The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were truly students of scripture. They knew the scriptures backward and forward. They had great respect for the law and scripture. This was no mere intellectual interest, they wanted to obey every detail of the law to the letter. We could say they were doctrinal experts. They were also zealous preachers (Matt 23:15).

Where did they go so wrong? Why did they above all others receive the harshest criticism from Jesus? Although they had great knowledge of the scriptures, they didn’t know God. They knew the letter of the law, but missed it’s spirit. They put great importance on purity of worship and obeying the smallest of commandments but neglected what was most important. They strained out the gnat but gulped down the camel.

Many religious groups, especially the most zealous, have fallen into this trap. They put such importance on details that they miss the big picture. They may put great importance on purity in worship. For instance if some practice can be traced to people who didn’t worship God it must be rejected (toasting before drinking, saying “bless you” if someone sneezes, many holiday or birthday observances). Some religious groups may put such emphasis on correct doctrine that they consider others who don’t believe as they do as worldly, fleshly, even comparing them to spiritual prostitutes. The Pharisees considered normal people as “of the earth”. Is it much different to say “That person is worldly”?

Should doctrine or knowledge be elevated to such an important position that it determines who is our brother or who is a true christian? Paul says in 1 Cor. 8:1,2 – “…Knowledge inflates with pride, but love builds up. 2 If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know it as he ought to know it.”  Yes, knowledge or correct doctrine is not what determines who is a true christian. Is it even possible to have completely correct doctrine?  1 Cor 13:12 – “For now we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, as I am fully known.” We see as if looking in a metal mirror, sometimes we simply can’t tell what we are looking at. Should we use correct doctrinal knowledge then as a determining factor to decide who is our brother? Considering the fact that we ourselves are wrong on many doctrinal matters that would be quite foolish.

What then is the determining factor? John 13:35 – “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  1 John 4:23 – “Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us.”  Paul said in 1 Cor 13 that all gifts and knowledge were useless without love. 1 John 4:7 “…everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God”. Galatians 5:6 -“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision accomplishes anything; what matters is faith working through love.” Yes, it is faith and love that show who is truly following Christ.

In a certain occasion on a Sabbath, Jesus and his disciples were passing through a field of grain. The disciples being hungry picked and ate some of the grain. The Pharisees condemned them for working on the Sabbath. Jesus gave biblical examples that showed at times of need the Law could be broken. He told the Pharisees “I desire mercy and not sacrifice”. What did Jesus mean? In Micah 6:6-8 notice what was most important for Jehovah -“What should I bring before the Lord when I come to bow before God on high? Should I come before Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? 7 Would the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams or with ten thousand streams of oil? Should I give my firstborn for my transgression, the child of my body for my own sin? 8 Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.”

God does not take delight in sacrifice, but in mercy, love, righteousness, and faith. He does not require that we have come to the right conclusion on all doctrinal matters. He doesn’t say it is imperative that we attend a certain amount of meetings a week or that we go door to door touting biblical interpretations of men or pioneer or that we go to assemblies. God doesn’t say we must obey all the non-biblical rules that men would place on us. The Society constantly emphasizes the importance of doing “just so” as Noah did. They are usually talking about obeying every rule and burden that the organization chooses to put on the publishers and comparing those little nit-picky rules with salvation issues. These acts that the Society says we must fulfill if we want God’s approval are simply acts of sacrifice, it is legalism. God wants acts of mercy. What kind of acts are acts of mercy?

In Luke 10:30-37 Jesus gave the illustration of the good samaritan. Notice the conclusion in vs.36,37 -“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers? 37 The one who showed mercy to him, he said.” Jesus showed what the Samaritan did was an act of mercy. This is what God wants. What did Jesus show by casting the Samaritan as the only righteous man in this parable? Let us remember that Samaritans did not teach correct doctrine, in fact they were considered apostates. He showed doctrine is not what is most important. Mercy, love, righteousness are the things that God treasures.

Consider another text, Matt 6:2 – “Hence when you go making gifts of mercy, do not blow a trumpet ahead of you…”  Yes, another act of mercy is giving to the poor. When James talked about how faith without works is dead, what kind of works was he talking about? Preaching? Attending meetings? No; read James 2:15-17 and you will see the works he talked about were giving practical help to the brothers. It is truly sad when we see some put more importance on acts of sacrifice than acts of mercy. Some may even look down on people like Mother Theresa who gave her whole life to acts of mercy, saying she was a false Christian, because she believed in false doctrine. Would those who criticize be willing to live their whole lives in the slums of India to help the poor? Truly they have “condemned the innocent”.

