God's Mercy and Grace— they are new every morning.

Beloved of God, did you know that the original text of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew? Our English and other Bible translations come from the original Hebrew text. Now consider the following words which are used to describe our Heavenly Father in Christ Jesus throughout the Old Testament—

Lovingkindness. Faithfulness. Goodness. Kindness, Favour. Love. Mercy. Loyal love. Steadfast love. Grace.

All of these words have one thing in common— they are translated from the same Hebrew word — Chesed

" — a word so rich in meaning that it is impossible to capture its essence in one single English word. We have to use many words and they do not even suffice to capture the essence of “Chesed.”

Now here’s the interesting part— there is a Hebrew version of the New Testament, and in that version, wherever the word “Chesed” appears, it is translated as “Grace” in our English Bibles. For instance, where the NKJV and many other English translations say—

“And of His fullness we have all received, and GRACE for GRACE. For the law was given through Moses, but GRACE and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John‬ 1‬:16‬-17‬ NKJV‬‬

— The Orthodox Jewish Bible (TOJB) uses “Chesed” for every place where “Grace” is found in the English versions—

“For from the kol melo (all the plentitude) of him we all received CHESED upon CHESED. Because the matan Torah (giving of the Torah) was graciously bestowed through Moshe, but CHESED and Emes of Hashem came through [Rebbe], Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua.”Yochanan‬ 1‬:16‬-17‬ TOJB2011‬‬

“Chesed” and “Grace” are one and the same. And what is the point of all of this explanation? Beloved of God, in God’s word is where we find the definition of “Grace” or “Chesed” Himself. He is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him:

“God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."

Just three verses after, verse 14 of the same Titus 2 tells us Grace’s job description and why Grace (Christ Himself) died for you and I:

“He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Beloved, Jesus Christ Himself is Chesed aka Grace. Recall all of those God-describing words that are translated from “Chesed” in the Old Testament? Including “steadfast love”? They all represent and are one and the same as the One whom the Bible describes as being “the fullness of the Godhead bodily”—

Jesus Christ is Lovingkindness. He is Faithfulness. He is Goodness. He is Kindness. He is Favour. He is Love. He is Mercy. He is Steadfast love. He is the Grace of God.

Even consider this very popular song which is a direct quote from Lamentations 3:22-23–

22 “The STEADFAST LOVE of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

“Steadfast love" above has as its root the Hebrew word "Chesed", so rich in meaning that it is impossible to capture it in one single English word. For example, the above verse from Lamentations 3 is taken fromthe New Revised Standard Version (NSRV.) See other versions—

“that the GRACE of Adonai is not exhausted, that his compassion has not ended.” Complete Jewish Version (CJB)

“Through the Lord’s MERCIES we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not.” (NKJV)

“The Lord's UNFAILING LOVE and mercy still continue (Good News Translation)

“It is because of the Lord’s LOVINGKINDNESSES that we are not consumed, Because His [tender] compassions never fail.” (Amplified Version)

“The Lord’s LOVE never ends. His mercies never stop.” (ICB)

“The Lord’s LOYAL KINDNESS never ceases; his compassions never end.” (NET)

“The Lord's KINDNESS never fails! If he had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed.” (NET)

We could go on and on— loyal kindness, love, faithful love, steadfast love, loving kindnesses, mercies, unfailing love, steadfast love, GRACE. So many Bible versions using so many different words to try to capture the essence of the Hebrew word “Chesed” who is the Person of Grace Himself— Jesus Christ. I promise you this is going somewhere:)

Now we all know that Jesus is the anglicised form of the Jewish name “Yeshua.” Yeshua in Hebrew literally means Salvation. This brings everything together—

Jesus = Yeshua = Chesed = Grace.

Jesus is Salvation. He is Chesed, the Word so rich in meaning and power, and whose essence our English Bibles struggle to capture with their various interpretations such as “steadfast love” and “lovingkindness.” He Himself is Grace— undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. This brings us back to Lamentations 3:22-23–

22 “The STEADFAST LOVE of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

Because Jesus Christ Himself is Steadfast Love (Chesed), whenever we read the above verses, by God’s grace, let us read in light of ALL of the definitions of our Lord Jesus, including “Grace” (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) and “Salvation.” So we can say—

22 “The steadfast love (GRACE/SALVATION) of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

Our Lord God Himself is telling us here that His Grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) made real in every weakness, it never ceases. His Salvation never ceases. And what exactly did Christ come to save us from, beloved? Let us see for ourselves in Matthew 1:21–

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Also consider Titus 2:14 where we see the job description of Grace Himself who is the person of Jesus Christ—

“He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Notice Christ gave His life to free us from "every kind of sin" according to Titus 2:14? Even those sins in Revelation 21:8 which some false doctrine preachers or “assistant satans” camouflaging as pastor threaten the flock with hell for unless you save yourself from them with your human strength (arm of flesh) that will fail—

"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers,and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

— Christ gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us,.." This includes the sins listed above and every sin in existence. Understand that we can never out-sin His Mercy and Grace. He came so that we should have no part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: so that we should "not perish but have everlasting life." Of ourselves, there is nothing we can do to merit or contribute to having eternal life. For every demand of godly living, He is the Supply.

