What is Mercy? Experiencing God’s Transforming Mercy

If I ask you this question, “What is mercy?” What comes to mind for you? Does it connect you to the nature of God in a way that transforms your heart, how you relate to God and how you relate to others? Or is it just a nebulous word that gets said in church here and there, but doesn’t have personal meaning to your journey?

In this journey, we’re going to dive into the Scriptures, exploring the Hebrew and Greek words for mercy, and witnessing how God’s faithful and enduring love, displayed in the word mercy—as the constant, unchanging compassionate presence of God in our lives.

I want to help you see that mercy is about God’s transforming compassion towards us in the midst of our sin, struggle and suffering. It goes counter to what we often expect in the midst of our deepest and darkest experiences of life. But I am praying you will see how mercy is the foundation of our salvation and a powerful, living river that is meant to be received, revered, and stewarded in your life and toward others.

If you are ready to move from simply knowing about mercy to powerfully experiencing the love of God in a way that heals your past and empowers your future, then join me as we explore why, in every circumstance of life, mercy really does triumph!

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Foundational Passage of Grace and Mercy

Hebrews 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.

Titus 3:3-7 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Grace and Mercy Work Together:

2 John 1:3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

1 Timothy 1:2 To Timothy, a true son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

How do we often define mercy?

If I was to ask you what mercy is, what would come to mind for you?

Now, growing up, the typical Christian definition was that grace is getting what you do not deserve and mercy is not getting what you deserve.

Both definitions leave an emphasis on you and what you don’t deserve and what you do deserve.

The focus of mercy is not me, but on the beauty of who God is, because grace and mercy all originates from Him.

Unfortunately, the take away of our common definition was that there became a fixation on what we deserve and what we don’t deserve. They’re valid points, but in my experience, believers held onto this sense of what they deserve and didn’t deserve, to the point that it kept them from actually embracing the gift that has been given to them. They carried unworthiness and focused on how depraved they were in a way that kept from forward movement. It has actually hindered so many from embracing the new identity they have in Christ.

The statement, “I’m a sinner saved by grace,” which meant well, kept believers in the identity of a sinner.

Allow me to put it this way. Many believers live like traumatized believers that came into the Kingdom and are still living from a place of trauma. It’s like they were in a burning building, where they got rescued from the devastating flames of fire. They are relieved they were saved, but they still have the flaming fire playing in their minds, keeping them in a place of fear and dread.

So many believers are living from that place with God. They struggle to embrace God’s mercy because they are continually bombarded with a barrage of how sinful they are.

In no way am I saying we shouldn’t be aware of our sinfulness and our inability to produce righteousness. But there is a beauty of entering into this kingdom that needs to be established.

Mercy is amazing. It’s beautiful. It brings God’s compassion to you.
Mercy shows you a holy God that you can draw near to.
Mercy actually moves you from obsessing over how sinful you are and reveals that absolute majesty of a Holy God who invites you into His arms by His mercy. In His mercy, we get to participate with His Kingdom as new creations, loved by our Father, children of God being changed from glory to glory.

English Word Mercy:

from Latin merces – meaning, “price paid for something, wages, reward”

a kind and gentle treatment of someone (as a wrongdoer or opponent)
a disposition to show mercy
compassion on someone
Forgiveness
Withholding punishment

Deeper Understanding:

A blessing as an act of divine love
Kindness towards those us in our misery and affliction
Compassion and forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish, harm and bring judgment
Mercy provides relationship connections for us to grow in God’s ways on a journey. Mercy makes way for you to heal, grow and mature.
Preserves us from eternal judgment and damnation

Working Definition: Mercy: God’s transforming compassion towards you in your sin, struggle and suffering.

Mercy shows a demonstration of God’s compassionate nature.
Mercy shows up powerfully when there could be judgment, condemnation and punishment.
Mercy challenges our tendency to jump to law-based reactions, condemnation, judgment and punishment.
Mercy does not deny sin’s presence or compromise sin and its influence, but brings about compassionate power from heaven that humbles us, causing deep awe, a sense of gratitude and room for grace to empower us into transformation.
Mercy changes you.
Mercy transforms how you see others.

Witnessing Biblical Mercy in Action:

God is rich with mercy and is the source of mercy.
- 2 Corinthians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort
Our relationship with God through Christ has been made possible because God is rich in mercy.
- Ephesians 1:4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus
- 1 Peter 2:10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Mercy reveals God’s goodness.
- Psalms 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…
Mercy sees you and remembers you with compassion.
- Psalm 103:13-14 As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
God’s mercy shows up in kindness and compassion, often where you would expect condemnation and punishment.
- Lamentations 3:22-23 Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness
Mercy flips the tables on how we view our sins.
- Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.
God has an ear for those who cry out for mercy.
- Example: in the Gospels: “Have mercy on us, O Lord!”
Mercy is a high priority in the Kingdom of God.
- James 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Mercy is meant to be received, revered and stewarded.
- Luke 1:50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
Those who have received mercy must also give it out.
- Luke 6:36 Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
Mercy is foundational for ministry.
- 1 Timothy 1:12-13 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
There is a gift of mercy.
- Romans 12:8 – he show shows mercy, with cheerfulness
God’s mercy is enduring and has lasting power.
- “His mercy endures forever…”

Empowering You to Live Healed and Free