What are we to understand from this? That works of sacrifice are wrong? No; they have their place if done with the right motive. Works of sacrifice can be done and many times are done by “just going thru the motions”. That was true in the days of the Mosaic Law and it is true today. The Israelites went thru the motions by offering the proper sacrifices, observing the feast days etc., but their heart was far removed from God as shown by their not showing love, mercy, kindness to others. The same can be said of so many Christians today. They go to the meetings or to church, they put their time in service, they obey other organizational or church rules but their actions show their lack of love or generosity or lack of compassion for others. What is most important is “faith working through love”, in other words works of mercy. Those works come from the heart. There will be many Christians who gain God’s approval who believe in many incorrect doctrines or don’t officially belong to a denomination. There will be no Christians who gain God’s approval that, although they believe in correct doctrine and have plenty of works of sacrifice, don’t have works of mercy.

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13 Comments on I Want Mercy Not Sacrifice

  1. greybeard says:

    Thank you Andrew for this great article. This really hit the nail on the head. It is one of my favorite articles on here and I agree 1000%

    At Luke 18:8, Jesus said, “Nevertheless, when the Son of man arrives, will he really find the faith on the earth?” (NWT) The answer to this question, IMO is no he will not. Not if this question is regarding true doctrine. When we look around this world we do see people who have faith in Christ. We also see many that practice charity and mercy. I myself have concluded that 100% true doctrine doesn’t exist. I believe God has planned it this way for a reason.

    As far as Christ’s words about the “good news of Gods Kingdom” being preached in all the nations before the end comes, I have a different view then most. I believe the end Jesus is speaking about here is the end of Satan, his demons, his world and the final enemy death will be no more. That IMO is the end. I believe the “good news of Gods Kingdom” with “true doctrine” will be preached after armageddon during Christ 1000 year reign and not before. Then the end will come. The end of Satan, his demons, those who follow Satan after he is let loose again and the final enemy death. Right now the sheep and goats, wheat and weeds are growing together in the same field. Nobody has 100% truth. That’s my take on things. I may be wrong but I don’t think so.

    Your brother,
    Greybeard

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    • lurk says:

      Everything is possible.
      So my question is, why are we studying for the test now, if we are going to be taught by the greatest teacher of all time for 1000 years then take the final test.
      I always found it hard to understand why I had to take two test. One imperfect and one perfect.
      I complain, because I have giving up on life, and they tell me God is not going to help me if you reject his gift of life.

      PS: I hope you guys pass that final exam :)

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  2. greybeard says:

    Hi Lurk,

    I don’t view it as taking a “test”. I view this life as a opportunity to come to know Christ. I believe the only calling for Christians right now is the heavenly calling. Why are we going through all of this if Christ is going to teach us in the 1000 year reign? Don’t you believe that God is proving something to mankind and all those Demons that followed Satan? If God would have just wiped out all that do not obey him what would that prove? Who could love a God like that? The only thing that God cannot give to himself is LOVE. That is the one thing he wants the most. When all of this is over, we will have every reason to love and obey God. Not just because he can destroy us but because we know what will happen if we do not obey. Man cannot rule himself. Satan cannot rule this earth. We need God to rule and he will. God has a plan and we are all apart of it. Like it or not. In the end when this is all over and Satan, his system, pain, suffering and death is done away with. Every person in the universe will have deep love for Jehovah and his son Christ Jesus. All we can do right now is our best to be good and follow Christ’s example.

    Your brother,
    Greybeard

    (Edited as some of my views have changed…)

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    • lurk says:

      I guess “test” was the wrong word.
      In a JW world, we have to earn salvation (correct me if I’m wrong)
      Read, Study, Attend, Participate, Pray, Preach, it goes something like that.
      I complain because I can’t do all these things, to read the Bible and to pray I have no problem, but the rest is too much for me.
      So I feel that if we don’t do as we are told, your not going to pass. So I guess this is the idea for the word “test”

      I agreed, living a our life with the attitude “tomorrow we’re going to die” is not the best nor it brings happiness, I know so, I lived it.
      I have done mistakes in the past, where I feel it was Jehovah who put my mistake out for everyone to see. If you have a humble heart, you learn from it. Prov. 3:12 is so accurate.

