What is the difference between mercy and grace?
Answered from the commentary of J. N. Darby, William J. Hocking, Leslie M. Grant and 14 others
Mercy and grace are distinct, though both flow from the love of God. Mercy looks at the state of the one who receives it, while grace looks at the heart of the One who gives it: "mercy is great in the greatness of the need, grace in the thought of the person exercising it". Mercy is the compassion that comes down to meet a person in his need, sorrow or misery, as the Samaritan "came where he was". Grace is unmerited favour toward those who deserved the opposite, toward the guilty, the rebellious and those who have forfeited every claim. Put briefly, "grace is for the guilty, and mercy is for the miserable". Mercy therefore meets a person in his circumstances, but grace lifts him above them. Grace is measured by God's heart, mercy by man's need; "grace is the height to which we are brought; mercy the depth from which we were taken". Ephesians 2:4-7 shows the order: man's misery, then God "rich in mercy" giving life to the dead, then grace raising and seating believers in the heavenlies. Grace goes further than mercy. A kind man might clothe and feed a destitute stranger, but to take him home as his own son and give him his wealth is what grace does. In the same way, Titus 3:5-7 says God saved us according to His mercy, and that we are justified by His grace, which clears from guilt and sets the believer in righteousness before God.
The same distinction holds in daily life. At the throne of grace believers obtain mercy in their weakness and find grace to help in time of need. The apostles wish churches "grace and peace", but when writing to individuals they add "mercy", because a single believer is still flesh and spirit and always needs it. Not every author draws the line in the same place. A smaller number tie mercy rather than grace to guilt: Darby calls mercy "much more" than grace, because it speaks of demerit and rests on no claim at all. In the same vein, mercy is said to mark the receiver as a wrong-doer, while grace is free favour that does not raise the question of his condition. A few others distinguish them by their reach, not by what the receiver deserves. For them grace goes out to all men, while mercy is shown to the individual sinner or to the elect. On one point all agree: true grace is not God passing over sin with indifference, which is what the natural man means by mercy. Grace is founded on God's full sense of how evil sin is, and it blots sin out through the blood of His Son.
Verses: Ephesians 2:4, Ephesians 2:5, Ephesians 2:6, Ephesians 2:7, Ephesians 2:8, Ephesians 2:9, Titus 3:5, Titus 3:6, Titus 3:7, Romans 3:23, Romans 3:24, Romans 6:23, Lamentations 3:22, Lamentations 3:23, Psalms 103:8, Psalms 103:9, Psalms 103:10, Psalms 103:11, Psalms 103:12, Micah 7:18, Hebrews 4:16, 1 Peter 1:3, Romans 11:6, Romans 5:8, Romans 5:20, Romans 5:21, 2 Corinthians 12:9, John 1:16, John 1:17, Luke 18:13, Exodus 34:6, Exodus 34:7, Romans 9:15, Romans 9:16, 2 Corinthians 8:9, Romans 4:4, Romans 4:5, James 4:6, Psalms 51:1, 1 Timothy 1:13, 1 Timothy 1:14, Nehemiah 9:17, Joel 2:13, Luke 6:36, Matthew 5:7, Titus 2:11
The above is AI generated summary based on the writers below.
What the commentators say
The passages the answer is drawn from, the most direct first, with the words that bear on the question marked.
p216 [W Moore] MY DEAR BROTHER, - You can hardly compare mercy and grace thus. Grace refers more to the source and character of the sentiment, mercy to the state of the person who is its object. Grace may give me glory, but mercy contemplates some need in me. Mercy is great in the greatness of the need, grace in the thought of the person exercising it.
These two familiar words of Scripture are allied in meaning, but are distinct in use and application. God acts in mercy towards men, having in view their need and infirmity, their misery and suffering due to their presence in an evil world. Moved by compassion, the good Samaritan showed "mercy" to the wounded and destitute Jew (Luke 10:37). On the other hand, grace is the activity of God's love towards wicked and rebellious men, as we read, "Where sin abounded grace has overabounded" (Rom. 5:20). The mercy of God can be traced throughout the scriptures, but the grace of God is revealed fully in the New Testament, for it could only thus be made known by Jesus Christ Who Himself was "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14, 17). In Him, the grace of God appeared, bringing salvation for all men (Titus 2:11).
Grace then is for the guilty, and mercy is for the miserable. This distinction has also been expressed in these words: "Grace is that energy and outflow of divine goodness which rises above men's evil and ruin, and loves notwithstanding all"; while mercy is "God's pitiful consideration for individual weakness, need, or danger."
The two words, grace and mercy, are beautifully combined and distinguished in an inspired description of what our Saviour God has done for Christian believers. The apostle Paul writes, "We were once ourselves also without intelligence, disobedient, wandering in error. … But when the kindness and love to man of our Saviour God appeared … according to His own mercy He saved us … that having been justified by His grace, we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:3-7).
GRACE AND MERCY.
Paul and Silas sang in prison. Grace supported them there. Then the Lord took them out of the prison; that is mercy. Grace is the principle on which God acts. Grace sustains, mercy delivers. Grace is effected in me. Mercy is done for me. Grace is according to the measure of God's heart; mercy according to the measure of man's need. Grace is the height to which we are brought; mercy the depth from which we were taken. (J. B. Stoney, in "The Voice,", 1891).
"Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." This is no mere self-confidence, which would be "strange fire" (Lev. 10: 1, 2), but firmest confidence in the Lord Jesus, - no trepidation or cringing apprehension, but a calm (though reverential) sense of being heartily welcome. For we find the majestic throne of God to be in truth a "throne of grace." While His great glory is maintained, yet His grace is there dispensed in fullest measure. The blessed sacrifice of the Lord Jesus is the basis of this character of grace attaching to the throne of God.
There is a distinction here drawn between obtaining mercy and finding grace to help in time of need. Mercy is that heartfelt compassion that comes into the circumstances of sorrow or trial; it regards one as in such circumstances; whereas grace is active favor, a power that lifts one above his circumstances. Note Ephesians 2:46 in this regard. Man's condition of misery is seen in verse 3, then mercy and love in verse 4, and the active work of grace in verses 5 and 6, raising up and seating together all saints in the heavenlies, in Christ. Blessed communication of Divine favor. And such grace is constantly available in practical life below. What real, encouraging incentive to constant, effectual prayer!
He is “rich in mercy.” There is a difference between 'mercy' and 'grace'. Grace is a free gift, but mercy is much more; it speaks of demerit and brings our souls to the bosom of God Himself who has mercy. “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.” No claim. A great many young Christians have not taken their stand upon the ground of mercy, and so when something or other breaks down to which they trusted, they are utterly at sea. We ought to be getting the soul and conscience to rest in God as the God of mercy and compassion to the soul. The God of mercy brought them out of the pit and put them in vital union with the Son of His love, and they had something to rest upon in the hour of trial.
Hence in this brief consideration of the manward aspect of grace we see that not only were its activities uncaused and unmerited by its objects, but these objects were in a state of positive enmity against God and amenable to His just judgment. Herein perhaps lies one of the distinctions between the allied words, grace and mercy. Mercy is awakened into exercise by the infirmities of its objects, their ignorance, their sorrows, their sufferings, and their needs: but grace flows towards those who are altogether undeserving, and who have by their sins forfeited every claim. We who were "dead in trespasses have been saved by grace (Eph. 2:5, 8), But being justified by faith," having "redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of trespasses according to the riches of his grace" (Eph. 1:7) we abide in that grace. It becomes the atmosphere, the home of our souls. If we received the grace of God when we were ungodly, sinners, enemies, what favour is ours now that we are justified and reconciled!
The term grace evidently conveys the idea of free gift, favour; without obligation on God's part, without claim on ours: or without raising the question of the condition of the one so favoured; it may be called the indulgence of love. (See John 3:16; 2 Cor. 8:9, where we have grace in its divine fulness.) But mercy always marks the receiver as a wrong-doer. To be "merciful" is to be ready to overlook or forgive a wrong, at the same time conscious that he to whom mercy is shown deserves a contrary kind of treatment. It answers to what is called among men a tender, forgiving disposition; only it is to be exercised by believers on the higher ground of having obtained mercy of the Lord themselves, and looking forward to obtain it more fully, they are "merciful" to their fellow men.
What is grace? Is it the particular goodness which visits and saves the souls of the elect? No. That is mercy. In Romans 9 and Romans 11, where election is the great subject, mercy is mentioned again and again. Grace is the mighty outflow of the heart of God towards the utterly sinful and undeserving. It shows no partiality. It knows no restrictions. It is a wide and deep sea. "All men" (1 Tim. 2:3- 6) are its only boundaries, and "where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Rom. 5:20) is the only measure of its depth.
Four qualities of God come before us — love, mercy, kindness and grace (verses 4 and 7). Love is the nature of God, the spring of all His actions, and the source of all our blessings. If God acts according to the love of His heart, the blessing that results can only be measured by His love. The question, then, is not what measure of blessing will meet our needs, but what is the height of blessing that will satisfy the love of God. Grace is love in activity towards unworthy objects, and goes out towards all. Mercy is shown to the individual sinner. Kindness is the bestowal of blessings upon the believer. God acts, then, “because of His great love”, not because of anything that we are. Who can measure His “great love”, and who can measure the blessing that is according to that love?
chen, χάρις. The favour and graciousness shown by God to guilty man. It stands in contrast to law, John 1:17; Gal. 5:4; also to works and to desert or reward, Rom. 4:4; Rom. 11:6; 'by grace ye are saved.' Eph. 2:5, 8. The grace of God is vouchsafed to the saints all along the way: we find nearly all the Epistles commence and end with the invocation of grace on the churches: whereas when individuals are addressed MERCY is added. 1 Tim. 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:2; Titus 1:4; 2 John 3. The different aspects of grace and mercy have been thus set forth: "Grace refers more to the source and character of the sentiment; mercy to the state of the person who is its object, Grace may give me glory; mercy contemplates some need in me. Mercy is great in the greatness of the need; grace in the thought of the person exercising it."
Verses
- Ephesians 2:4–94but God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love wherewith he loved us, 5(we too being dead in offences,) has quickened us with the Christ, (ye are saved by grace,) 6and has raised [us] up together, and has made [us] sit down together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, 7that he might display in the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. 8For ye are saved by grace, through faith; and this not of yourselves; it is God's gift 9not on the principle of works, that no one might boast.
- Titus 3:5–75not on the principle of works which [have been done] in righteousness which we had done, but according to his own mercy he saved us through [the] washing of regeneration and renewal of [the] Holy Spirit, 6which he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7that, having been justified by his grace, we should become heirs according to [the] hope of eternal life.