The Difference Between Grace and Mercy

Today's episode is about the difference between grace and mercy. Although they are commonly interchanged, they have difference meanings. I'll go over the definitions and an example for each in scripture. You'll find both the teaching points (in bold) and transcription below. 

Denea (00:01)
Hello, hello, it's Denea, your host of the Faith Filled Mom podcast. I hope that wherever you are today, you know that you're loved, you know that you're needed. The kingdom of God loves you, you. People around you love you, needs you. You're loved and needed absolutely in this world. The light that you have, the light that you carry, the smile that you can give someone, the friendship that you have to offer to people.

Your kindness is absolutely needed in this world. Today we are talking about the difference between grace and mercy. And I wanted to talk about this because I know previously I have interchanged these, mixed them up. I have heard other people do it. It's very common. I know the difference now, but especially when I was the years of being, I guess, a newer Christian.

Yeah, I mix these up all the time. And I think other people do too. And I think it happens because we don't know the difference between them. So that's what today's episode is about. I'm gonna pray a sin real quick. Father, thank you that you offer us both grace and mercy. Thank you that we get to live in those and we get to experience them. We have a desire, God, to know more about you and Jesus. We also have a desire.

to understand grace and mercy and how can we also extend them to other people. Holy Spirit, please be with us during this Bible study time. We invite you in. Point us back, help us to understand God and Jesus. Help us to gain comprehension with what we are learning. We love you God, in Jesus' name, amen.

So like I said, I...mixed these up for years. And then I, you know, did my own, I guess, deep dive research and understanding what they are. And so if you do know the difference, I think that's great. This will be just a little recap for you. We are also going to be looking at them in scripture. If you don't know the difference, then absolutely that's great too. Everything will be in the show notes.

So sit back, relax, listen. If you're listening while you're on your run, I had somebody message me, I thought that was so cool. Said that she listens to me while she runs. Sit back, relax, I've got you. If you are prepared with your Bible and notebook in hand, that is great. If you are not, that is great too. Maybe you're washing dishes or maybe you are doing work right now. Maybe you're one of those people. I'm not.

I am not one of those people who can listen to music or listen to a podcast while I work. I don't know if that's because I do have ADHD, but I am not. But if that's you, then that's great. Come back when you're able to write stuff down. Everything, whenever that is, it'll be in the show notes. So for now, feel free to listen, sit back. You can do your work. You can do your laundry. You can do your run.

Or you can study if you have that stuff available either one all of it will be in the show notes for you If you need to come back and study if you need to just just listen right now.

That is so okay today like I said the difference between grace and mercy because I've heard them be interchanged like use and I know that I have in the past.

The Definition of Mercy

So that's what we're referring to grace, or excuse me, mercy is not receiving the punishment we deserve. As human beings, it is so important for us to know this and acknowledge it. We all have a sinful nature. Every single one of us, none of us, not one of us is righteous on our own. Judgment day, it is going to come, it's going to come, it's going to happen to everybody. And on our own, none of us can actually live lives that are worthy to getting us into heaven on our own. We have to know that. That's why Jesus had to come, right? Like we couldn't do it. We couldn't do it on our own. And so Jesus came, we needed a savior. God in his great mercy sent Jesus to save us. Jesus made a way for us to be saved and he makes it possible for us to get into heaven. I did a little deep dive, I guess, on a...

on the word mercy, some research. And in Greek, and I am probably gonna mispronounce this, eleos, this is the noun version. So in Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, they often have different words depending on how a meaning, the meaning of a word. For example, love, like there are different types of like agape, phila, like there, or is it phila, always get that mixed up. But there are different words depending on the definition of how it's being used. And it's kind of the same for like nouns, adjectives. And so, in this script or in this text, excuse me, in this scripture is going to be used as a noun. means outward manifestation of pity. Now, an under, I'm sorry...for somebody in order, that's what I was trying to say, in order for somebody to have pity and to be able to offer mercy, they have to be able to be in a position to be able to help the person in need, if that makes sense, right? Like I, order for me to extend or be an outward manifestation of pity, and extend mercy. have to be in a position where I'm able to actually help someone.

