If you say, ‘How shall we persecute him?’
And ‘What pretext for a case against him can we find?’
Then be afraid of the sword for yourselves,
For wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
So that you may know there is judgment. (vv. 28-29)

Many Christians, even theologians and ministers, believe that righteousness is tied to morality – specifically, to the law. As we read the Old Testament, the punishment caused by lawlessness is mentioned repeatedly.

The earth is also defiled by its inhabitants, for they violated laws, altered statutes, and broke the everlasting covenant. (Isaiah 24:5)

And now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have abandoned Your commandments, which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end, and with their impurity. (Ezra 9:10-11)

However, we must understand that God wants mercy, not sacrifice.

Now go and learn what this means: ‘I DESIRE COMPASSION, RATHER THAN SACRIFICE,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners. (Matthew 9:13)

Does that mean there are two different Gods in the Bible? No, there is only one God. Did God speak two different things? No, God did not and does not change. True Christians understand that the law was given as a tool to understand God. But it is not the way to know God. Through the law, we know that we have many blemishes.

Even though we are God’s creation, we cannot stand before Him unless we are born again. The first humans chose to rebel against God. Even if we were to become as blameless as Adam and Eve before their rebellion, we would still rebel against God as they did. Our struggle on earth is to understand God’s plan for establishing His kingdom. We must be born again through the only begotten Son of God in order to become His children. There is no hope without Christ’s death and resurrection. We do not become righteous through the law. In this evil age, all churches fight against this truth, claiming that they are righteous by perfectly keeping the law. Christ did not earn righteousness through works of the law, nor did He keep the law perfectly in order to impute righteousness gained by law-keeping. We are children of God because we are one with Christ, the only begotten Son of God. As Christ died, we died. As He was resurrected, we were resurrected and now have new life as adopted children of God.

God shows mercy and desires for us to show others His mercy. However, showing mercy is beyond our natural ability—it is, in fact, impossible. Only God can truly do this. Yet evil people forgive other evil people and claim they are showing mercy. This is happening rampantly in churches worldwide. Evil individuals take leadership positions and are praised by many. Why do they keep adulterers in their churches and claim they are showing them mercy? They assert they are following what the Bible says. They protect other evil people and tell others that it is acceptable to break the law. They teach that it is permissible to steal, murder, covet, and commit adultery. And when anyone opposes them, they accuse that person of breaking the law.

Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said. (Matthew 22:15)

God has sent, and is still sending, His prophets to the churches. However, they are mocked, ridiculed, and ostracized. The kingdom of God is coming, yet evil people do their best to convince others that righteousness comes from the law.

Then the kings of the earth and the eminent people, and the commanders and the wealthy and the strong, and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the sight of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to stand? (Revelation 6:15-17)