This is a dominant characteristic Christ desires to be present among all believers who are part of His church. We will take a look at a psalm that David wrote about the Lord. God's perfect love and mercy compliment His justice to provide life and relational restoration with our Creator. Aramaic Bible in Plain English You are merciful, Lord Jehovah, and righteous, and oh, God, you are compassionate! Still, most often, we tend to be more thankful for God's justice when it's applied to someone else than we are when it's applied to us. When God presented His Son Jesus as a substitute to pay the penalty for our wrong doing, the Bible says He did it to demonstrate His justice: “...so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26). Once the verse is complete, and if time allows, take out words one at a time and ask for volunteers to complete the verse. To be just means to give someone what he deserve, but to be merciful means to give him better than he deserves. King David said, "The Lord is righteous, and He loves justice" (Psalm 11:7). God is just, loving, and merciful When we consider the attributes of God, it's very likely that we favor some over others, at least in their application toward us. How can Christian theologians say that God is both just and merciful? When Scripture describes God as being the perfection of love, it reveals to us through various examples that God, in His love, seeks what is best for us even at great personal cost to Himself. The love of Christ is displayed every time we speak the truth to each other, meet each others' needs, and carve out time for one other. He has regularly shown me that, by nature, I am not as merciful as I should be, but I'm grateful that He is teaching me more about mercy while surrounding me with merciful people who show me what it's supposed to look like. I honestly wasn't sure what I said or did that prompted that comment, but if you or I place a high value on justice, we're showing that to some degree, God's image is reflected in us because He is the perfection of justice. When a sister is dying and you sit by her side, reading Scripture until she takes her final breath, that's love. God Is Just Kind And Merciful. To a degree, justice intrinsically makes sense to us. They are Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim, which means "Gracious" and "Merciful". God is a perfect God meaning his justice and mercifulness is also faultless. The story of Lot’s waywardness and rescue is one of those accounts that leaves me with an unsettled twinge in the caverns of my soul. David said God is “gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in loving-kindness. Because God is just, He will always treat you fairly. This is why we should never minimize or make like of this attribute. But are we just as thankful for God's justice as we are for His love and mercy? Showing mercy involves granting pardon or showing compassion to an offending party. The just penalty for sin was death, so He who had no sin of His own, chose to take our sin upon Himself. When a child is orphaned or abandoned and you adopt him into your family, feed him, shelter him, comfort him, and even give him your family name, that's love. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, {the gospel message – the almost too good to be true news} which at the first began … Thus it is said, “Mercy exalts itself above judgment” (Jas 2:13). God is not soft on crime. As a verb just is to joust, fight a tournament. In Genesis 2 we read, 'And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17). One of the most important descriptions of God in the Hebrew Bible is that God is gracious and merciful. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson “A gracious and merciful God” A young employee secretly misappropriated several hundred dollars of … They think that God is fooled by their excuses and alibis. 12 Bible Verses about God Is Just ... now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? We came from Adam, we inherited his nature, we were born under the just wrath of God, and we experience both physical and spiritual death. We want to look at today what it means that God is merciful. It would be a violation of our just God's very nature not to punish sin. It's lived out by serving and sacrificing for one another's well-being. Shun differences of religion, caste and creed, Wipe tears of poor and Needful; Let us make this world Peaceful, God Is Just Kind And Merciful. This is what Christ wants His family to be known for because this reflects both His nature and the sacrificial way He chose to bless us. Let these attributes be reflected in your life. But because He is a just God, His verdict will always be right. God “made Him who knew no sin”—which can only be a reference to Jesus Christ—“to be sin on our behalf.” As we’ve already seen, Scripture … When a brother is struggling with sin and you pray with him and listen to his confession without gossiping about it, that's love. God's justice, love, and mercy work hand in hand to reveal more to us about His nature while guaranteeing we will be part of His kingdom and family for all time. In doing so, He satisfied God's justice while also showing us God's love. God’s actions may seem more just or merciful but in reality even punishment involves both virtues, St. Thomas writes. However, as the holy and righteous sovereign of the universe, God cannot ignore any act of sin. Henry Eyring Just writing these words have my heart overflowing with praise for what God has done for me and for who He is! Mercy