Grace & Mercy

Throughout scripture and in just about any sermon being delivered we hear about God's grace and God's mercy. To many people, those two words might actually sound interchangeable, but in all actuality, there is a distinct difference in these two incredible gifts from our Heavenly Father. First, let's define the two words in their Biblical sense, and then from there we can determine how God wants us to live out His grace and His mercy in our own lives. 

 

As I was reading a devotional earlier this week, I came across a pretty simple definition of grace and mercy. The author put it like this, grace is receiving something that we do not deserve. God forgives us our sins and offers us eternal life in Heaven. I know in my own life I really don't deserve a gift such as that. In my daily life I know I falter and many times fail to live out a life that is fully committed to God. No one is perfect and we all fall short, and that is where the grace of God enters the equation. "But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. I Corinthians 15:10." God's gift of grace gives us confidence that His forgiveness is not a product of what we can do, but more a gift God gives us even though we don't deserve it. 

 

And then there is mercy. God's gift of mercy in contrast to grace is that God gives us mercy or forgiveness, even though what we truly deserve is punishment or condemnation for the life we lived and the choices we have made that are contrary to God's will for our lives. I reference the life of Paul regularly, but if you look at his life before this conversion from Saul to Paul, he definitely didn't look like a candidate to serve as the conduit for the expansion of the early Christian church. And more so than that, who would have imagined that God would choose Paul to write an extensive portion of the New Testament? Paul persecuted Christians, he was paid for fleshing out Christians, having them arrested, and in many cases put to death. From his own writing in Romans 6:23 Paul proclaims, "For the wages of sin is death;" basically pointing out that our sins destroy us and condemn us, but then in the same verse Paul goes on to say, "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Meaning we deserve death, but God is merciful and He offers us eternal life when we sincerely seek out God's forgiveness. In other words, mercy is not receiving what we deserve and instead receiving what God freely offers us through the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross.

 

Just to summarize, grace then is receiving a gift from God that we do not deserve, and mercy is NOT receiving something from God that we actually do deserve. So, if God gives us mercy and grace then would it not sound reasonable that we need to demonstrate those same Godly principles in our daily walk of life? If God is going to forgive us and call us His children, then should we not be more eager to forgive those that really don't deserve our forgiveness? When you get cut off on the highway, does it make you happy to see that same car pulled over and the highway patrolman writing the driver a ticket? Is that what mercy looks like? Let's make the situation a little tougher, what happens when a family member betrays your trust? Do we give them grace and forgive them for the wrong, or do we hold a grudge and disown them from the family? Grace says we forgive, not because the family member deserves it, but because God forgave us when we didn't deserve it and now we should live our lives in that same manner. God's mercy is available to each of us, not because we deserve it, but because God is full of grace and He wants us to receive his offer of life eternal! Will you accept his offer today?

Coach Carter