t him return
unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him." This is the invitation
of God given to all the world! But Paul is not speaking of mercy in
general; he goes on in his masterful argument outlining the doctrines
of grace and on the strength of that he uses the text.

First: We are justified. The fifth chapter and the first verse,
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ." In justification our sins are pardoned and we are
accepted as righteous because of the righteousness of Christ, which is
imputed unto us and received by faith alone. And yet to him this
definition in every day language means that, being justified, we stand
before God as if we never had sinned. No wonder that in the light of
such a doctrine Paul could say, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service" (Romans
12:1).

Second: _We are kept safe_. Romans 5:10, "For if, when we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." Literally the
closing part of this verse is, "We are kept safe in his life." A child
in its mother's arms could not be so secure as we in his life.
Underneath us are the everlasting arms and around about us the sure
mercies of God.

Third: _We are baptized into his death_. "Know ye not that so many of
us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?"
(Romans 6:3). "The wages of sin is death." This is God's irrevocable
statement, but Christ died for our sins and Paul's argument here is
that we died with him, so the demands of the law have been met and we
are to go free. No wonder Paul could say, "I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

Fourth: _We are alive unto God_. Romans 6:11, "Likewise reckon ye also
yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus
Christ our Lord." Not only are we justified and kept safe and
crucified with him and buried with him but in the plan of God we are
risen with him. What a wonderful mercy this is!

Fifth: _We have deliverance from the self life_. The seventh chapter
of Romans is just the cry of a breaking heart and reaches its climax in
the twenty-fourth verse,