An Example of Mercy in Scripture and Scripture Study - Ephesians 2:4

Ephesians chapter two verse four, I'm gonna read it to you. And again, if you're just listening, sit back, relax and listen. If you're ready to study, let's go. Either way is fine. It's gonna be in the show notes because I've got you. Ephesians 2:4," but God, who was so rich in mercy because of his great love that he had for us, made us alive with Christ. Even though," this is verse five, "even though we were dead in our trespasses, you were saved by grace." So who is talking? Paul. And this is all going to help us understand mercy. Who's talking? Paul. He's talking to the Ephesians. Who are a group of non-Jewish Christians? They are adopted sons and daughters. This is important because Paul is reminding them that, so it's important to know that they are adopted sons and daughters. And it's important to know that because this, book of Ephesians, it's broken up in chapters one through three. It is Paul reminding them about the gospel. He's reminding them about Jesus as Messiah. He's reminding them of God's love for them. The rest of the letter, Paul is teaching them how to walk in Jesus's ways and how to apply the gospel to their lives.

Now it's important, I think, to know that they are adopted sons and daughters because Paul is basically saying, hey, so the whole, like he didn't just open up the letter and say, in order to walk in Jesus' ways, you need to do X, Y, Z. He opened up the letter and he's kind of like pumping them up. Like, hey, do you remember, like Jesus, he came for you, a God, had great mercy for you.

And you, because of his mercy, you experience his grace and you experience salvation and you are empowered. Like he's pumping them up. Like this is their pep talk, right? And he's basically saying, because of God's mercy for you, because of that outward manifestation of pity that God took on you, you are empowered because Jesus, he died, he rose again, and he empowered you to walk in his ways.

What Paul's telling them to do is going to be tough, right? Like we know that we can admit that walking in Jesus's ways is actually really tough. It is, it is, it is, it is. It is actually a tough thing to be a Christian and like live it out and walk it out because we have to deny, sometimes we have to deny like what we've been taught depending on how you grew up and what people were, like, did you grow up in a Christian household? Maybe you did, maybe you didn't. Sometimes you have to deny that, and that's tough. Walking in Jesus' ways is tough in general because we're humans. Remember, we have a sinful nature. It's going to cause us to deny our flesh. And sometimes, like, our flesh...it doesn't want to do things that's wrong, although I think if we're all honest, like, yes, that actually does happen. Sometimes, like, we just want to, for example, I'll give you an example. So I was trying to figure out, or, well, I'm not still trying to figure out because I'm going to obey. But I was trying, I have an hour today of, dare I say free time?

It's not really free time. I'm trying to figure out how to spend this hour, right? And I was like, well, no brainer. I could just study for seminary, like done. But I kind of felt this prompting, like I felt God being like, you know what, Denae, I actually want you to do something like recreational that you enjoy. Whether that's, know, plant chores that could be like listening to a favorite podcast or like, want you to do something that you, that you enjoy. And I was like, "nah, like I actually, I want to be productive and like, I, you know, I want to be doing something on my to-do list." And like, I've really felt God being like, I want you to do something that, that you, that not that seminary doesn't bring me joy, but like, that is not work. And so.

Sometimes our flesh just wants to do things, like be productive and take care of that to-do list, right? But being Christ-like means for us, for you and me, because we're humans, laying down that sinful nature. And so Paul is saying, hey, these things are actually, pretty tough to do. But again, before he even gets to that, he's pumping them up, reminding them that they have received God's.

mercy and all of the gifts that they have received because of God's mercy. These are the adopted sons and daughters. So I have to imagine that it would be really easy for them to be like, like if he just would have opened up the letter and be like, hey, you need to walk in Jesus's ways X, Y, and Z. I feel like it would have been an easy out for them to be like, "we're not actually like. you know, Jewish, like at our origins. like, can we actually do this?" You know, like I could see them or maybe it's just me, but I could see them starting to second guess. Like, I don't really know if this is for me. And I think that's maybe one of the reasons why Paul opened up with, hey, like God had mercy for you too. Like remember, that's why, that's why like a lot of people, especially Jewish individuals at their origin were so, upset with Jesus because they thought that salvation was just for them. And when Jesus came, he was like, no, it's actually open and available to everyone. And so Paul is reminding them that because of that, God's mercy, because of salvation, right? What happened, what Jesus did, we experience his grace and we experience his power. We are empowered to walk in his ways.

Mercy is the Gift That Keeps on Giving

And I think that is just a beautiful reminder for you and I in that gift of mercy. It's like the gift that keeps on giving, you know, because there are other gifts attached to it because God took that pity on us. We have the gift of salvation. We have the gift of we are no longer lost. We are found. You and I, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit: God is with us.

