Mercy in Greek is eleos. In the New Testament, the Greek word focuses more often on the recipient’s need for mercy than on the giver of mercy. In the Old Testament, in Hebrew, it is racham or hesed. Racham comes from a place of deep love; hesed means lovingkindness. The focus in Hebrew, in the OT, is on the giver of mercy.

Grace and mercy are often interchanged in our language, but they are not the same thing. Grace is a gift undeserved while mercy is the removal of condemnation. Mercy can only come from a position of power. It comes from one who has the right to dish out punishment but chooses instead compassion. Mercy is grace on steroids. It is a gift given to someone who desperately needs it but deserves the exact opposite.

One of the best things the Bible tells us is that mercy is a characteristic of God (Deuteronomy 4:31; Psalm 25:6-7) . Even though we deserve judgment, we ask God for patience, and He gives us something even better. God blesses us with pity, compassion, a canceling of our debt, complete and total mercy.

God never gets tired of handing out His mercy; He won’t run out. Lamentations 3:22 (MSG) says that His mercy is “new every morning.” Charles Spurgeon put it this way: “God’s mercy is so great that you may sooner drain the sea of its water, or deprive the sun of its light, or make space too narrow, than diminish the great mercy of God.” There is no end to God’s mercy.

Salvation comes because of God’s mercy (Ephesians 2:4-5; 1 Peter 1:2-3) and not because of anything we do (Romans 9:15-16).

To learn more, watch "More Than a Hashtag" as Pastor Justin shares the beauty of God’s mercy.