Mercy and Grace are words which are mainly used in a religious context. 

What do these words mean?

The Oxford English Dictionary (www.askoxford.com) describes them as follows:

- grace

A. (in Christian belief) the free and unearned favor of God.

B. a person’s favor.

ORIGIN Latin: gratia, from gratus ‘pleasing, thankful’.

- mercy

A. compassion or forgiveness shown towards an enemy or offender in one’s power.

B. something to be grateful for

ORIGIN Latin: merces ‘reward, pity’.

The most important factors of the words "grace" and "mercy" we identify in the definitions above are, that:

• It is free
• It cannot be earned
• It comes from God
• He wants to give it to us even though we were offenders
• It is something to be thankful/grateful for.

When looking at the Dutch word ‘genade’ and its Greek concept it is derived from, we find the following: The Greek word for ‘genade’ is ‘Charis”. The word for ‘gift’ or ‘gifting’ is ‘Charisma.’ So we can easily see that the root of the word for ‘genade’ is gift or gifting! (Source: www.bijbel.nl/kern7.htm)

In other words, God’s salvation cannot be earned, it is a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:7-8)

Why are mercy and grace key aspects in Christian belief?

Many books have been written on this topic, but very briefly, this is the essence:

God created man in His image, and He had friendship with him. When man violated a command, it brought separation between God and man, because God is a holy God and nothing sinful can come near Him. So because man was contaminated with sin, he was separated from the presence of God. Via Moses, God gave rules (the law) to mankind. As long as the people would keep this law, they would be able to return to God. In practice, man was not able by himself to keep this law. He could not mend the gap that had come between him and God.