Less Than We Deserve

Q: What does the Bible say about justice and mercy?

The Bible teaches that God is just and shows mercy, giving us less than we deserve for our sins. In the Scriptures, God's justice and mercy are foundational attributes. The wages of sin is death, as seen in Romans 6:23, which illustrates that every wrongdoing earns just punishment. Yet, God's nature also includes mercy, as highlighted in Psalm 103:10, where it states that He does not deal with us according to our sins. This combination allows God to remain just while also extending grace and mercy to sinners through Jesus Christ. At the cross, justice is satisfied as Christ bears the full wrath that we deserve, providing a way for us to receive less than our iniquities merit.

Q: How do we know that God is merciful?

Scripture reflects God's mercy through His actions, particularly in sparing sinners judgment they deserve. God's mercy is abundantly illustrated throughout Scripture, especially in the context of atonement. His mercy means withholding judgment from sinners who deserve death. For instance, in Ezra 9:13, Ezra acknowledges that God has punished Israel less than their iniquities deserved, showcasing God's compassionate nature. In Christ, this mercy culminates as He bears the penalty for sin, allowing God to extend grace to those who believe. Thus, God's mercy is not only an abstract concept but a tangible reality witnessed in His covenant faithfulness and the sacrifice of His Son.

Q: Why is understanding the concept of sin important for Christians?

Understanding sin is crucial for recognizing our need for Christ's redemptive work and appreciating God's mercy. The concept of sin is fundamental to the Christian faith as it underscores our broken relationship with God. Romans 3:23 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, emphasizing that everyone is in need of redemption. Recognizing the seriousness of sin helps Christians grasp the depth of God's mercy—He has not treated us as our sins deserve, as stated in Psalm 103:10. This understanding leads to a genuine appreciation of the grace extended through Christ, who paid the penalty we owed, allowing us to experience the fullness of salvation and reconciliation with God.

Q: How does Christ fulfill God's justice in relation to our sins?

Christ fulfills God's justice by bearing the punishment for our sins, allowing us to receive mercy. Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross is the ultimate fulfillment of God's justice. As the perfect substitute, Christ took upon Himself the punishment that was rightfully ours, satisfying God's righteous demands against sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Hence, while the soul that sins deserves death, Christ endured that penalty on behalf of sinners, allowing for the extension of mercy without compromising justice. This reconciliation showcases God's ability to be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus, as expressed in Romans 3:26.

Q: What does it mean to receive less than what we deserve?

Receiving less than what we deserve means experiencing God's mercy and grace despite our sinfulness. In a theological context, receiving less than what we deserve refers to the gracious act of God withholding the full judgment that our sins warrant. According to Ezra 9:13, Israel acknowledges that they received less punishment than their iniquities deserved—a truth that resonates with all who are in Christ. For believers, this means that instead of wrath and condemnation, we experience forgiveness and new life through Christ. This profound truth motivates gratitude and humility, as it highlights the amazing grace that God extends to unworthy sinners.

I've titled this morning's message, Less Than We Deserve. I want you to turn with me to the Old Testament book of Ezra. You find 1 and 2 Kings, and then 1 and 2 Chronicles, and then this little book of Ezra. And I'll give you a moment to get there. Ezra chapter 9. If you find it, just keep your place open there. Ezra chapter 9.

I often hear people say, I want what I deserve. And they usually say that when they believe that they've been treated unfairly. People say, I want justice. When they feel they've been violated and treated less than favorable. Like when overlooked for a promotion, folks cry, I deserved or I earned that promotion. They feel they've been taken for granted. They feel that they've been disrespected and mistreated.

They didn't get what they were entitled to. I suppose it's always been this way. Nothing's new under the sun. But it seems to me, anyway, that more this day, people seem to feel entitled. We deserve this. We deserve that. And it's not fair. You've heard that, haven't you? I treat it fairly.

