Grace is God in sovereign goodness coming out in blessing to man, who deserves nothing but judgment. “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:99For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)).
You get that in Ephesians 1:66To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. (Ephesians 1:6) (JND), “To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has taken us into favor in the Beloved.” That expression is used one other place in Scripture (Luke 1:2828And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. (Luke 1:28)) in connection with Mary: “The angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored [or, thou that art taken into favor], the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.”
In Ephesians 2:88For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8) the faith that we have is the gift of God’s grace. We wouldn’t believe but for the grace of God. It says, “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” What is the gift of God? Grace? No! Grace means gift. The gift that is being spoken of is faith—the gift of God—the very faith that enables us to lay hold upon what the God of grace has provided. It’s the gift of God—even our believing.
We can’t say, “Well, I’ve believed, and that’s why I’m in heaven; that’s to my credit. You didn’t and that’s why you’re in hell.” Why, even the faith that enabled me to believe is the gift of God. It’s all grace; it’s all sovereign grace.
The difference between mercy and grace is that mercy spares us from what we deserved. We deserved hell, but mercy spares us from what we deserve. Grace gives us what we don’t deserve, and that’s heaven and all the blessings that we have.
Mercy is great in the greatness of our need; grace is great in the greatness of the giver. Grace magnifies Him, while mercy delivers us from our need. Paul, when he asked that the Lord take away that thorn in the flesh, was asking for mercy. “Deliver me from it.” The Lord said, “No, but I’ll give grace to bear it.”
C. Hendricks (excerpts from a reading)