words

 

 

Those three words, can you guess?

No, it is not the song,

It is not the popular “I Love You”

So my friend, we will move along.

 

Actually it’s about a friend

Who is not a friend at all,

People’s infatuations with this friend

Usually precede their fall.

 

He is a friend who means no good

Already you would have met him,

For the record though, let me say

He is the reason for our sin.

 

He is known by many names

Like Lucifer, the devil and Satan

And in the book of Revelation

He is also called Apollyon.

 

There are three facts I know of him

And they three are negative,

These are characteristics of Almighty God

But not one can Satan give.

Let us look at those three words

Justice, mercy and grace,

Not one does the devil exhibit

Not since he was cast into space.

The devil knows no justice

He does not have a clue,

He received his just desserts

Unlike me and you.

 

We were spared God’s justice

When Jesus died upon the cross,

God’s justice was satisfied

But it was at an infinite cost.

 

Satan’s plan is to kill us

Ever since God’s judgment on him,

He got just what he deserves

But we can be saved from sin.

 

From him don’t expect any justice

It is not part of his makeup,

If you get into a league with him

Yours will be a bitter cup.

 

 

For Satan shows no mercy

He doesn’t possessed a modicum,

Yes, he appears as an angel of light

 But when you see him it’s time to run.

 

Mercy is not his to give

And he prides himself on that,

Were it not for his deception

Many would note that fact.

 

He is desperate to entrap us

Since God has shown us mercy

Satan wishes he could have had

But that is not a possibility.

 

No justice and no mercy

Satan is a dunce,

He recalls what he had in heaven

Now all that is renounced.

 

 

Satan knows no grace

To him God’s grace extends not,

Ever since he fell from heaven

Hell is his eternal lot.

 

If you happen to meddle with him

I warn you to expect no grace,

He will promise to you the world

But remember he is two-faced.

 

No justice, no mercy, no grace

In Satan, there’s not even a trace,

Deception is his pedigree

And such cannot be replaced.

 

Stewart Russell © September 2019

 

Salvation and Its Jargon 5

 

 

There are three key words

At this time I would wish to recall:

Without these three attributes

There could be no salvation at all.

 

I am talking about God’s “justice”

His “mercy” and His “grace”

And without the latter two

We would never see Christ’s face.

 

Justice is what we deserve

It is simply sin’s wage,

Death is what we have worked for

At each and every stage.

 

God’s justice was “appeased”

When Jesus hung at Calvary,

His judgment was visited on His Son

When Jesus died for you and me.

 

Mercy is not getting what we deserve

Death was our just dessert

Bur God in His mercy smiled on us

When Jesus experience the hurt.

 

So justice was the death I deserved

But in mercy I was divinely rescued:

The sin on Jesus was my own

But mercifully he paid my due.

 

Grace, grace, God’s marvelous grace

Extending what I did not deserve,

After rescuing me from a deserving death

Now a place in heaven has reserved.

 

Justice is the death that I deserve

But mercy rescued me,

Grace did much more than either of these

For I am God’s eternally.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2018

 

The Twins

I met the twins some time ago

And they were so alike,

They were almost identical

And they were my delight.

A timely meeting that was

Definitely at the right time,

I was on my way to God knows where

And I met them along the line.

I had become quite delusional

Skepticism had taker o’er,

Everything had become a fake

Nothing made sense any more.

I was getting my just deserts

The twins made me to understand

Such was the recompense of those

That followed the devil’s plan.

‘There’s a better way,” they said to me.

“You need not continue like this,

You’d be miserable all your life

And at the end heaven you’d miss.

“What’s the alternative?” I replied,

“Nothing has worked, you see,

I even tried church at one time

And that too disappointed me.”

At first it seem to be all right

And I tried desperately to reform

But soon that too became meaningless

And I struggled to conform.

That was not for me for sure

So I decided, time to move on

But right now I am at my wits' end

And feeling rather forlorn.”

Wits' end corner is the place to be

To access the benefits from the twins,

It is when one comes to the end of self

That one can begin to see one’s sin.

It is then that Mercy shows up

And tells us what God has done,

We should have paid for our sin

But God placed it on His Son.

Then Grace joins in and informs

It was because of God’s great love

That Jesus was sent to save the lost

When he descended from above.

Yes! Mercy and Grace met with me

And helped me to understand,

It’s not the church but Jesus Christ

That’s the heart of redemption’s plan.

“You need Christ,” they said to me,

Confess your sin to him,

Believe in your heart for salvation

And be saved from all your sin.”

God’s mercy saves from eternal death

For that death is the wages of sin,

God grace gives to us eternal life

When from our sin we turn to Him.

