Mercy

March 26

Mercy

eleos

A simple definition of mercy is "the withholding of deserved punishment and relieving distress." The Greek eleos (G1656) speaks of "compassion, pity."

One Greek lexicon tells us, "Kindness or good will towards the miserable and afflicted, joined with a desire to relieve them." Even the pagans of Greece felt pity. Aristotle wrote that tragedy aroused pity and even fear that the same tragedy might befall them.

This word appears in Mat_23:23 , for example, where our Lord calls the Pharisees hypocrites because while they fastidiously counted out a tenth of the seeds of herbs to give as tithes, they ignored the more important matters of mercy and faith.

In a graphic example of mercy, after the Lord told the disciples the parable of how the Good Samaritan showed mercy (Luk_10:25-37 ), He then told them to "Go, and do thou likewise."

Paul also used this word often in his letters as a simple reminder of God’s mercy, a reminder that none of us can hear too often (Rom_9:23 ; Rom_11:31 ; Gal_6:16 ).

In one of the most pointed verses in Scripture about salvation not being by works, Paul wrote to Titus:

Titus 3:5-7 ^aHe saved us, ^bnot on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but ^caccording to His mercy, by the ^dwashing of regeneration and ^erenewing by the Holy Spirit, ^{6 a}whom He poured out upon us ^brichly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that being justified by His grace we would be made ^aheirs ¹according to the hope of eternal life.  (Tit_3:5 ).

This word was so imbedded in Paul’s thinking, in fact, that he even used it often in salutations (1Ti_1:2 ; 2Ti_1:2 ; Tit_1:4 ).

So mercy is obviously always to the helpless. Moreover, as Eph_2:1-3  shows, we deserve whatever tragedy, affliction, misery, depression, heartache, and all other pain that befall us, but God relieves it by His undeserved mercy.

In short, we deserve God’s wrath, but He is merciful; He relieves us out of His incomprehensible compassion.

Before we close, let us note the important distinction between mercy and grace:

Or as one commentator puts it, "Mercy pities. Grace pardons."

Scriptures for Study: Upon whom does God show mercy, according to Luk_1:50 ? As Christians, where do we continually find mercy (Heb_4:16 )?

 
 Top of page