“Therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine Only Begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest.” [1]
Our earthly experiences have been described as a “life amid broken harmonies.” [2] These broken harmonies, with the rich lessons and essential experiences they provide, are possible only as a result of disobedience to law through the fall of Adam. Adam’s transgression initiated our life on earth and provided us with the circumstances necessary for our instruction, which include the “broken harmonies” of good versus evil; faith versus doubt; hope versus despair; joy versus sorrow; pleasure versus pain; life versus death. With Adam’s transgression, the circumstances and conditions required for our earthly education and subsequent eternal progression were formed. Furthermore, each of us sins of our own accord and incurs the consequence of wrongdoing. In either case, we are incapable of reinstating what has been lost or creating a justification for forgiveness in our fallen state.
This creates a condition remedied in only one of two ways: Justice must be obtained and punishment exacted on the actual sinner or God must fulfill the claim against us, appeasing justice through a vicarious Atonement on our behalf. The first possibility would prevent the purposes of God from unfolding and would violate our promise for eternal life. The second option is the only valid alternative. God must appease the demands of justice, allowing mercy to establish its claims and redeem a fallen humanity.
The Apostle Paul instructs us that “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.
“The law entered that sin might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did more abound; that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness, unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” [3]
Underlying this gift of grace is God’s boundless love for us manifest in His tender mercy, mercy which is simply love in action. God’s love for us prompts Him to satisfy justice by enduring the penalty due to Adam’s sin. God’s love for us prompts Him to suffer for the individual sins of humanity; to exact the price of each person’s sin. This love prescribes the sinner’s claim on mercy.
That is the gospel, the great plan of happiness. That is the “good tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people.” [4]
Jesus Christ is the personification of mercy and mercy is the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our savior’s sacrifice on the cross was an unparalleled act of mercy on our behalf. His earthly ministry encompassed compassion toward the needy and neglected, the ill and the infirm and the disheartened and downtrodden. The extent of compassion that we extend to others is the expression of our distinct discipleship to our Redeemer.
“Our salvation,” wrote Harold B. Lee, “rests upon the mercy we show to others. Unkind and cruel words, or wanton acts of cruelty toward man or beast, even though in seeming retaliation, disqualify the perpetrator in his claims for mercy when he has need of mercy in the day of judgment before earthly or heavenly tribunals.... Blessed are all you who are merciful, for you shall obtain mercy!” [5]
King Benjamin suggested that we are all beggars, dependent upon God for all the “substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind.
“And now,” he declares, “if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right… O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.” [6]
Mercy is not the disposition of the arrogant, the conceited or the self-centered. If we expect a claim on mercy, our nature must be one of compassion, gentleness, kindness, patience and respect toward others.
Bruce R. McConkie recognized that mercy is a reward reserved for the merciful. “In that great day of restoration and judgment,” he wrote, “when every man is rewarded according to the deeds done in the flesh, those who have manifest mercy to their fellowmen here will be treated mercifully by the Merciful One. Those who have acquired the godly attribute of mercy here shall have mercy restored unto them again in that bright day.” [7]
As we learn to become more merciful, compassionate, gentler and kinder, we will earn a greater claim on mercy from God who will be generous in His mercy toward us.
Bill Wylson
[1] Alma 12:34.
[2] Roberts, B.H., Seventy’s Course in Theology, Vol. 4, Deseret Book Company, 1911.
[3] Romans 5:20,21.
[4] Luke 2:10.
[5] Lee, Harold B., Stand Ye in Holy Places, p. 346, Deseret Book Company, 1974.
[6] See Mosiah 4:19,21.
[7] McConkie, Bruce R., The Mortal Messiah, Vol. 2, pp. 122, 123. Deseret Book Company.
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