MERCY not Malice, is acceptable to God. Deuteronomy 19
Malice is a word not often used today (Malus, Latin – Bad), perhaps Malicious is more common. Malice means the Desire to harm someone or ill will. It’s an ATTITUDE OF THE HEART and God condemns Malice.
In Deuteronomy 19, Moses tells Israel to establish three Cities of Refuge, as places of sanctuary for anyone who accidentally kills a fellow Israelite. In this chapter the word Malice is also used three times and is a dividing line between those who could obtain Mercy and those who could not. The absence of Malice here protected, the innocent from revenge. So that was the situation in the Old Testament, under Law, what does the New Testament have to tell us?
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 GET RID OF ALL bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, ALONG WITH EVERY FORM OF MALICE. 32 BE KIND AND COMPASSIONATE TO ONE ANOTHER, FORGIVING EACH OTHER, JUST AS IN CHRIST GOD FORGAVE YOU. Ephesians 4
God’s Word doesn’t make recommendations, nor tell us to try to do something, It just tells us to do it, FOR OUR OWN GOOD. In these verses, we’re told not to grieve the Holy Spirit and to get rid of a number of things from our hearts that do grieve or offend Him. The remedy for the believers is to exercise Compassion and Forgiveness, just as God did for us through Christ. God has forgiven (and forgotten!) you and I much more than we can ever do towards others. Remember the parable of the Unmerciful Servant;
30 ‘But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 ‘Then the master called the servant in. “You wicked servant,” he said, “I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you HAVE HAD MERCY ON YOUR FELLOW SERVANT just as I had on you?” Matthew 18
God has had mercy on us and wants to continue to do so but we must show His mercy to others before we can receive it for ourselves. We are all ‘Fellow Servants’, who are called to serve different functions in the Lord’s Body, but He alone is the head.
Two further references to Getting rid of all Malice in the New Testament;
But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, Colossians 3
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2
We can’t afford to focus our minds on paying others back for wronging us, we have to make room for God’s Spirit to live His life through us and that means extending Forgiveness.
God bless and keep you today.