That your love may about still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness….

Grace is the seed that produces such fruit of righteousness, not of ourselves, but of Him who loves us. I really also think that Grace can really be explained as the love of Christ that compells us to go into the deeper levels of maturity in our lives. The Bride in Song of Solomon was able to hit the mountains full speed (after she denied them) simply because the Bridegroom (Jesus) removed His presence (and act of Grace) which moved her “holy passion/addiction” to say in desperation “Have you seen the one whom my soul loves?” Grace (to me) is God revealing Himself to us, and removing Himself to provoke us to levels we would’ve never dreamed of before. God’s grace is manifest in the deep longings He places in my heart which move me to obedience and desperation, which ultimately leads to my complete joy in Him!

In Christ,
Jakob

Oh, well, I think I will just stick with this and hopefully I’ll be fine:

“Rejoice, most venerable and life giving Cross of the Lord, for Thou drivest away the demons by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ Who was crucified on thee, Who went down to hades and trampled on on the power of the devil, and gave us thee, His venerable Cross, for the driving away of every adversary.”

Then there’s also one of my favorites, a hymn we sing during Holy Week (the week before Easter) of which part goes:

“Today, hell cries out, groaning: I should not have accepted the Man born of Mary - He came and destroyed my power.”

Those really illustrate Grace and Mercy to me.

Just because we can recieve the Grace and Mercy which the cross of Christ has secured for us, we still are very much called to “be holy as he is holy,” as you aptly pointed out.

The Holy Apostle Saint Paul sates it pretty well, I think, when he says:

“Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Basically, that even though we are given grace, we are still called, and even REQUIRED to practice holiness. But, that’s what you were saying.