Grace & Mercy

Words that we hear regularly as Christians. Words that fill our worship songs. Words that can sometimes lose their power or impact due to how often we hear them. These are, however, more than just words. The acts of grace and mercy find themselves at the very core of Christianity and have life-changing power. 

The concepts of grace and mercy are often spoken of together, but there is a difference between the two – one is when we are given something we don’t deserve (grace) and the second is when we are not given something we do deserve (mercy). It is by God’s GRACE that Jesus died on the cross for us, and it is by God’s MERCY that we do not have to fear death and condemnation despite our sinful lives calling for them. Recognizing the difference between the two helps us know how to use them in our own lives. The prompt for this blog post was “how important are grace and mercy in the Christian life”, and I would argue that not only are there two things important, they are actually essential. 

We can break up the reason why grace and mercy are essential into two basic truths:

The first truth is that we have salvation solely because of GRACE & MERCY. Salvation is KEY to the Christian life… in fact, we wouldn’t have the Christian life if it weren’t for the grace and mercy shown by God the Father and Jesus Christ. The entire foundation of our faith is based on the divine grace and mercy shown to us throughout Scripture and is now active in our modern lives. In John 1:16-17 we see, “For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” I love this idea of “grace upon grace.” I imagine layers upon layers of grace being given to us, completely covering us until we can’t help but be consumed by it. And what a beautiful thing to be consumed by! 

The second basic truth is that we now get to model grace and mercy to those around us. We are called to be imitators of Christ. This means we need to act out the things He models. When you close your eyes and imagine Jesus, it is fair to assume you imagine the sacrifice He gave when He modelled grace and mercy by dying on the cross. The Gospel IS grace, you cannot separate the two. Grace and mercy are key characteristics of who God is not just what He does, we see this time and time again throughout all of Scripture. 

 “Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God.” – Nehemiah 9:31

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” – Psalm 103:8 

“For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them.” – Deuteronomy 4:31

So if we are called to imitate Christ and to live out the Gospel it is fair to assume that this means we live lives marked by grace and mercy. So what does that look like in our daily lives? We may not have the power to provide grace to all of humanity as Jesus did, but we have the power to live a life marked with grace and mercy in our own personal spheres of influence. 

Nothing has made me feel more connected to God than having a child. My son is a year and a half and daily he forces me to walk in grace and mercy. I have grace for him but also for myself. Parenting requires a lot of unlearning of behaviours and trying to be better for the next generation. I have grace for myself when my reactions to being smacked in the face or getting yogurt thrown at me are not as calm as I wish they were. I have grace for Wesley when he throws his body down in the grocery store aisle because I won’t let him put 10 boxes of pasta into the cart. The love I have for my child pales in comparison for the love that God has for each and every one of us. The grace and mercy I have for my child pales in comparison for the grace and mercy that God has for each and every one of us. Putting it into perspective is so helpful for me. I struggle to give grace for some pretty basic things, but God loved us SO MUCH that He had grace and mercy for every single thing we have done and will do.

You might be reading this thinking “theres no way that grace covers _____.” or “I do not deserve mercy from ____.”

I need you to know that God saw it, saw what you would do and how you would stray from His plans…and He chose to offer grace and mercy anyways. You are never too far gone from His grace and from His mercy. Romans 6:14 says, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.”

Sin has NO DOMINION over you. NONE.

You have been completely set free from being owned by sin and shame. You are now a child who can walk in grace. Go walk in it! Accept the fact that it has been given to you, and learn to model it for others. Grace and Mercy are what change lives. How beautiful is it that we have been given that gift and how beautiful is it that we can show that gift to others!