But this is never, and I reiterate, never the case when it comes to our God dealing with sin. A just God always, always meets out what men and women truly deserve. That's what makes Him holy. That's what makes Him just. Every sin committed, now hear me, this is scriptural. This is what the Bible teaches. Every sin committed is against a holy God. That's what David said in Psalm 51. He said, against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. That's pretty plain and simple. Against God and God only have we sinned.

He said, well, I committed sin against so and so. Well, really it was against God. There's no moral ground that any of us can stand on in demanding a reward. We have no moral ground to stand on. If God was to give anyone strictly what they deserve, what they merit, the result wouldn't be blessing. The result wouldn't be recognition. The result wouldn't be elevation. And it wouldn't be a promotion. You know what it'd be? Judgment. Judgment. That's what you and I deserve.

And that's why God's Word constantly ties sin to death. The wages of sin. The compensation for sin. That's what wages is. It's compensation. The compensation for sin is debt. Wages are what you earn, what you deserve. You work a 40-hour week for so much an hour, at the end of the week, that's what you earn, that's what you deserve. And sin's wages are debt. Anything short of that is mercy and grace. What have we earned? What do we deserve? Death, double death, physical death, yes, but also spiritual death, also eternal death.

And I had this in the bulletin this morning, mercy is withholding the judgment that we deserve. And grace is God giving the blessings that we don't deserve. According to Psalm 103 verse 10, I read this Wednesday night. Clayton read it in the men's meeting earlier.

It says, God hath not dealt with us after our sins. Thank God! We need to thank Him that He hasn't dealt with us after our sins. Nor has God rewarded us according to our iniquities. Thank God! Praise Him that He has it. God has not treated His people as their sins deserve. Did you hear me? God has not treated His people as their sins deserve. At the cross, justice was not ignored.

It was satisfied. God's justice was satisfied. The Lord Jesus Christ bore the judgment that you and I deserve. And let me tell you, the only person that'll believe that, a believer. One that God has revealed Himself to. At the cross, judgment was paid. Our punishment, the punishment we deserved, God was satisfied. And He gave us the righteousness that we didn't deserve. And that's what mercy is. God giving us what we don't deserve. Every breath is mercy. Everything short of death is mercy. It's God holding back what we deserve. It's God holding back what justice demands.

Now this morning, for just a few minutes, I want us to consider this subject of less than we deserve. And again, let me remind you that the Old Testament is much more than just biblical history. Our text this morning gives us a courtroom scene and confession that delivers the only verdict. There's only one verdict that a sinner can truly receive. You know what that is? Guilty. Guilty. In the courtroom of God's justice, if we stood in and on our own account, the only verdict that we would receive is guilty. Every one of us.

And the gospel, here's the good news, in spite of all our guilt and in spite of all our sin, some chosen sinners, and I say that specifically and on purpose. It's not talking about the whole world. Some chosen sinners, all chosen sinners. if they're chosen, this applies to all of them, are yet spared by the mercy and the grace that's found in Christ alone.

Now, here in Ezra chapter 9, let's read just a few verses beginning in verse 6. You have it? Okay, verse 6 of Ezra chapter 9. Now this is Ezra talking. He's the prophet. And Ezra said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to Thee, my God, for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up into the heavens.

And since the days of our fathers have we been in great trespass, been in great trespass unto this day and for our iniquities our iniquities have we our kings and our priests been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands to the sword to captivity and to spoil and to confusion of face as it is this day and now for a little space great grace has been showed from the lord our god to leave us a remnant to escape and to give us a nail in His holy place that our God may lighten our eyes and give us a little reviving in our bondage. For we were bondmen Yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage, but hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving, to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? For we have forsaken thy commandments, which thou hast commanded by the servants of the prophets, saying, The land unto which ye go to possess it is unclean. It's an unclean land with the filthiness of the people of the lands, with their abominations, which have filled it from one end to another with their uncleanness.

Now, therefore, give not your daughters unto their sons." Ezra starts talking to the people of Israel. "'Neither take their daughters unto your sons, nor seek their peace or their wealth forever, that you may be strong and eat the good of the land and leave it for an inheritance to your children forever."

