Praise God for received mercy! We have lingered long in these two verses, 1 Peter 2:9-10. But, I have to say that it has been most edifying for me to really dig into so many areas of study I have previously only covered here and there. I have written about God’s mercy before, Mercy: The Quest: Day 21.0, and we have covered grace, or at least referenced it, in (by my current count) 32 of these studies so far. All to say, I don’t think today we need to define mercy so much as look at how the received mercy of God defines God’s people.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
1 Peter 2:9-10
Those who have received mercy
In 1 Peter 2:9-10 Peter defines who we are as Christians. And, at least for this small passage, the last definition Peter lists can be called those who have received mercy. I have been reading John Brown, and he is so insightful. I think we cannot do better than lean on him as we study this concept.
Before we received mercy we were enemies of God
First, let’s look at what Brown has to say about our former state, that is, those who had not received mercy.
In their original state, as fallen creatures, ignorant, in error, guilty, depraved, they “had not obtained mercy.” God pitied them, and gave them many proofs of his forbearance, and patience, and providential munificence. Nay, more than this, God was determined to save them: they were the objects of his eternal, electing, sovereign love. But they were not, they could not be, the objects either of his judicial approbation or of his complacential delight. Oh no! they were “condemned already;” they were “children of wrath, even as others.” They were “wicked,” and as wicked “God was angry with them every day;” — “enemies of God” by ignorance of mind, alienation of heart, and wicked works; objects of his holy displeasure and righteous condemnatory sentences; hopelessly, because willfully, enslaved to Satan and to sin; mortal, with nothing to sweeten the bitterness of death, or lighten the darkness of the grave; immortal, yet destitute of all prospect of an eternity of blessedness. Such was their situation, in common with every individual of the fallen race to which they belong. Above them was an angry Divinity; around them were the instruments of his vengeance; and beneath them was the pit of perdition yawning wide to receive them. They “had not obtained mercy.”
John Brown, Expository Discourses on the First Epistle of Peter Volume 1, 337-338, William Oliphant and Co. 1866
Before we received mercy there was only depravity
I am not sure I have ever read a more robust definition of total depravity. What’s more, this is John Brown’s treatment of the elect! If you have ever thought, “Christians just think they are better than everyone else.” I invite you to re-read the passage above. If it cannot convince you that your notion about Christians is false, I am not sure what will. No, before regeneration and the justifying work of God in the heart of a man, he is, like all men, an enemy of God without merit.
When we received mercy we became people of God
What then is the change? What becomes of these depraved and condemned persons when they become God’s people? What happens when they become those who have received mercy?
Such were they once; but what are they now? They “have obtained mercy.” In consequence of believing in Christ’, coming to him, they have received in rich abundance manifestations of the divine saving grace, of God’s distinguishing mercy. “In Christ they have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of divine grace.” God is “merciful to their unrighteousness; their sins and their iniquities he remembers no more.” They are ” made accepted in the Beloved;” and “in him they obtain an everlasting inheritance.” “Justified by faith, they have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also they have access by faith into this grace wherein they stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God,” — a hope that shall never make them ashamed. And “not only so, but they joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom they have received the reconciliation.” “Created anew in Christ Jesus unto good works,” “God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, loves them, and blesses them with all heavenly and spiritual blessings.” They are “made partakers of a divine nature,” and “the Spirit of glory and of God rests on them,” and dwells in them. “They are heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ Jesus.” God “makes all things to work together for their good.” “None can separate them from the love of God.” “None can pluck them out of his hand.” “Now are they the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what they shall be: but when he who is their life shall appear, they shall appear with him in glory; and they shall be like him, seeing him as he is.” “Goodness and mercy follow them all their days.” “All the ways of the Lord to them,” even the most perplexing and mysterious, “are mercy and truth to them;” “they shall find mercy of him on that day;” and throughout eternity shall find how true is that declaration so often repeated in Scripture, “The mercy of the Lord endureth for ever.”
John Brown, Expository Discourses on the First Epistle of Peter Volume 1, 338-339, William Oliphant and Co. 186
What a contrast! In each life, each Christian has been both one who had not received mercy, and one who has. The degree to which these two states stand in opposition to the other is really brought home by John Brown’s words. I say John Brown’s words, but how many of the words quoted in the two related passages from his book are originally his? Admirably, nearly every word – and certainly every definitive statement – listed in the two excerpts from Brown’s writing above are scriptural quotes!
