Compare And Contrast Grace And Mercy

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Recommended: Some thoughts on mercy analyzed

Introduction:
As Christians, the terms grace and mercy are often used interchangeably however the meanings of each of these words are entirely different. To summarize, grace is God blessing us despite the fact that we do not deserve His blessings while mercy is God sparing us from the punishment we deserve. Grace is God extending kindness to those unworthy of His loving kindness while mercy is deliverance from the judgement of sin.

Part One: Grace
Theological Definition:
Grace comes from the Greek word charis, which theologically defined means having the unmerited favor of God toward mankind. He extends His undeserved favor to each of us as a pardon for our sins which occurs when we repent of those sins and place our faith in Jesus Christ. …show more content…

Through the death of Jesus, God demonstrated divine compassion and mercy making the forgiveness of our sins possible. Even when our sins deserve the eternal punishment of hell, God chose to extend His mercy to those who place their faith in His Son. “Christ did more than die for us, He turned around and gave Himself up for God’s wrath. This is the ultimate in love in that Christ, being God, went against His nature for us.” (Towns, 2002). All in all, mercy is not receiving punishment which we deserve for the sins we have committed. Mercy is demonstrated by qualities of compassion and forbearance. According to Romans 6:23, we deserve death and eternal separation from God. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ. (Rom 6:23) Not only do we deserve death but because of our sin mankind is in opposition to God to the point that “God’s wrath burns against you and me” (Etzel & Gutierrez, 2015, p133). Nothing we can do will ever bring about a right relationship with God. However, God provided an atonement for our sin and through the death of Jesus upon the cross, and by His sacrifice, we are shown mercy. (Etzel & Gutierrez, 2015). Through this act of love, we are reconciled to God and spared from eternal separation (Towns, 2002). The natural consequence of our sin is an eternity in hell however Jesus came to deliver us from death and became sin on our behalf. By His mercy and favor, we are reconciled into a right relationship with God which permits those He calls His children, a healthy and intimate relationship with the

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