Now, that is exactly what Israel did. What Ezra told them they shouldn't do, that's exactly what they did. The book of Judges records these acts over and over again, and each time it says man did what was right in his own eyes. That's the problem. That's the problem. Everything that Israel did led to idolatry. Now, in these verses that we just read, Ezra does three things.

First, he admits corporate or collective guilt without excuse, and he includes himself. He prays our iniquities. He confesses our trespasses. He expresses our guilt. Secondly, Ezra speaks of Israel's repeated rebellion. He acknowledges that Israel's sin is not isolated.

This wasn't the first time. You know, you sin against somebody, you do wrong to somebody once. What's the old saying? Treat me bad once and shame on, You do it again, shame on me. Well, they just repeatedly did it. It wasn't isolated. From the days of their fathers until the moment he's speaking here, Israel over and over and over again did what was right in their own eyes. And with Israel, there was always a pattern of unfaithfulness. Sound familiar? Huh? Does it sound familiar to you? Despite the repeated warnings, from God's prophets, Israel continued to disobey God and worship idols.

And then the third thing Ezra recognized is what justice should have brought. So by the end of verse 12, the verdict is unmistakable. God had every right to destroy Israel. God had every reason to leave them in exile. God justly could have destroyed them entirely, wiped them off the face of the earth, and nothing bad could have been said about God.

That's what they deserved. That's what they earned. Thank God He doesn't give us what we deserve. He gives us less than what we deserve. Their guilt is admitted, their history is established, and their judgment is acknowledged. And then comes our text in verse 13. Let's read it together. Ezra 9, 13. And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds, now that's a true confession. He said, and for our great trespasses, seeing that thou our God has punished us less than our iniquities deserve and has given us such deliverance as this. Ezra tells it like it is. He declares, we've been given less than our iniquities deserve.

And God had every right to judge Israel, send them, as I said, to exile or extinguish them all together. But not distinguish, extinguish. God had every right to just do away with them. But instead, grace. is applied. Mercy is given. And this points us to the substitutionary mercy that's found in Christ alone. Now, Israel is standing here in the middle of a ruined people saying, we should have been wiped out. But we weren't. The judgment Israel deserved is not denied. The judgment we deserve cannot be denied either, friends. This is what we deserve.

This points us to the Christ of the cross, and it's there that justice is not ignored, as I said in the first hour. It's there that justice is satisfied in Christ. It's there that mercy can be extended to people, wretches, sinners like you and I, and it can be extended without compromise. So let me remind you again of what you already know. Sin brings deserved judgment. God withholds full judgment because of His promise. And in Christ, justice is fully dealt with and mercy fully opened. Is that not good news? Now, here we have an honest confession.

Israel speaks of Israel, he speaks of himself, and listen, he speaks of all of us. None of us are excluded. Our evil deeds, yours and mine, too. Our great trespasses, yours and mine. The enlightened believer, and we say this all the time, but it's so true, the enlightened believer always takes sides with God against themselves. Always, always does.

They know what they deserve. You can tell a sinner, you're deserving of hell, and they'll be shaking their head. You're right, that's exactly right. We know that we're deserving of hell, don't we? The safe sinner stops defending themselves and agrees with God's verdict.

How many times have we seen in courtrooms, you know, the verdict is read and somebody's pronounced guilty and the family starts crying and weeping and the convicted one gets mad. I didn't do it! I didn't do it! But you won't find that among the courtroom of believers. Guilty.

It's a deserved sentence. It's a deserved verdict. It's what I deserve. But God in mercy and grace and the Lord Jesus Christ gives us less than what we deserve. Isn't that good news? It's the best news I ever heard. For one who knows what they deserve, that's good news.