That gift of mercy that God took pity on us. It just keeps going and going. One of the gifts that we receive because of God's mercy is His grace. That was one of the things that I, I think I knew this, but I don't know if I ever actually like articulated it, that there's a relationship between mercy and grace. It is because of God's mercy that we receive His grace.

The Definition of Grace

Grace means receiving unearned favor or blessings. Again, I think that it is amazing to, I don't know, maybe like I said, I think maybe I knew that, but I don't think that I ever actually articulated the fact that there is a relationship between those two. So for this, for Grace, I guess for my word study.

An Example of Grace in Scripture and Scripture Study - Hebrews 4:14

If you will I went to Hebrew and again Sit back relax It's gonna be in the show notes for you. I went to the book of Hebrews chapter 4 verses 14 and 16 and I will read them to you Hebrews chapter 4: 14 through 16 And I don't think I said it before I'm actually reading out of the CSB translation. So it reads, sorry I lost my place for a second, it reads, "Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast to our confession for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but one who has been tempted in every way as we are yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in the time of need."

Who's the author? I looked that up. The author is kind of unknown. Some people do think that it's Paul. Some people think it's Barnabas. Some people also think that it's...one of their disciples, but we do know that this is a teacher, right? We do know that this is whoever is writing this, are a teacher of God's word and his ways.

Who are they talking to? Who's the audience? Jewish Christians. And this is important, I think just to have some context. So Jewish Christians at this time were facing a lot of persecution and internal struggles. They were, at the time, there were people who were saying that, they needed to just abandon Christianity or this aspect of following Jesus and believing Jesus as Messiah. Then there were people who were saying you need to just go back to the Jewish rituals and walking in those traditions. You need to come back to that. Some people were saying that they needed to just abandon it all together and abandon the Greek.

Tradition so they were facing a lot of persecutions for following Christ for being Jewish Christians And then they had a lot of internal struggle. "Do I go back to rituals and Believe in that that can make me holier Do I or do I just abandon it and do this whole Greek thing?" Like I don't know they were they were going through a lot. So the writer is reminding the. That they don't have to work for salvation because of what Jesus did. And this is one of the reasons why I think knowing that they're Jewish Christians is relevant. It's because the writer is pleading to them, like, hey, you don't actually have to go back to the rituals and the Jewish traditions and trying to make you holier. You don't have to do all that because of what Jesus did for you already. You've already been given it. And I think it's also important to know that they were having internal struggles because again, the writer is saying like, hey, what you were thinking about that you could possibly gain by giving this up, you actually already have this freedom. Like you don't have to go to, you know, do this whole Greek thing so that you can be free and you're free now. And I think that is one of the reasons again, why some type of context is helpful. It's just helpful to know that this writer, that's why this writer is making this plea and it's relevant to us too, right? Like if we really get real about that, we have, we face persecutions as Christians, right? Walking in God's ways and holding certain values that the world doesn't agree with. And we face that internal struggle. "Like, I mean, I don't know. Do I give it up? Like, do I give it up for, to be free with what the world says that I can be free?" Even though we have freedom, right? It's kind of the same thing. The Bible, like I kind of sat back and I was like, "man, I'm so thankful. This is such a great reminder that the Bible really is relevant." So he's reminding them, hey, you don't have to go back. You don't have to give this these ways up because of what Jesus did for you. And a couple of things that I do want to point out.

So there are a few times that there's kind of like a, and I definitely have forgotten the English term for this, but there are like interjections that the author makes. And I'm going to point out three of them. One, therefore.

Whenever you see therefore, I heard Priscilla Shirer say this, "whenever you see therefore in the Bible, look and see what it is there for". Look to see what that author, what they're talking about before the therefore. And so this actually does, in doing this, it gives us some context because right in the beginning of chapter four, the writer is talking about entering into the promised rest of God.

And he's telling them that they can rest from works. Like that's in the verses before this, is exactly what he is talking about. So that gives us that extra context of the fact that they are maybe considering going back to working for that whole idea that they can work to be holy, that their rituals can make them holy.

