Now let us look at a few verses. Ephesians 2:4-5 says, "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in offenses." Paul said that God was rich in mercy because of something. That something is His great love with which He loved us. Without love, there would be no mercy. In what situation was He merciful to us? He was merciful to us when we were dead in offenses. His mercy had to do with our present distressing situation. Because we were dead in sins, He had mercy on us. He had mercy on us based on His love toward us. What happens after mercy? Verse 8 goes on to tell us that He saved us by grace. Hence, mercy was shown to us because we were in a situation of being dead in offenses; then, grace was given to us for our salvation, indicating that we received a new position and entered a new realm. Thank God that there is not only love and grace, but great mercy as well.

In 1 Timothy 1:13 Paul says, "Who formerly was a blasphemer and a persecutor and an insulting person; but I was shown mercy because, being ignorant, I acted in unbelief." Paul explains here how he obtained mercy. His obtaining mercy had to do with his life history. It had to do with his being a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insulting person. Before he was saved, he was in a condition of being a blasphemer, a persecutor, an insulting person, and an ignorant and unbelieving person. While he was in such a condition, God had mercy on him. So you can see that mercy is negative and has to do with the hard and difficult situations of our past. Grace, on the other hand, has to do with the positive aspects related to us. The two must be distinguished and should not be considered the same.

Titus 3:5 says, "Not out of works in righteousness which we did but according to His mercy He saved us..." There is no righteousness in ourselves. While we were without righteousness and were in a suffering and helpless situation, God had mercy on us. Thank the Lord that there is mercy! We saw earlier that mercy originates in love and terminates in grace. When mercy extends itself, we are saved. He had mercy upon us in the condition that we were in, and as a result we were saved.

Romans 11:32 says, "For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all." Why did God shut up all in disobedience? It was so that He might show mercy to all. God allowed all to become disobedient and has shut up all in disobedience, not for the purpose of making them disobedient, but for the purpose of showing mercy to all. After He has shown mercy, His next action is to save them. Therefore, mercy has to do with your condition, not the condition after you became a Christian, but the condition before you were saved. But thank God that He did not stop with mercy. With Him there is also grace.

There is one place in the Bible that shows us clearly that our regeneration is of mercy. First Peter 1:3 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." All of God's work in grace was planned according to His mercy in love. His grace is directed by His mercy, and His mercy is directed by His love. It was according to His great mercy that God regenerated us unto a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Hence, both regeneration and the living hope are related to mercy. Because there is mercy, there is grace.