We stop defending ourselves and we agree with God. We submit to God's judgment and justice rather than self-justification. God doesn't like self-justification. But God, we don't like it either. When somebody says, I did that because you did this, and you did that because I did that because you did this. Self-justification. Job took sides with God against himself. He repented after God's revelation to him. Job spent the biggest part of the book that bears his name defending himself against three so-called friends.

And basically what those friends said, you wouldn't be in the shape you're in, you wouldn't be in the position you're in, if you hadn't done something wrong. Now we don't know what it is, and we're here to find out. But we're going to get to the bottom of this. But you would not be here on this dung heap scraping bulls and have lost everything you had if you hadn't done something wrong.

But Job said, when God confronted him, he said, Behold, I am vile. Job 40 verse 4. Behold, I'm vile. What shall I answer thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth." What am I going to say about it? I'm bound. And then Job 42 verse 5 and 6, he says, I've heard of thee speaking to God by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee. Wherefore I abhor myself. I hate myself. You know anything about that? and I repent in dust and ashes."

That's what Paul said. Paul said, I am a wretched man. An old wretched man that I am. You know, I'm reminded of a quote that Charles Spurgeon once made. He said, if any man think ill of you, don't be angry with him, because you're much worse than he thinks you are.

Isn't that the truth? That's the truth. Job stops arguing his case and he agrees with God's righteousness over his own personal innocence. And Job took God's side against himself. Have you? That's what David did after his sin with Bathsheba. And it wasn't just against Bathsheba. It was against Uriah, her husband. He put him on the front lines and got him killed real quick. But his sin wasn't against just Bathsheba and wasn't just against Uriah. It was against God. against thee, and thee only have I sinned," David said. David took sides with God against himself. He said, I've sinned against the Lord in 2 Samuel 12, 13.

No self-defense, no justification. He agreed with God's assessment. Have you? Have I? All David's sin, like ours, is against God and Him only. We too must align with God's verdict. Even when it condemns us, It's then that justice is withheld. That's what Isaiah did. After the vision of God's holiness, when Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, you remember what he said?

Woe is me. He said, I'm undone. I haven't arrived, I'm undone. I'm no good. I'm a man of unclean lips. He said, and everyone around me, just like me. Again, no negotiation, no explanations, no comparisons. Isaiah takes sides against his own impurity with God. God, you're right.

And that's what Peter did after he denied the Lord. He went out and wept bitterly, Luke 22 tells us. And later when He's restored, and the Lord told Him to tell, He said, go tell My disciples and Peter to meet Me, and you remember the story. And later when He was restored, He acknowledged His failure.

There was no self-justification then. The Lord removed Peter's self-confidence. He had previously claimed, he said, all these others may deny you, but not me. All these other fellas, they may deny you, they may betray you, they may leave you, but not me, not Peter, no sir.

And he was the one who did. The Lord said before the cock... crows three times, you're going to deny me three times. Before the cock crows, you're going to deny me three times. And now the Lord asked him three times, does thou love me? Did Peter get mad this time? Did Peter say, well, of all of these other scoundrels here, you know, if anybody loves you, it's me. He didn't say that, did he? You know what he said? Lord, thou knowest. You know. I hope I do. I want to love you, but only you really know.

And that's what Ezra's doing here. Again, verse 6, Ezra said, Oh my God, I'm ashamed and I blush to lift up my face to Thee. That's what the publican in the temple did, and he wouldn't even so much lift his eyes up into heaven. Ezra said, My God, for our iniquities are increased over our head.

I'm drowning in sin. Do you know anything about that? Our trespass has grown up to the heavens. Until a sinner sees their great need, they will never see Christ as necessary. Second point. Here we've got a just reality. Ezra says, After all that's come upon us, after all that's come upon us. Israel had suffered. They had experienced captivity. They had suffered great loss. They had undergone much shame. And what Ezra is saying here is that after all that's happened to us, this is what we deserve. This is what we deserve.

