WHO QUALIFIES FOR MERCY?
47 AND THAT SERVANT WHO KNEW HIS MASTER'S WILL, AND DID NOT prepare himself or do according to his will, SHALL BE BEATEN WITH MANY STRIPES.
48 BUT HE WHO DID NOT KNOW, YET COMMITTED THINGS DESERVING OF STRIPES, SHALL BE BEATEN WITH FEW. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; AND TO WHOM MUCH HAS BEEN COMMITTED, OF HIM THEY WILL ASK THE MORE."
Luke 12:47,48 (NKJV)
God would always have mercy on whoever does not have understanding of His ways deeply. In other words, God's mercy is shown based on the level of an individual believer's understanding and knowledge of Him.
What God expected of you as a believer is, the standard of your Christian life should be based on—commensurate or proportional to:
• What you have been taught through His Word (Luke 12:47,48).
• Situations and circumstances which you have been allowed to go through, that you are expected to learn from and develop certain fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22,23).
• And things you have learned from other mature believers through your association or relationship with them; their writings, or material (Philippians 4:9; Hebrews 13:7).
If God has allowed you to be in a Church, under a leader who teaches about God's ways and principles; you however refused to apply or practice what you are learning, and do not change. God may afterwards remove His mercy and favour, and allowed you to pass through situations that would cause you to learn through experience those things you supposed to learn—and that may be severe and not palatable. God did that to the Israelites!
If you are lacking in knowledge on a particular subject in the Christian faith, God would have mercy on you and overlook your wrongs in such an area: "GOD OVERLOOKED PEOPLE'S IGNORANCE ABOUT THESE THINGS IN EARLIER TIMES . . . " (Acts 17:30 NLT).
God overlooked things you do when you were ignorant. He would have mercy on you about things you do not know, or the ones that your understanding is still minimal or shallow on.
God may kindly lead you to where you would be able to hear and learn about the matter you are ignorant of:
• God may allow your pastor to teach or preach on the subject.
• A book on that subject may be incidentally given to you by someone, although, it was divinely arranged or orchestrated by God, but would be unknown to you that it was arranged by Him.
• If you are sincere in your heart about the matter, you wanted to know the truth, He would help you out: "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS, FOR THEY SHALL BE FILLED" (Matthew 5:6).
God would want you to learn about the subject that you might not remain in the dark, ignorance, about it (2 Corinthians 2:11).
The devil thrives on ignorance, but God would not want you to be a novice who is ignorant of the truth; rather, He would want you to be knowledgeable of His ways: "MY PEOPLE ARE DESTROYED FOR LACK OF KNOWLEDGE" (Hosea 4:6).
An Example:
If you have not been taught on Giving: tithings, offerings, and other financial responsibilities and commitments of believers; and you are not practicing it as you should, or at all—you may not be chastised for your unfaithfulness or shortcomings on it.
God might still be blessing you through His infinite mercy and favour, even when you are not consistent in Giving.
Albeit, He would not want you to remain in that ignorance!
If you have been wayward, living carnally even as a professed Christian, and God is overlooking your waywardness; after awhile He would want you to be taught that you may not remain in that state of carnality.
If afterwards you wanted to continue in the way you have been living that is not right, even after you have known the truth; God would no longer condone the carnality or waywardness (Hebrews 10:26,27).
Knowledge puts or places a responsibility on you. If you lived contrary to what you have been taught biblically, God would not hesitate to discipline you (Hebrews 12:5,6).
And if you are deliberately evading knowledge because you do not want to take any responsibility, you do not want to be committed in your walk with God; He would also allow you to be chastised when the period of grace given to you has elapsed.
In such a situation, it means you know the right thing to do, but you are dodging it in order to pretend that you do not know: "REMEMBER, IT IS SIN TO KNOW WHAT YOU OUGHT TO DO AND THEN NOT DO IT" (James 4:17 NLT).
You cannot play pranks on God, or play tricks on His intelligence! The intent of your heart is known to Him (1 Chronicles 28:9).
The reason why a particular thing is done by you, which may be hidden to others, is bare or plain before God.
You may succeed in deceiving other people, but you cannot deceive God!
Admonitions
• The truth, the Word of God that you know, should be practiced without any compromise (James 1:22,25).
• The grace needed would be given to you if you did not know better. God usually does overlook the time of ignorance (Acts 17:30). He however expects you to live in line with His Word, after the truth has been taught or made known to you (Joshua 1:8; Psalm 1:1-3; James 1:22-25).
• God may not hold you responsible for what you do not know at all, or that which your understanding is shallow on. The chastisement may be mild or minimal for whoever does not know better on a particular issue, but for someone who has been taught biblically and understood the truth, and still go about to do the hideous thing; such cannot but be chastised or disciplined severely (Luke 12:47,48).
God would have mercy on whoever the understanding is shallow on a particular subject. However, a mature believer would be expected to know and do better (James 4:17).
11 FOR THE GRACE OF GOD THAT BRINGS SALVATION HAS APPEARED TO ALL MEN,
12 TEACHING US THAT, DENYING UNGODLINESS AND WORLDLY LUSTS, WE SHOULD LIVE SOBERLY, RIGHTEOUSLY, AND GODLY IN THE PRESENT AGE."
Titus 2:11,12 (NKJV)
You will not fail in Jesus' name. Peace!