The Grace & Mercy of Jesus Christ
Mercy and grace are two concepts that are often associated with Jesus Christ. Mercy is the act of withholding deserved punishment, while grace is the act of endowing unmerited favor. In His mercy, God does not give us punishment we deserve, namely hell; while in His grace, God gives us the gift we do not deserve, namely heaven. The divine trio of Christ’s merits, mercy, and grace enables humankind to condition and train for eternal life.
The Manifestations of Grace
It probably is not possible for man to fully comprehend the extent of the grace of God and all of the manifestations through which that grace is exhibited. Some are more frequently talked about than others. Many probably pass unrecognized by the mass of humanity.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie listed six of the more important facets of grace. These are:
• The establishment of the plan of salvation.
• The Father and the Son created this earth for us and all things in it.
• Adam and Eve came to the earth to provide a way for us to continue our progression.
• Because He so loved the world, God gave His Only Begotten Son as a sacrifice for sin. This sacrifice ransomed us from death and made possible the immortality and eternal life of man.
• God created our physical bodies and is, as King Benjamin says, “preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, even supporting you from one moment to another” (Mosiah 2:21).
• After death we will be resurrected and be given an immortal body.
Grace and Mercy Are Both Manifestations Of God’s Love and Compassion
Before we explore the glorious difference between grace and mercy, we need to see how they’re similar.
Neither are deserved. God has compassion on sinners who deserve his wrath.
Why? I don’t know.
And he is gracious as well to those who don’t love him and never thank him. But God pours out his mercy and grace especially on those he saves through Jesus.
In other words, God’s mercy is NOT giving sinners what they DO DESERVE.
And God’s grace is POSITIVELY GIVING sinners what they DO NOT DESERVE.
The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. (Psalm 145:8)
What exactly is the difference between grace and mercy?
And why does it even matter? Can’t we just use them interchangeably?
Nope. If we do, we miss out on some glorious truths.
God’s mercy and God’s grace are not the same things, though the differences are subtle, and they are often mentioned together.
In many ways they overlap; usually when God pours out his mercy, he pours out his grace as well.
For reasons known only to God, though we had spit in his face, broken his laws, rejected him and disobeyed him, he had compassion on us.
God doesn’t take any pleasure in punishing people, even those who reject him and hate him outright. So in his mercy, he didn’t give us what we deserved, eternal punishment, his infinite wrath. Instead, in his mercy, he poured his wrath out on his beloved Son.
Jesus didn’t have to die for us. He didn’t have to pay for our sins. But our God is compassionate and merciful. So he didn’t give us what we deserved. He gave it to Jesus.
If this were all he had done, it would have been incredible. If God simply spared us from hell that would have been infinite mercy.
Even if he did nothing else for us. Even if we were to die then cease to exist. Even if we were to never go to heaven or know him.
It still would have been infinite mercy to us, to NOT give us what we DID DESERVE.
The difference between grace and mercy is that mercy is not getting what we deserve.
The Beauty of God’s Grace
But not only is God infinitely merciful, he is infinitely gracious. In his grace he not only withheld his wrath, but he positively saved us.
The Greek for “grace”, “charis” means: kindness, favor, “a gift or blessing brought to man by Jesus Christ”, or “kindness which bestows upon one what he has not deserved” (Strongs)
See the difference? In his mercy God withholds WHAT WE DO DESERVE; in his grace God heaps upon us infinite blessings WE DO NOT DESERVE. In mercy he withholds what we DID MERIT – eternal wrath; and in grace pours out upon us what we COULD NEVER MERIT: Eternal life, infinite joy, being one with Christ, being made like Christ.
Grace is God’s free gift of his undeserved, unmerited favor.
God’s grace is, “…the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues” (Strongs).
When we believe in Jesus, because of his mercy God does NOT give us what we deserve:
His wrath, eternal punishment in hell
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And it is not your own doing; it is the gift of God...
Ephesians 2:8
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
Psalm 86:15
...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
So What’s The Difference Between Grace and Mercy?
Both grace reveal the staggering, glorious, delightful character of God.
In his mind-boggling mercy, he doesn’t give us what we deserve. Rather, he gave that to Jesus.
In his outrageous, lavish grace, he gives us what we don’t deserve. He gives us the rewards earned by Jesus.
Is there anyone like our God?
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
John 3:16
John 11:25
"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live."