God is not unjust. God did not overreact. Sin earns judgment. Every sorrow, every trial, all trouble was right and justified. It was for Israel, and listen, it is for us. We brought God's judgment, God's justice on ourselves. Let that sink in for a minute. Well, that's offensive to me. Well, I'm sorry, but that's what God said. And He said it about me too. Brought this on yourself. God chastised Israel over and over, but they just kept right on doing what they did. God would have been justified to destroy them all and send them right to hell then. And He'd been justified to do it to you and I too.

Well, that's not fair. No, it's just and right. It's justice. And I don't want justice. I want mercy. Don't you? Thirdly, we've got a stunning revelation. Man, this is the Gospel, friends. Israel and us, by God's grace, receive less than our iniquities deserve. Chew on that for a minute. What blessed news, in Christ we do not get what we deserve.

I hear people say, I just want what I deserve, and I just, oh, I just, I'm like, oh, God, man, I don't want what I deserve. That means all of us deserve more judgment than we get. That means all of us deserve more wrath than we experience. That means we all deserve destruction, but we're spared. less than what we deserve.

If God gave you and I exactly what we deserve, we wouldn't be breathing. We'd be burning. And the very fact that you and I are alive, the very fact that you're here right now, hearing the gospel this morning, and I'm here, this is even more of anomaly to me, that I'm here this morning preaching the gospel, is the very proof that God's been merciful to us. As I quoted in the beginning of this message, God had not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded, bestowed, given us according to our iniquities.

And then, fourthly, this gives us the gospel answer. What is it? What is the gospel answer? In Christ, justice is withheld. That's the gospel. Justice is withheld. I get less than what I deserve. Oh, we're not complaining about getting what we deserve anymore. Because when we see what it is we deserve. We get less than what we deserve. Much, much, much less.

How can a just God give less punishment than sin deserves and still remain just? Especially since the wages of sin is dead. Especially since the soul that sins, it shall die. Especially since God can by no means clear the guilty. How can this be? The answer is found in two words. In Christ. By Christ. Through Christ. That's it. That's it. It's not hard to understand. It's impossible to believe apart from divine revelation. God hath made Him, Christ, to be sin for us, the sinner, the one deserving of death, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And I never grow tired of this. I never grow tired of hearing this. I never grow tired of preaching this. I never grow tired of believing this. You know why? Same reason you don't. It's the only hope any of us have of being saved. No hope of being saved apart from that.

God did not ignore sin. God doesn't sweep sin under a rug. No way a holy and just God could. He'd cease to be holy. He'd cease to be just. God did not lower His standard. You know, that's what school systems do today. They've lowered the standard. Well, nobody's really wrong anymore. And there's no A's and B's and C's. You know, everybody gets an A because everybody, you know, did their best. Well, that don't work in God's school system. No, sir. God didn't lower His standard. His justice is unbending, it's strict, and it's just. God did not just sweep guilt away. He punished it fully, just not on us. On who? You know who? The Lord Jesus Christ. So there's only one way that we can get less than we deserve. Only one way that holy justice on us is spared. Holy justice was not spared. It was withheld to us, but not on our substitute.

And the full wrath and condemnation and alienation was put on Him. Why, in the garden, before He ever went to the cross. He sweat, as it were, great drops of blood. Why? Because all our sin, all the sin of God's elect throughout all time, was being put on Him. Wrath. Christ received what believing sinners deserve. Wrath. Judgment. Condemnation. Death.

So that believing sinners might have what they don't deserve. We receive not only less than we deserve, friends, we receive the exact opposite of what we deserve. That's mercy and forgiveness and righteousness and acceptance and eternal life. Just the opposite of what we deserve, we get. Do you know what that means? It means that if you're in Christ, If you're trusting in Christ, if you believe Christ is the only means of being reconciled to God, you're never gonna receive what your sins deserve. Never. Why? Because Christ already has.

Augustus Toplady, the writer of Rock of Ages, said it this way, he said, Complete atonement thou hast made unto the utmost farthing paid, whate'er thy people owed. Nor can his wrath on me take place, if sheltered in Christ's righteousness, and sprinkled with his blood." And then the words that are quite famous, payment God cannot twice demand. First at my bleeding surety's hand, and then again at mine. If Christ paid the debt, the debt's paid.

