Getting a Grip on Grace and Mercy  © 2015 WF Cobb Truthbase.net DailyTruthbase.Blogspot.com

Ex 34:6  And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious <02587>, long-suffering, and abundant in hesed and faithfulness, 7 keeping mercy/hesed for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children... cf Ex 20:6

Neh 9:31  for Your great mercies’ sake You did not utterly consume them, nor forsake them; for You art a gracious and merciful God.

I. What's the difference between Grace and Mercy?            Mercy translates hesed over 170x in the LXX  Ps 119:159

Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Gen 6:8  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.  9 Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.

Esther 2:17 The king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she obtained grace and favor/hesed/approval in his sight more than all the virgins; so he set the royal crown upon her head and made her queen instead of Vashti.

II. Mercy is (sometimes) not getting what we have earned; Grace is (sometimes) getting more than we “earned”

Mt 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.    Lk 1:50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him... 

Mt 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

Rm 9:15 For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion."
Ex 33:16 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth." 17 So the LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name." 18 And he said, "Please, show me Your glory." 19 Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."

Jude 1: 2 Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.  20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto/eis eternal life.
2Tim 1:18  The Lord grant to him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day: and in how many things he ministered to me at Ephesus, you know very well.

III. Grace Is All-Sufficient Power (usually given to those in proper correct/covenantal relationship with God)
Grace enables business to be transacted in the spiritual realm with visible effects on earth  (coin of the realm of heaven)

2Cor 12:9 And He said to me: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly will I rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1Cor 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

Phil 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

2 Cor 8:7 But as you abound in everything --- in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us --- see that you abound in this grace also.
2 Cor 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.