According To His Mercy

Salvation is not received based on the deeds men do in righteousness, but on God's mercy (Titus 3:5a). This was the theme of Tony's open-air message at the North Hollywood Metro Station.

The crowd listened quietly until Tony quoted Isaiah 64:6a, which reads: "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment." When Tony explained that in the Hebrew text the phrase "polluted garment" (or "filthy rag") most literally means "used/soiled menstrual cloth," two people (both professing Christians) became livid.

The reason for the angry outburst was obvious to Tony. Both people had likely put so much stock in their own perceived goodness that equating their good deeds with a polluted garment was simply too much for them to handle.