Perfect Justice, Perfect Mercy. II

If justice is getting what is deserved — mercy is receiving what is not.

In Part I of this article, we looked at how humans can reconcile these seemingly incongruous natures of God — how perfect Justice and perfect Mercy exist can exist together. (Click here to read Part I!)

But can God’s mercy be just — and his justice, merciful?

The definitions of justice are plentiful, but at the heart of it, justice is the fair treatment of people. Does God treat all people in the same manner? Based on the solid evidence, we would have to say so!

St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans that, “The wages of sin is death”

The wages of sin. All sin. And applied to all who sin.

The law is clear — all who commit a sin… any sin… will experience death, both physical and spiritual. Does this happen? Yes. Is it because God enacts this law? Well, only about the same as us dropping an egg on the ground and chalking it up to the laws of gravity. When we sin, we all experience a sense of separation from God. Cut off from the source of life, we are then among the walking dead, awaiting an awakening. This law applied to Jesus too — a sinless man, he became Sin in order to conquer it, and he too experienced physical and spiritual death. His agony lay in feeling the anguish of separation from the Father, as he cried out, “My God, my god, why have you foresaken me”. And so, no one is exempt — not even God’s only son, who had to bear the consequences of the Sin of the world.

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, says Paul in his letter to the Romans [Romans 3:23] And so, we all deserve death — no matter the sin. But as John tells us, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” [John 3:16] Everyone. All deserve to die, but everyone who believes will be saved! And so, Paul continues to the Romans, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” [Romans 8:1–2]

God is just in having mercy on ALL.

If one is still not convinced of the just mercy of God, let us now see whether the secular principles of justice apply to this supernatural quality of Mercy.

1. DISTRIBUTIVE: Distributive justice implies that all receive a fair share. As we’ve seen, God gives his mercy and salvation to all who accept or receive it, whether in Old Testament or New.
2. PROCEDURAL: What is the process to receive God’s mercy? The rules for receiving God’s mercy are consistent and unwavering, applying to all, impartially — belief in Jesus Christ.
3. RETRIBUTIVE: Retributive justice dictates that people deserve to be treated in the same way that they treat others. In secular terms this means that the response to the crime is proportional to the offence. Or “do the crime, do the time”! While God’s mercy is available to all who believe in Jesus, this mercy is also portioned out according to the ways in which we are merciful to others. Jesus teaches us, “Judge not and you will not be judged”, and the prayer he taught his disciples clearly asks God to “forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”. The New Testament is filled with parables and teachings exhorting us to exercise mercy and forgiveness, because our own salvation will depend on it. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy”
4. RESTORATIVE: Restorative justice is an approach to justice that seeks to repair harm by providing an opportunity for communication. God’s mercy is always focused on healing both relationship between him and his people, and relationships among the peoples. Restorative justice is about restoring relationships to ‘rightness’ or atonement, and God’s mercy is poured out on us for this very reason — so that we may be able to return to him, no matter the depth of our sinfulness. (To know more about the restorative quality of God’s mercy and justice, click here!)

And so we see that not only is God’s justice merciful, his mercy is just too. “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” [Matthew 5:45]

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