The difference between God's mercy and His grace

God has often forgiven sinners, but He never forgives sin; and the sinner is only forgiven on the ground of Another having born his punishment: for "without shedding of blood is no remission" (Heb 9:22). - AW Pink "The Attributes of God"  pg31

What is grace? 
According to AW Pink - Divine grace is the sovereign and saving favor of God exercised in the bestowment of blessing upon those who have no merit in them and for which no compensation is demanded from them.  Nay, more; it is the favor of God shown to those who not only have no positive deserts of their own, but who are thoroughly ill-deserving and hell-deserving. - pg 50
This grace is free and unmerited.  There is nothing that man can do to receive it.  If there was, then it would not be grace. 
Romans 11:6  But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace.
Titus 3:5 He saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,


When talking about God's mercy, AW Pink says that we need to keep in mind 3 distinctions when it comes to God's mercy.
First is the general mercy of God.  This is the mercy that is extended to all creation.  Psalm 145:9 The LORD is good to all,and his mercy is over all that he has made.

Secondly is God's special mercy, that is just toward mankind.  God provides all the "necessities of life" for us.   Matthew 5:45 For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.  This mercy is limited, and it ends when the life of the man ends. Isaiah 27:11

And lastly there is God's sovereign mercy, and you guessed it, this mercy is only for the children (the elect) of God.  God only provides this mercy through the finished work of His Son Jesus Christ, which is applied through the work of the Holy Spirit.  This mercy continues for all eternity.

Now some will say that this not fair.  Doesn't Psalm 136:1 say that, "His mercy endures forever"?  This is true, but God has control over the exercise, or the application, of this mercy.  God always has the choice to extend whatever mercy that He wants to whomever He wants. 
Romans 9:15 For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

Luke 18:9-14  The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

All of us should pray for "tax collector" hearts.  Broken over our sin and grateful to God for the forgiveness that is found in Christ.
I am grateful that AW Pink took the time in his book "The Attributes of God" to share with me the difference between God's grace and His mercy.  It helps me to love and appreciate Him more. 
Soli Deo gloria

The disciples in John 6 .....

and their reaction to the preaching of the Sovereignty of God in Salvation

Isn't it interesting how consistent the reaction is from people in the church when they hear about the sovereignty of God in salvation?   

We can see that Jesus even had the same reaction with the church/disciples that were following Him.  Look what happens when He starts to expound on the life giving work of God in salvation.


[60] When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” [61] But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? [62] Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? [63] It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. [64] But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.)
[65] And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
[66] After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

In these verses Jesus tells us that it is God who gives life and grants the ability to come to Christ.  To paraphrase......"You have no power in yourself to do this.  Your flesh is corrupt and of no help at all in your spiritual life, v.63.  You have to deny your flesh and rely completely on the work of God, v.65.  Yet, you are still held accountable for your unbelief, v64."  And look what happens in verse 66 when Jesus preaches a monergistic view of salvation, many turned their back on the savior of the world and no longer walked with him.  What an outright, blatant, rejection of God!  Yet, is there any difference when people in churches today trade down from a Sovereign God to a God who responds to man's every "decision" and whim?  Many people in churches today will respond exactly like the disciples did in verse 66.  They walk away from the true God, and harden their hearts to the truth and the true God of the Bible. 
Do you think that these disciples in verse 66 became rank heathens and left the synagogue's? Or, do you think they went back to living their self-righteous lives and relying on their works to get them to heaven?
I would imagine that these disciples went right back under the yoke of works.  They went right back under the legalism and the law that was supposed to point them to Christ. 

This leaves me now with a profound question, "The people who walked away from this truth were false disciples.  Does that mean that this same truth when preached always divides the true disciples from the false disciples?  Do this mean that those who deny the sovereignty of God in salvation are turning their backs on Jesus?" 

Oh how I pray that many people in the church would come to a correct understanding of Justification.  Having a proper understanding of Justification will greatly increase your Sanctification.  When you finally understand the lengths that God went to save a wretched sinner like you, it will cause you to fall more on your face each day and want to serve Him.  The more you correctly understand Justification, the more you will submit yourself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 


p.s.
God's Word is so amazing.  He gives us an example of how He uses the truth to separate the wheat from the tares.  He does it through preaching the truth of His word. 
Here is a great clip from Dr. Erwin Lutzer about this very subject. 
http://www.archive.org/download/TheologyBitesPart15/Lutzer_doctrineDevides.mp3 
If you are a pastor, and you want to find out the "spiritual condition" of your congregation, then I would suggest that you preach all of the doctrine that is in the text.  Go deep and pull out all of the meat from the Bible and serve it to your sheep.  The goats will hate the taste of it, but the sheep will praise God for it and glorify Him.

His immutable love

"His love no end nor measure knows,

No change can turn its course,

Eternally the same it flows

From one eternal source."

from AW Pink's The Attributes of God pg 65

Why Me?

Why me?  This is a simple but also a very deep question depending on what has happened to you or what someone has done for you.  In the case of our salvation, this becomes a very deep theological question. 

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:44 

I guess that answers the question doesn't it?  Why me?  Because the Father drew me to Christ.  It was nothing that I did.  It was not "a choice" that I made, contrary to a lot of popular teaching in the church today.  If it was my choice, then I would have an answer to "Why me?"  I could say that I walked the aisle, I prayed a prayer, I MADE A DECISION!  But do you see where the focus lies in all of those answers?  The focus is on what I did instead of what God has already done in Christ.  The Bible doesn't talk this way about salvation, and we should not either.
If I truly try to answer the question, "Why did God save me?"  I come up blank.   I cannot think of one good things that I did that would cause God to look at me and then decide to wipe away all of my sin.  The old sinful, selfish, and prideful man inside of me wants to give lots of reasons; but the born again man in me knows better. 

A.W. Pink tells us why in his book The Attributes of God.
"If then the reader is a real Christian, he is so because God chose him in Christ before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:4), and chose not because He foresaw you would believe, but chose simply because it pleased Him to choose; chose you notwithstanding your natural unbelief.  This being so, all the glory and praise belongs alone to Him.  You have no ground for taking any credit to yourself.  You have 'believed through grace' (Acts 18:27), and that, because your very election was 'of grace' (Rom. 11:5)."

God has taken off the blinders that I willingly put over my eyes so that I could see the Son and believe (John 6:40). 

Only God can remove the ear plugs that I jammed into my ears so that I could hear and learn from Him (John 6:45).

Praise God for doing what I could never do for myself.  Praise God for changing this broken sinner, who loved his sin, into a redeemed believer, who still sins, but loves God and wants to kill the sin in his life.