One of the things that the other teen Sunday School teacher has been bringing up here and there in the last few weeks is the difference between grace and mercy. Both are attributes of God and we tend to casually use them synonymously, but they are different things. To paraphrase his definitions...
- Mercy is when God withholds judgement that we deserve.
- Grace is when God gives us blessings that we do not deserve.
I did a quickie text serch of the ESV and found three places that these two terms are used together. They always occur in this formula, "Grace, mercy, and peace." That might be why we tend to think of them as synonymous is that they always occur together in sort of a formulaic greeting.
To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (1Tim1:2)
To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (2Tim1:2)
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father's Son, in truth and love. (2John1:3)
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