THE TRANSCENDENT KINDNESS of God is an incommunicable attribute in that His benevolence sometimes descends on us in our disobedience. In our enmity towards God He was merciful to save us and we know that God blesses those who are obedient, but beyond the limits of our comprehension (which would seem contradictory to our finite understanding) God is merciful toward us, as His children, in our waywardness without contradicting Who He is; He never acts in a way that condones or promotes sin – for how can He when there is no shadow of turning existing in Him and no degree of darkness that dwells in Him? He is gracious and merciful in that He does not deal with us according to our sins or repay us according to our iniquities (Psalm 103:10).

I recall what one pastor stated, drawing from his early days as a newly converted believer, when in a particular situation that was contrary to the ways of God, he was literally filled with the Holy Spirit. The immediate effect was a forsaking of that which was displeasing to God. I know there are going to be some Christians who will contend that God would never move in such a way, for He only gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey (Acts 5:32) – and He does, but are we going to deny the fact that God has sometimes blessed us while we were consciously aware of our disobedience and the times we have been most unChristlike?

Have you not known this when God’s kindness has embraced you and rather than having the impression that God condones your sin, it has broken you and led you to godly sorrow and repentance? How God’s kindness melts our hearts, especially when we are acutely aware of deserving God’s hot displeasure. Meriting of death, King David instead encountered the mercy of God’s covenantal faithfulness; he was made great by the gentleness of God (Psalm 18:35).

Shall we no longer strive to obey God then? Are we to be complacent and take for granted God’s mercy and kindness? Of course not! It is grace abounding; it is the dominion of grace prevailing in our lives rather than sin making us captives. The proof that we are saved by grace is that God’s kindness inevitably results in leading us in His paths of righteousness. It leads us to heart repentance. It humbles us. It blasts our self-righteousness and reminds us that we stand by grace alone. We are prone to forgetting these things. The Apostle Paul’s warning applies just as much to us in not allowing ourselves to be “led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). The NASB and KJV, as opposed to the ESV translation, draws out the clearer meaning here for having the word simplicity instead of sincere. Interestingly, the Latin Vulgate reads: “[lest] your minds should be corrupted, and should fall from the simplicity that is in Christ”, which strongly echoes Paul’s solemn declaration in Galatians 5:4 of those who were ‘pursuing’ God through the law: “…you have fallen away from grace.” He was not stating they had lost their salvation, but that they were no longer walking in grace. A corrupt or warped perspective of God’s grace hinders us from walking in the simplicity of our freedom in Christ. How frequent we need to be reminded of this.

Even through God’s discipline of us, it is His kindness and mercy, despite the fact His smile be far removed from sight. Such times are painful, but, as Hebrews 12:11 states, that through them, the peaceful fruit of righteousness is yielded to those who have been trained by it, just as the Psalmist stated, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes” (Psalm 119:71).

It is the assurance – not complacency – that David had who declared, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6). That mercy is also the steadfast love of the Lord, the kindness of God, as with His peace, that transcends all understanding.