Mercy withholds a punishment we deserve grace gives a blessing we don’t deserve. God shows both mercy and grace, but they are not the same. God is the instigator of grace, and it is from Him that all other grace flows. The apostle Paul began many of his letters with the phrase, "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 1:7 Ephesians 1:1 1 Corinthians 1:3). Sinful men showed their faith by offering the sacrifices that God required. It was not the physical blood of those sacrifices, per se, that cleansed sinners it was the grace of God that forgave those who trusted in Him (Hebrews 10:4 Genesis 15:6). That pattern of grace continued throughout the Old Testament when God instituted blood sacrifices as a means to atone for sinful men. But rather than destroy them, He chose to make a way for them to be right with Him. He could have killed the first humans right then for their disobedience. Grace began in the Garden of Eden when God killed an animal to cover the sin of Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:21). Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves.” The only way any of us can enter into a relationship with God is because of His grace toward us.
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