Justice is getting what we deserve. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Grace is getting what we don’t deserve. (Mike Lee, American pastor)
Victims of crime often plead for justice. What they want is to see the criminal caught and punished, getting what he deserves. Pastor Lee would remind us that each of us is indebted to God because of our sin and all of us deserve punishment. But in His mercy (undeserved), God offers grace (also undeserved) in response to faith in the work of Jesus on our behalf.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).