God’s Judgement and Mercy
God is love (1 John 4:8) but He is also a righteous Judge (Psalm 7:11). Even on earth and in our courts of law, a judge must punish the law breakers; he will not pardon a criminal who has killed or stolen just because the criminal does good works of feeding the poor or helping orphanages, for example. The criminal must receive the due punishment for his crime. Because if sin goes unpunished, the law would be overlooked and anarchy will destroy the world. Likewise, the Lord will not allow sin to go unpunished.
When humanity sinned and fell (Romans 3:23; Genesis 3), sin brought death to all “for the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). And death brought eternal destruction. Humans needed the Lord’s mercy. But how can He be both gracious and just?
The Lord planned a way to save mankind and also meet the just demands of His law: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in [God’s] sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Romans 3:20–22a).
The law can’t save us for it only shows us our sin (Romans 7:7). The Lord’s justice requires death for sin, but His love provides eternal life in heaven through faith in Jesus. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
So to solve the sin problem, the Lord sent His Son to redeem humanity. For the heavenly Father “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus bore the punishment for sin by dying on the cross on behalf of sinners. Thus, every sinner that accepts the Savior’s offer of salvation by faith, repents, and follows in the path of righteousness, will be saved eternally ( Ephesians 2:8–9; Romans 3:21–31; Galatians 3:6–14). By the plan of salvation, both the Justice and the love of the Creator were fully satisfied.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