The wonderful twins: Mercy and Grace

Which always walk hand in hand,

The product of God’s redeeming love

Manifested in Christ to reconcile man.

I met these twins some time ago

And now I never walked alone,

Mercy and Grace always walk with me

On my way to my heavenly home.

Stewart Russell © February 2019

My Prayer: Shaping the World I Touch

Lord, help me this day

In your own unmistakable way

To do all you would have me to do

And say only what you would have me say.

As I live each and every day

Shape me, O Lord, I pray

That I may shape the world I touch

In your own compassionate way.

May my purpose be your plan

May my proximity be your will

And may my personal touch be your design

As my entire being your Holy Spirit fill.

Lord, even as you were touched

By the feelings of my infirmity

May my touch also be one of compassion

As I relate to all in my proximity

Thank you Lord for my proximity

Thank you Lord for my personal touch

Thank you Lord for your purpose

Knowing that what you ask is never too much.

Stewart Russell © April 2017

Two Parallel Truths

 

God is sovereign, a truth we should not deny,

God is sovereign, a fact that men defy,

He is the only wise God and our Saviour

And our salvation is impossible in any other.

Man is a free moral agent; God made him so,

Man is a free moral agent; God wants him to know,

Created by God in His image and His likeness,

He was the crowning creation before God took His rest.

Hence man is responsible for the decision he makes,

Man is accountable for the risk that he takes,

Man is indictable when he walks in unbelief

When simply to believe will bring him eternal relief.

Man boasts of intelligence and intellectual capacity

And as he achieves he denounces God’s sovereignty,

But be it known that God will hold him accountable

For to renounce the Creator is asking for trouble.

“Come unto me all ye that are laden and burdened”

In so much that Jesus promised to give such rest

But yet he says no man can come to the Son,

The Father must draw him; that is the reconciling test.

If I cannot come except the Father draws me

Tell me how I can determine my eternal destiny?

Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word

Believe on the Lord, Jesus Christ is the biblical record.

Jesus implied that there was a certain amount

That the Father had given him as salvation’s count,

None would be lost no matter Satan’s demand,

Nothing or no one can pluck any from his hand.

But look at Judas who was surnamed Iscariot,

The other disciples were restored but he was not,

Prophesied to betray our Saviour and our Lord,

Check Psalms 109 verse 8; it’s there in God’s Word.

In John chapter seventeen in his high priestly prayer

“I have kept all save one,” we hear Jesus say;

The one who betrayed him he prophesied, woe betide,

Judas, son of perdition went out and committed suicide.

  

From long ago men have been trying to understand

What they perceive to be God’s unfair demand

Concerning the clash between God’s will and ours

And how He manipulates us according to His powers.

Is it really true that men have a free choice?

Is that choice not often violated by God’s sovereignty?

It appears impossible for these two to function

Without God’s will over powering man’s at some junction.

In our finite understanding one thing we should note,

In no circumstances does God grab one by one’s throat

To force one to do anything that He, God demands

For such is not God’s nature; it’s not his purpose or His plan.

Bear with me as I cite another of this mystery,

This working of God’s sovereignty and our responsibility,

In Romans 10 the Apostle Paul asks some questions

Concerning the matter of the sinner’s salvation.

How shall they call on him they have not believed?

How shall they believe on him they have not heard?

Furthermore how shall they hear without a preacher?

How shall they preach except they are sent with a word?

It comes right down to these two parallel truths:

God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility is the proof,

The word does not set out to show how they operate

But it is clearly not God’s nature either one to violate.

  

God’s word as it was written is the historic record

Of things that are future, that are current and have passed,

Such is the authenticity and accuracy of God’s Word

That all other historic documents are totally outclassed.

God will not go back and change what has happened

And all history as God sees it is already written,

He knows the end from the beginning, no need to amend,

He knows each mind, each thought and what we intend.

So that we shouldn’t blame God when we do wrong

And make the excuse that we are weak but He is strong,

And when to Satan’s taunts we constantly bow

Say, that what God does not hinder he simply allows.

No need to fathom how God’s will and ours unfold,

He that believes in Christ will be saved we have been told,

It is God’s sovereign will to save whomever He chooses

But a man will be held accountable if salvation he refuses.

God has a work to perform and perform it He will,

He has called time and again and call He does still,

If you hear His voice you’d better harden not your heart

Lest after a while that stirring conviction from you depart.

As His sovereign will says come and as His Spirit draws,

Do extricate yourself from the lure of man’s applause,

For you have a responsibility to respond to God’s call,

As the invitation comes to you do no longer stall.

For God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy

And have compassion on whomever He will,

So then it is not of him that wills or of him that runs

But of God that shows mercy; He shows mercy still.

Stewart Russell© 2016