Beloved, know it today that the Lord’s steadfast love for you and I — His Grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour towards us) and His Salvation from our sins and their penalty — it never ends. NEVER. His word says so—

“that the grace of Adonai is not exhausted, that his compassion has not ended. [On the contrary,] they are new every morning! How great your faithfulness!” Lamentations 3:22-23. Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

And have you ever wondered why the Lord's unceasing steadfast love and His unending mercies are NEW EVERY MORNING? Why His Salvation/Grace/Chesed are new every morning? It is because everyday, we fail, and in many more ways than we can imagine.

His steadfast love (grace and salvation) mercies are new every morning not so that we should continue to wallow in sins that lead to death but so that we should live in triumph over sin and death: Romans 5:16-17:

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

Also consider Hebrews 4:14–16 while holding on to the meaning of “mercy”—

“Since then we have a Great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Notice "receive mercy" and "find grace…?" We receive Mercy when we escape the punishment that we very much deserve and find Grace when we get the good things that we most certainly do not deserve. We can never put-sin His Grace, beloved of God. Our Lord God's grace (steadfast love) and His mercy are for the undeserving who look to Him utterly for salvation, even salvation from sins. And He saves us from them all.

Believer, when we sin or mess things up, which we will do copiously apart from the Lord God’s restraining Hand, His steadfast love (Grace) never fails. His mercies never come to an end. We cannot out-sin His Mercy and Grace. Jesus Christ our Great High Priest is able to sympathise with our weaknesses and deliver us from them all. He knows our weaknesses. His strength is made perfect in weakness; our weakness. As was His Way with the woman that was caught in adultery and even Zacchaeus the thieving tax collector, He will never condemn you for your sins when you come to Him empty of yourself and devoid of all (self-)righteous works that are done in order to get Him to bless or save. His salvation from sin and death is utterly free, not based on human effort-dependent terms and conditions like 79 days fasting.

Beloved of God, it was for our entire lifetime of sins that Christ suffered and died. He had and has no sins of His own. In Him, God sees us as righteous, "even though we are guilty of many sins." See this truth plainly written in His word in Romans 5:16 which many pastors will never preach--

“And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins."

Recall that Peter was likely doing okay with regard to living a godly life when the matter of his denials first came up— to the self-righteous who still believe that they are “doing okay” or can be good like God by self-determination as Peter thought; to anyone who challenges God's Word by claiming to be able to keep even a tittle of the law and produce good when Christ says "There is none good but God," just as Peter did before his denials; to any who thinks that he can produce even an atom of godliness by human effort aka the arm of flesh in order to be blessed and prosperous just as Job did before his calamities began, the truth of God's word in Romans 5:16 above— God seeing the believer as righteous even though we are guilty of many sins

— it is foolishness, blasphemy and license to sin. Because such try to reason out God’s Grace and Salvation using human logic, "being saved by God's grace (undeserved, unearned,unmerited favour)" seems like it is too good to be true. Little wonder—

"For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God." 1 Corinthians 1:18.

But to the one who has been chiseled by trials like Peter after his copious denials which followed his “exalts itself above the knowledge of God” episode; to the one who has Grace to see man's utter weakness and helplessness against sin and our utter need for God's Salvation by Grace, it is the Good News AND the Way to live in triumph over sin and death through Christ as it is written in God's word:

“And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:16-17.

By God’s grace, let us always remember that in Christ, our entire lifetime of sins— past, present and future— are forgiven forever and that God is no longer counting our sins against us. His steadfast love never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning.

Through the blood of Jesus, we remain forever forgiven and forever righteous in God’s sight, this despite our many imperfections. This is not so that we should continue to wallow in sins as antichrist pastors who lean on their own understanding love to imply, but because this is God’s system of delivering us from our sins and issues of life— receiving His ABUNDANCE of grace for our very weakness and His GIFT of righteousness for every misstep is how we get to live in triumph over sin and death, and only through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ—

“But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ." Romans 5:16-17.

Right believing always produces right living.