Scripture teaches us that God has set up two seats. One is the judgment seat for those who are proud and don't acknowledge or want to confess their sins. The other is the mercy seat for the poor, timid consciences who feel their sins and confess them, who despair of His judgment and who hope to find
God's kindness.
In Romans 3:25, Paul says this mercy seat is Christ. God has given this seat to us as a place where we can find refuge because we cannot withstand God's judgment on our own. I want to find my refuge there too, for I have done and am still doing too little. I keep singing against God's law even after my justification and sanctification. My heart and conscience, no matter how pure they might appear to others, will count for nothing there. But they will be covered with a vaulted ceiling called mercy and forgiveness of sins. It will serve as a strong protection and defense for me. My heart and conscience will crawl under it and be safe.
...Therefore, God Himself has established this mercy seat. He is the One who directs us away from the judgment seat and towards the mercy seat.
"Faith Alone," Martin Luther, October 9