There's nothing for you to pay. Did you hear that? Nothing for you to pay. You get much, much less than what you deserve. If Christ paid the full penalty of sins, the sins of His people, then God cannot and will not demand the same payment again from the sinner.

He would cease to be just. He would be unjust if He did that, and He's anything but. Now, the real danger is misreading mercy. Mercy is not approval of our sin. Mercy is space to repent. You're not going to get out of repenting for your sin. That's not how it works. Every moment we are spared proves that God is patient. So the call of grace is to come while mercy is extended.

Now listen, if you want to call this an invitation to come, you can call it that. I'm not asking you to come down front. I'm not asking you to raise your hand. I'm not asking you to say a prayer. I'm telling you, it's not an invitation in that sense. It's a command.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall have eternal life. If you don't, you're going to perish. If you're yet without Christ, you're living in less than deserved times. But those times are going to end. Right now, if you come to Christ, you're going to get less judgment than you deserve. You're going to get less wrath than you deserve. You're going to get more mercy than you deserve. But God's Spirit shall not always strive with man. There's a time coming when that's over. But that window, it doesn't stay open forever.

The same God who is mercy is also just. So the call is simple, yet it's urgent. Let the wicked forsake his way. Isaiah 55, seven. And if they do, he added, they will be abundantly pardoned. But there's gonna come a time when the wicked can no longer forsake their way.

Come to Christ with this confession. I deserve more than I've received because Christ has received it in my place. Ezra looked at sin and he said, we've received less than what we deserved. Boy, he was right. Anything this side of hell, anything this side of eternal wrath and condemnation is mercy! It is for this sinner. There's only one who's received more than he deserved. And that was Christ. And He is taking our strict judgment and justice upon Himself. So I'm going to say it one more time, and may God enable it to sink in to our carnal minds. God has not dealt with chosen sinners as they deserve. Because at the cross, Christ dealt as dealt with our sins as we deserved. That's why God doesn't meet people in our terms of fairness.

Nobody's asking for strict justice once they understand what it would mean for them personally. When God shows you what you deserve, you don't want justice. And the greatness of the Gospel is this. God is both just and merciful at the same time. Merciful to those who are in Christ and not merciful to those who aren't. Justice isn't ignored, it's just satisfied in Christ.

Mercy's not cheap, it was purchased on the cross. It costs Christ His blood. Separation from His Father. So the real question isn't whether people get what they deserve, it's whether they're going to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the issue. What think ye of Christ?

He's the one who's already took what we deserve in our place. So it's my prayer this morning that God enable us and cause us to stand where Ezra stood. No argument left, no argument. God's people ain't arguing about this matter. We know we're guilty. We've taken sides with God. No excuses remain.

With only mercy that's undeserved and grace that's astonishing, we bow to Christ knowing it's our only hope. Christ in you is the hope of glory. But He hadn't given us what we deserve. Instead, He's opened the door to repentance. And Christ has made restoration certain for those who believe.

So we as believers, we don't walk away proud. We walk away humbled. And we as believers don't walk away hopeless. We walk away forgiven. So let that lead us not to ease with sin, but to true gratitude and renewed obedience to the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. God is a holy and just God, but He still shows mercy. And to those whom He does, they get less than they deserve.

Less Than We Deserve

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about justice and mercy?

How do we know that God is merciful?

Why is understanding the concept of sin important for Christians?

How does Christ fulfill God's justice in relation to our sins?

What does it mean to receive less than what we deserve?

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Less Than We Deserve

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about justice and mercy?

How do we know that God is merciful?

Why is understanding the concept of sin important for Christians?

How does Christ fulfill God's justice in relation to our sins?

What does it mean to receive less than what we deserve?

Sermon Transcript

About David Eddmenson

Comments

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