Grace, Mercy, and Peace

Mercy and grace--two things often mentioned together in the Bible. I think we often interchange the two without realizing that, though they are similar, they have different definitions. Both of them, however, are often listed along with peace, especially in the New Testament. Because peace comes from realizing what grace and mercy are: God’s love. As Jamieson-Fausset-Brown’s Commentary says “God extends His grace to men as they are guilty; His ‘mercy’ to them as they are miserable.” Only a sacrificial love could grant mercy and grace to the guilty and miserable. And because God’s love is perfect we can rest in the peace that follows: the peace “which passeth all understanding”.

Grace is defined as unmerited favor: God’s giving to us what we don’t deserve.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” (Eph.2:8) God’s salvation is a gift to us: something we do not deserve; something we cannot purchase because it is beyond any price level. Grace is “For God so loved the world, that He gave us his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) We did and can do nothing to earn life after death. God’s sending of His Son to an evil earth was something that we could never return. We could never pay Christ back for the indifference He received from His home city.  We could never pay Him back for the mocking and scourging He received from the hands of those he had created. We could never pay for the rejection He received from His holy Father as He bore the weight of all mankind’s sins. The love and life Christ lived is only a result of grace. Nothing else but His love and grace could have compelled God to sacrifice His Son for us.

Mercy is God withholding from us the judgment we do deserve. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom.6:23) The judgment we deserve is only held back because of God’s love for us. We are totally depraved humans. We cannot please God by any of our works. Our sin deserves the fire of Hell. It was our sin that nailed Christ to the cross and separated Him from the close fellowship of His Father. We cannot do good on our own, and our righteousness is only as filthy rags. That’s why we deserve judgment. And, yet, He provides a way of escape for us. The judgment unbelievers go through will never be meted out to us as believers. He loved us so much to send an Advocate to plead our life for us and to take the condemnation we deserve. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

Because of God’s mercy and grace, we can have peace. Perhaps you have noticed in Paul’s epistles “peace” always follows “grace” and/or “mercy”. Peace is a result of realizing God’s grace and mercy on fallen creatures such as we are. When we see the love of God in sending His only beloved Son to be the sin of the world and to take our punishment we have peace, because we realize that we no longer need to face eternal death and separation from God. When we see His compassion in holding back judgment for our many sins we have peace, because our condemnation is placed on the perfect Son of God and our sins are removed “as far as east is from the west”. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” (John 14:27) The peace God gives us stems from His grace and mercy. The world cannot give that peace because it cannot give us the grace or mercy that God can. His peace is a peace that passes all understanding. In a world full of conflict, Christ came to offer us His peace and to send us into the world to spread the good news about it. His peace (a result of grace and mercy) overcomes the world and provides a reason for us, as “strangers and pilgrims on the earth”, to live victoriously. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

“Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.” Jude 1:2

In Him,

Kaleigh

PS My graduation videos were successfully uploaded. I hope they work for you. :) God bless.

Video 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eni2iXuftSo 
Video 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpeKjjZv6M4

Video 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmrQWSIEeaY

Video 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te-UOqKiN2E

Video 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMpwRRA-lis

Video 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asEciDczhHY

Video 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoDbFZP0KTI