The first and third verses of Al-Fatiha include this phrase: r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm (the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful). Good Muslims repeat Al-Fatiha 17 times in their daily prayer rituals. Thus they say that God is “Most Gracious” and “Most Merciful” 34 times a day. In a month they say this phrase 1,034 times, in a year 12,410 times. But how do we know, how can we prove that God is r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm?
The Results of My Crime
Suppose I impulsively stole a beautiful car when I saw the keys in it? I’m eventually caught, tried, and now stand before a judge to be sentenced. However, the judge happens to be my father. What a dilemma the judge finds himself in! He loves me dearly and doesn’t want me to spend time in prison and ruin my future. Since the judge has vowed to follow the law of the land, he sentences me to one year in prison. Immediately after announcing my sentence, the judge steps down and takes off his judicial robe. He tells the court that he will serve my prison time. I am to go free! How do you think I would feel about the judge’s decision?
The Judge is Able to Save and to Destroy
“Grace” is often defined as undeserved favor. Meaning you did not earn or deserve the goodness God gave you. “Mercy” is defined as not receiving what we deserve. Meaning you did not receive the punishment from God that you deserved. How can this be? God is also the Judge: “. . . and to God, the Judge of all . . .” (Injil, Hebrews 12:23). ”There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy” (Injil, James 4:12).
Who is This Righteous Judge?
Who is this Judge who is able to save and destroy? The God-Man–Isa Al-Masih (Jesus Christ)! God knew that sinful man could not save himself from his rebellious and destructive nature. Because God loved mankind so very much, he would take it upon Himself to become a man to lead them out of their dilemma. He chose to be born of Mary, a virgin who was pledged to be married to Joseph (Injil, Luke 1:26 – 35). Since Isa Al-Masih did not have a human father, He was born without sin.
This sinless Isa Al-Masih, the Judge, willingly died on the cross at Calvary 2,000 years ago. He became sin for all of mankind-those living in the past and those yet to be born. All God now requires of us is to look “back to the cross” and accept the sacrificial death that Isa Al-Masih made for us.
Eternal Life is a Free Gift!
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:23). Eternal life is a free gift to anyone who will receive it. As it is written, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son [Kalimah Allah], that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Injil, John 3:16). When we want to receive that free gift, we will ask God to forgive us our sins, because of the sacrifice of Isa Al-Masih.
We are now given grace and mercy from God. Our Judge now declares us “not guilty” and sets us free!!!
Isa Al-Masih paid the penalty for our sins. When God looks at us now, He is looking at His Son, because we live in His Son! “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Injil, Romans 6:11). What peace this grace and mercy from the Judge brings into our lives!!!!
[We invite you to visit us at https://www.isaandislam.com/way-of-salvation to learn more about God’s gift of Salvation. God loves you and waits to hear from you. Isa Al-Masih said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). For a deeper understanding of Isa we suggest you subscribe to “Isa, Islam, and Al-Fatiha” at this link.]
SOME QUESTIONS FOR THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW
We encourage our readers to comment on the article above. Comments that don’t directly relate to the topic will be removed. Please start a dialogue with us by focusing on one of the following questions:
1. How can we prove that God is r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm?
2. How did God save us from the sin penalty?
3. How can God be the Most Gracious One and also be the judge?
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“The Results of My Crime.” Why should someone else pay the price for my crime? What kind of judgment is that? If that is the rule of the Lord Almighty, He will then obviously forgive all sins including those who don’t believe in Him.
This is also an injustice to the victim. Suppose I kill or hurt someone, and as a result my father is be killed or hurt. That is not justice. It will only encourage doing wrong to other people and then seeking forgiveness from the Lord!
But in Islam, no one is responsible for my crime but myself. If I do the crime, I have to do the time. Then which one is the right set of rules for humanity?
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Dear Saifur,
I agree with you that God is just and that one should pay the price of each crime, for we are under the Law. However, as you read from the article, everyone fails to fulfill this obligation. Everyone keeps sinning in words, deeds, and motives. Romans 3:10 says, “As it is written: There is no one righteous, not even one.”
However, God is still just. His justice is that He is Love and He loves us. Isa Al-Masih come to Earth to deliver us from this seemingly never-ending-bondage. He came as the Messiah, meaning Liberator/Savior/Anointed One. The Messiah became our redeemer so that our sins can be forgiven by God. He paid our penalty.
“For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:6-10).
This salvation is granted to anyone who receives Jesus as His Savior. For more information about this, please go to: https://www.isaandislam.com/Isa-Al-Masih/are-you-a-muslim-carrying-a-load-of-sin-there-is-help.html.
Y/J
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Because God the Father loves us unconditionally, because he made us like his image, therefore whatever shortcoming, sin that we encounter in our daily lives he is their to listen to our explanation. Don’t make any sin that you are going to test the patient of God the Father, because He knows before we act.
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Will,
You are right that God the Father loves us unconditionally. He wanted to have an intimate relationship with all mankind. That’s why, He sent Isa Al-Masih to the world, and let him die so that everyone will live in eternal life (Injil, John 3:16).
Everyone who believes in Isa Al-Masih as the Savior, will be saved from sins (Injil, John 3:18). Isa will also cleanse him and teach him to do right before God.
Dear Friends: We highly value all comments on our website. Yet we do have some guidelines:
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2. Your comment should be directly related to the theme of the lead article.
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