"Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is" (Ephesians 5:17).

"This I say . . . that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk" (Ephesians 4:17).

"But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ" (Ephesians 4:7).

"I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called" (Ephesians 4:1).

God's mercy is a monumental theme in Scripture, the English word appearing some 341 times in the Bible. The four Hebrew and three Greek words associated with this term appear a total of 454 times and are also translated as "kindness," "lovingkindness," "goodness," "favor," "compassion," and "pity." Of the sixty-six books of the Bible, only sixteen do not use one of these words for mercy.