The scriptural literacy of John Brown
Briefly, here are the verses Brown quoted in the excerpt on those who have not received mercy: John 3:18, Ephesians 2:3, Psalm 7:11, Colossians 1:21, Ephesians 4:18,
Here are the verses quoted by Brown in the excerpt on those who have received mercy: Hebrews 8:12, Ephesians 2:10, 2 Peter 1:4, 1 Peter 4:14, Romans 8:17, Romans 8:28, John 10:28-29, Psalm 23:6, Psalm 25:10, 2 Timothy 1:18
Received Mercy
Brown also quoted from the following passages of scripture. Together they comprise beautiful milestones, or a beautiful timeline of God’s plan of faith for those who He chose to be His people.
Destined for received mercy
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will
Ephesians 1:3-11
The current state of those who received mercy
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Romans 5:1-11
Future perfection of those who received mercy
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
1 John 3:1-3
Can received mercy be lost?
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39
I am not sure how well you know your Bible. But, I am certain I have a long way to go to be able to cram so much insight, garnered from what James would call receiving the implanted word, into just two paragraphs. John Brown is truly remarkable.
How should we then live?
Let’s look at his conclusion regarding those who have received mercy:
Let those who have good ground to conclude that the great change has taken place in their case, that they have been turned from darkness to light, that they are a portion of that people which God has taken from among the Gentiles to himself, that they are the recipients of those saving blessings which are the manifestation of the love which God has to his own, cherish a grateful sense of the divine, sovereign kindness. Let them never forget, that it is all grace and mercy, sovereign grace, unmerited mercy. Not to them, not to them, but to Him who loved them because he wills to love them, be all the glory. Let them walk like the children of the light and of the day. Let them make their light shine before men. Let them prove that they are the people of God, by being ” zealous of good works,” by coming out from among the wicked world, and being separate, not touching the unclean thing. Let them show that they are indeed the recipients of divine mercy, by manifesting the effects which the reception of saving benefits uniformly has on the temper and conduct. Let the grace of God, enjoyed by them, teach them to deny “ungodliness and worldly lusts,” and to “live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world;” while they look for, haste to, “that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for them, that he might redeem them from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
John Brown, Expository Discourses on the First Epistle of Peter Volume 1, 340, William Oliphant and Co. 186
Quite the exhortation! I pray that these effects will indeed be made manifest in my life and yours.
An appeal to those who have not receive mercy
Before we go, I think it is worth sharing John Brown’s appeal to any who find themselves reading this post, and saying to themselves, “I am pretty sure I’m not one of God’s people.” I know it’s a long-shot. Especially at this point in the study. Brown included the appeal in his book, though. Of course, in 1866, unbelievers were probably far more likely to read a scholarly work on the New Testament, than they are now. At least, that’s my impression. Admittedly, my impression is one from ignorance.
Douglas Adams and a pair of dingo’s kidneys
Be that as it may, my own writing has three strikes against it: 1. It is an unscholarly work. 2. Very few people read these days, regardless of their status as believer or non-believer. 3. People knew who John Brown was. Whereas, this website is, to paraphrase probably my most favorite unbelieving author, Far Out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the WordPress arm of the internet.
Still, Brown’s is clearly a heartfelt plea, and I urge you to read it. Perhaps you might share it with an unbelieving friend or relative. I pray this study edifies both you and, Lord willing, your friend.
And O! let those who, if they think at all, must know that they are in the darkness of ignorance and sin, that they are not among the peculiar people, that they have not obtained mercy, consider what the end must be if they continue in their present condition. Pass that boundary which separates time from eternity, — and you know that boundary must be passed soon by all of you, how soon, how suddenly, you do not, you cannot know, — pass that boundary, and the darkness of a natural state will settle down into the blackness of darkness for ever; [There,] they who are not God’s people, never can become God’s people; those who have not obtained mercy, never can obtain mercy. The change so absolutely necessary to your happiness, must take place in time, it cannot take place in eternity; it must take place on earth, it cannot take place in hell. Have you made up your mind that it is never to take place? If you have not, why should it not take place now? Till this change take place, you cannot be secure or happy. Can you be safe and happy too soon? All who are dwelling amid the glorious light of God, were once, like you, in darkness. Those who are God’s people were once not his people. Those who have obtained mercy, had not obtained mercy. The grace which saved them is able to save you; is willing, is ready, to save you. “Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?” The light shines around you. Why shut your eyes to it? The door of admission to the fellowship of God’s people stands open. Why will ye not enter in? The blessings of divine mercy are held out to you. Why turn away from the proffered treasure, which gladly, gratefully received, would make you rich toward God, rich for ever? Why madly strike back the hand which is stretched out to rescue you from destruction? Now, “now is the accepted time.” Yet a little while, and the voice of invitation and warning will sink into silence; and instead of it, be heard the voice of generous regret, “Oh that they had known!” They might, they would not, they shall not. No. No more for ever!
John Brown, Expository Discourses on the First Epistle of Peter Volume 1, 341, William Oliphant and Co. 186