Interjection again, I know there's a term for these things but but I just I don't remember what it is currently Depending on the translation that you have there might be a comma mine has like a hyphen a dash It could be something else depending on the translation that you have it says it's right in verse 14 therefore Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens

There's a hyphen, Jesus, the son of God, hyphen, let us hold fast to our confession. So whenever we see that, it's kind of, I guess, acting as like a prepositional phrase, Jesus, the son of God. So the writer is saying, like, since we have such a high priest, who is Jesus, the son of God, by the way, let us hold fast to our confession. I think that's important because he's giving context to why this high priest is so important to us, right? This is not just any priest that he's talking about. He is talking about Jesus, the son of God. He's talking about Jesus who was God. He's talking about Jesus who, excuse me, is God. He's talking about Jesus who is the Messiah. Like he's letting them know, like, hey, just in case you forgot who the high priest was,

its Jesus, by the way, he was the son of God. The third thing, the third interjection that I want to point out is in 16, verse 16, he says, therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Okay, so why can we approach this throne of grace with boldness? Like, why? Well,

We're able to do that because of who our high priest is. We're able to do that because our high priest, in verse 15 it says, our high priest, right, is not somebody who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way and yet didn't sin. We're able to approach the throne of grace because

The one who stood in our place was Jesus, the Son of God. That is why you and I have the privilege of approaching the throne of grace with boldness because Jesus kind of interceded for us, right? He acted on our behalf. That is why you and I have that privilege. So whenever you see therefore, whenever you see, I'm gonna call it the interjection again. Those interjections like whatever you see a dash or a comma that prepositional phrase look and see like what that context around it because all of that is going to help you understand the whole point of what the scripture that you are studying. So he's pleading to them that you and I, hey, we can approach the throne of grace in our time of need, which he's saying like, I know that being a Christian and walking in God's ways, is tough.

I get that. But you and I, have the privilege of approaching the throne of grace because of who our high priest is. That throne of grace. Remember that definition. It's receiving unearned favor and blessing. So he's saying you and I have that privilege to approach the throne that gives us that unearned favor with boldness because of who our high priest was, is, excuse me. And when we approach that, there's even more, there's more good news. When we approach the throne of grace, we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in that time of need. See, there's that relationship between grace and mercy. It is because of God's mercy that we can find grace and receive grace in our time of need and when we are in need and following this walk, right? And trying to walk in God's ways and try, and we need some grace, right? We need some unearned favor. You and I didn't earn it on our own. It is because of what Jesus did, because of God's mercy that we can receive that grace and helps us in our time of need. I think that is just this, I don't know, beautiful tapestry of mercy and grace and how they interact and how they intersect and how we receive them. It is because of God's great mercy that you and I can know that we are loved, that we are empowered to walk in his ways and receive his grace in our time of mercy when it gets tough, obeying, when it gets tough denying our flesh. We can receive that unearned favor, that blessing from God because of His mercy. And it just goes on and on and on. And I just think that is so beautiful. And I am so appreciative and so thankful that the God that you and I serve is this. This is His character. His character, He is the God of mercy. He is the God of grace. And it is because of His mercy that we can even approach this throne and receive this grace.

Father,

Thank you. This is who you are. This is in your character. We are so appreciative of these blessings, Father, because on our own, we don't deserve them. You created universes. Father, scientists don't even know how deep the ocean is, but you do because you created it.

You know how many pieces of sand there are on the beach and yet you want to give us mercy. And yet you are concerned. You want to give us your grace, Father. How thankful are we that you are mindful of us. Help us to walk this out. Help us to give other people mercy.

Help us to give other people grace, Father, that is so hard to do.

Help us, empower us, remind us that we are empowered, that the same power that rose Jesus from the grave lives on the inside of us. With that power, Holy Spirit, help us to be open and get out of the way when you are doing this transformative work within us to give other people mercy and grace, just as God did to us, just as Jesus did to us. Help us to do it to other people. Help us to walk this out. Help us to receive it. Help us to give it.

We love you God, in Jesus name, amen. Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. you could, wherever, however you were listening to this, if you could review it, give me a rating. And this just basically pushes it out into the podcast platforms, spheres. so, y'all.

Okay, so in full transparency, when I podcast, I normally have, I gave up coffee. I think I said that on this podcast, but I do have like a cup of matcha each day. I didn't have that today and I think it's very apparent. What that does is it helps push the podcast out so that other people can hear it too. I appreciate your time. Remember everything is in the show notes for you.

There's a separate transcription, but I also put the transcription in the show notes and I highlight the points in bold to kind of help you like follow along as you're studying if you need to come back. Thank you so much. I love you and I will talk to you next time. Bye.

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