“For the one that does not practice mercy will have his judgment without mercy”? (Jas. 2:13) God’s mercy to us is of such great magnitude that we are compelled to exercise mercy toward our fellows, comparatively small though our manifestation of it may be.

HOW FAR GOD’S MERCY EXTENDS

16. How does God’s mercy to us compare with mercy that we might exercise, and how did Jesus illustrate this at Matthew 18:23-35?

¹⁶ This may seem difficult at times and the offenses or seeming shortcomings of our Christian brothers may be such that we are inclined to ignore this requirement of showing love and extending mercy, rationalizing within ourselves that surely Jesus did not mean we should overlook “extreme” faults in others. But Paul magnifies God’s love above any that we could manifest when he said: “God recommends his own love to us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) How much greater are the sins that God has forgiven us than any that we might be called upon to forgive in our Christian brothers! And our need for God’s mercy in providing a way of redemption cannot be evaluated alongside the needs of our brothers that we are able to supply. Is it any wonder that God’s mercy cannot be made to extend to those who are lacking in mercy?​—Col. 3:13; compare Matthew 18:23-35.

17. Though dedicated, how might we still come into judgment, yet what reassurance does James give?

¹⁷ Of most serious concern to us, then, should be the question: Does God’s mercy cover all my sins? If I have dedicated myself to Jehovah God and symbolized it by water baptism, making a request to God for a good conscience, could I still come under the judgment of God for failing to exercise mercy, love toward others? (1 Cor. 13:1-3) James warned, as already quoted: “For the one that does not practice mercy will have his judgment without mercy.” However, James followed this admonition with the comforting reassurance: “Mercy exults triumphantly over judgment.” (Jas. 2:13) How? And in what way that could bring us into judgment might we fail in exercising mercy even now, before the Day of Judgment?

18. What example of mercy might be considered, what pattern of mercy does it follow and it what respects?

¹⁸ One outstanding example of mercy, exercised to the full extent of the significance of the term, is that displayed by Joseph, the favored son of Jacob. But Joseph, in the mercy that he manifested, was following the pattern that Jehovah God himself was demonstrating at the same time. Whether Joseph realized at the beginning the full extent of God’s mercy exercised toward him and his father’s household, the Bible account does not say. But Joseph was relying entirely on Jehovah’s deliverance and never wavered in his determination to follow Jehovah’s direction and to adhere strictly to Jehovah’s righteous requirements that he had learned from his father Jacob. And when Joseph was in the greatest need, Jehovah’s mercy expressed in his behalf always succored him and, in due time, it brought him into the second-most prominent position in the world of his day, a position of such power that he could, if he so desired, avenge himself with impunity on all who had mistreated him. Or, he could use his position to become a great blessing to them. How Joseph exercised mercy, not only toward those guilty of wrongdoing, but also in tender compassion and empathy toward those in need, and how this true-life story can show us the way “mercy exults triumphantly over judgment, we leave to the succeeding article to demonstrate.