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  3. C.E.F says:

    Really excelent article. I made me think of Romans 14;14 which states “Now, I know (and I’ve been persuaded by the Lord Jesus) that nothing is unclean; it’s only when a man considers something to be unclean that it’s unclean to him.” I have personaly known elders who look for sin in everything in a persons life, and guess what, they found plenty of sin in our lives, and haved stained the consience of more then one brother or sister, considering themsevles righteous while at the same time showing no mercy what so ever. We are all sinner’s, it’s just a fact, when those in positions’s as elders put more emphasis on rules then love and mercy, we suffer spiritualy, I know I did.Still, even though thats true, there are still elders who get the since of this article, lets not forget them. Otherwise, I think this article should be required reading for all who seek to worship Jehovah, not just elders. Good article, keep em come’n, thanks.

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    • spokaneliving says:

      C.E.F:
      Really excelent article. I made me think of Romans 14;14 which states “Now, I know (and I’ve been persuaded by the Lord Jesus) that nothing is unclean; it’s only when a man considers something to be unclean that it’s unclean to him.” I have personaly known elders who look for sin in everything in a persons life, and guess what, they found plenty of sin in our lives, and haved stained the consience of more then one brother or sister, considering themsevles righteous while at the same time showing no mercy what so ever. We are all sinner’s, it’s just a fact, when those in positions’s as elders put more emphasis on rules then love and mercy, we suffer spiritualy, I know I did.Still, even though thats true, there are still elders who get the since of this article, lets not forget them. Otherwise, I think this article should be required reading for all who seek to worship Jehovah, not just elders.Good article, keep em come’n, thanks.

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    • spokaneliving says:

      It is very clear from the scriptures that no matter what, we are born of sin. But we are shown mercy by our Creator thru the ransom sacrifice how much we are all given a tedemption. His yoke was never to be burdensome. The requirements of the organization have made it too much a burden especially for families. How loving and simple thoses instructions are. My experience now, as I have faded away, has been stepping out in faith, prayer, and reading my Bibles. ( I reference several). My comfort.and anxieties are so much less. My peace is such that, I love what our Savior Jesus has done for each of us! My struggle as a witness was so much that there were days when I.wanted to just stop ever going to the meetimgs.

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      • JJ says:

        Welcome Spokaneliving

        Thanks for that observation- the WT Org wants everyone so busy they have no time left for anything else. Reaching Christian freedom can take time when fading. Keeping strong faith in Christ is a must.

        In Christ,
        JJ

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  4. Bob says:

    Thank you for a wonderful article it opened my eyes and answered some very disturbing personal questions. I see the parable of the good Samaritan in a new light.

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  5. JJ says:

    Bob

    Welcome to the site. This is all part of re-learning the simple truths of God’s word and what the love of the Christ really is.

    It is not a harsh, conditional love, but one where despite our sinful nature we are accepted as children of God.

    In Christ,
    JJ

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  6. DanielB says:

    And so , what does this mean , brothers ? :

    1 Corinthians 6:12 : (BBE translation) ” I am free to do all things; but not all things are wise. I am free to do all things; but I will not let myself come under the power of any.”

    So which are better works : works of sacrifice (which please our masters) , or works of mercy (which is what our Father is looking for in us)?

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  7. Mav Erick says:

    A very enlightening article.. Viewed from a different perspective, it makes more sense than what the organization is presenting it.. Preaching and spreading the good news is also an act of love. The problem is that we are actually pulling someone into the organization using basic teachings that is all so very good at first. Only after getting baptized that they will realize they are not serving Jesus but the guys in Brooklyn. That is my situation now. That’s why when going to the field service, I’m urging the people to just study their bible. I also do not want to place magazines or tracts, just bible, learn from there and follow Christ teachings. I’m in a dillemma ever since I read Crisis in Conscience and jwstruggle.. I only make donation just enough for using the chairs, the use of kingdom halls and electricity. Not like before when I felt I have the responsibility to support the Organization. It’s difficult for me now. I don’t know how long I can stay undercover. I will be found out sooner or later. I don’t what I’ll do in case they ask me to deliver a talk that is contrary to what I believe now. No wonder they don’t want us to read or visit web sites other than jw.org…Keep up the good work

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  8. Tantalon says:

    Great article,it articulates very well what I have long felt.I am a “Born in” fader of many years now and have no patience for arguing doctrine. I try to live my life in gratitude both for the life I enjoy and the blessing of Christs ransom. I try to live in a Christian manner exercising love as much as my imperfection allows. Christ will be my judge and not any man and I try and rely on Christ teachings for guidance which is found in the Bible not the Watchtower. It needs no interpretation for me. :)

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