This, however, is not a sinful defect in them, provided they act according to the best light they have or can obtain. Grace is another attribute of benevolence. Grace is that quality of benevolence that disposes it to bestow gratuitous favour, that is, favour on the undeserving and on the ill-deserving. Grace is not synonymous with mercy. It is a term of broader meaning.
Mercy is a disposition to forgive the guilty.
Grace expresses not only a willingness to pardon, or exempt from penalty, but to bestow other favours of a positive character. Grace does not wait for merit as a condition of bestowing favour. It causes its sun to shine on the evil and on the good, and sends its rain on the just and the unjust. Grace in the saints manifests itself in acts of beneficence to the most unworthy, as well as to the deserving. It seeks to do good to all, whether meritorious or not.