Grace, MERCY and Peace

If you follow our GoChurch Bible reading plan in the Bible App, you know I often note leadership lessons learned from our daily reading. This week’s reading is full of leadership lessons. We witness the power of God’s Mercy, Grace and Peace in the life of Saul as he’s transformed into Paul, the Christ-follower (Acts 9), and then his commissioning into the Apostolic calling (Acts 13).

Lesson: If God’s Mercy could make Saul a new creation, overcoming a past of murderous persecution – and God’s Grace separate him into an Apostolic calling, why let your past failures define your future?

God’s Mercy is often confused with God’s Grace. Mercy is when you deserve to be punished, but receive none. Grace is God’s undeserved ability to accomplish His will. With Mercy you don’t get what you deserve. In contrast, with Grace you get something you can never deserve. So, it was Mercy that forgave Paul’s murderous past, but Grace enabled his salvation by faith, and his call as a Foundational Apostle.

Leadership Lesson: In ten of his letters, Paul opens with the pronouncement, ‘Grace and Peace be unto you’. Yet, when writing to two young ministers (Timothy and Titus) he includes a third word… ‘Mercy’. Why? Maybe, because he understood that church leaders need more than God’s ability – like himself – they also need God’s Mercy knowing they will face a stricter judgment (James 3:1).