is the withholding of a just condemnation. In Romans 5 we're told, "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Tagged: God, God's attributes, God's justice, God's love, God's mercy, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, John Stange, Get John's weekly newsletter in your inbox. There is a connection between his absolute existence and his sovereign freedom and his omnipotence and overflowing mercy. A Faithful Version Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. This paper will focus on comparing and contrasting the attributes God is just and merciful by pointing out the similarities, differences, and by showing ways in which God demonstrates them to mankind. As the writer declared in Deuteronomy: For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God! But he is generous and compassionate to those who need it most. God fully demonstrates His mercy in Jesus Christ. Verse Concepts. Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; Lamentations 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. Among God’s more seemingly complicated characteristics is his justness. In doing so, His justice and wrath were perfectly satisfied, and now He has made all who trust in Jesus Christ objects of His mercy. So, from the time of Adam, mankind has been dealing with the consequences of Adam's act of rebellion. Hence the apostle [Paul] calls remission a forgiving: “Forgive one another, as Christ has forgiven you” (Eph 4:32). Love is a word that isn't particularly difficult to define (even though it is used in various ways in our language), but it is quite difficult to practice. Read the verse out loud at least twice with the children before allowing them to search for the cards. Micah 7:18b NIV Prepare ahead of time by writing each word of the verse on a separate index card. When God condemns someone who has rejected Him to an eternity apart from His blessings, He is displaying His justice. We were formerly objects of His wrath, but now our condemnation has been lifted through the work Jesus accomplished on our behalf when He lived on this earth without sin, died on the cross in our place, and rose from the grave in victory over sin and death. We're also probably grateful that God is merciful and that He has made a point to extend His mercy toward us for our eternal benefit. God Guides His People= He leads, accompanies, assists and gives direction/ guidance. In reality, if not for God's justice, love, and mercy, we would have had no hope for the future. Also two attributes of God are derived from the word "mercy". So how does God's justice, love, and mercy work together? When a brother in Christ is having trouble with his water heater and you repair it for him, that's love. God is the perfection of mercy. God “made Him who knew no sin”—which can only be a reference to Jesus Christ—“to be sin on our behalf.” As we’ve already seen, Scripture … (1 John 4:17). 1 Corinthians 1:9 His justice requires it and it is impossible for Him to be inconsistent with His nature. Throughout the Bible, God gives many illustrations of His mercy. The enemies of Israel, the offenders of the prophets, the devotees of false gods, and an apostate Israel/Judah itself were the enemies either of God's people and by extension of God, or of God Himself. Is it possible for Him to be both? Trips to meets tended to be lengthy and we would often have plenty of time to talk during the drive. God is Gracious = merciful, benevolent, kind & compassionate. Hide the cards throughout the classroom. When we downgrade His mercy, we forget what He's done for us and we develop a smug, self-righteous attitude that forgets we were once objects of His wrath. The LORD is good to all, and His mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:8–9, NASB). In the Bible, especially the New Testament, God is described as “Merciful”. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he” (Deuteronomy 32:3-4, ESV). When the Lord dispenses crowns or rewards in Heaven to believers who were faithfully obedient to Him during their time on earth, He is also displaying His justice. As a noun just is a joust, tournament. God’s Attributes: God Is Merciful. God was merciful to the wayward Solomon in 1 Kings 11:13. Here is a simple definition of mercy: The act of God by which He withholds what we do deserve. When a sister in Christ is exhausted and tired after giving birth and you stock her refrigerator with food, that's love. This has been the standard answer to this question for centuries. He is patient with us. Because of that imagery, some liberal scholars have tried to eliminate the idea of God’s anger by changing the word to expiation, which refer… Merciful - Allah shows compassion and mercy, and he forgives people. Propitiation is not a word that we use in common conversation. Hence it is clear that mercy does not destroy justice, but in a sense is the fullness thereof. World needs noble souls like Mother Teresa, Whose selfless love for destitutes; Made so much difference to woeful, God Is Just Kind And Merciful. How often have you rejoiced when someone who has hurt or offended you has been on the receiving end of God's just correction? WHAT IS JUST? Since God is the perfection of love, it shouldn't surprise us that He would also supply the ultimate example of love for us to observe, experience, and learn from. Just and Merciful God. It seems to be something you highly value." Truthfully, as we'll demonstrate in a few moments, God's justice, love and mercy go hand in hand. New Heart English Bible The LORD is Gracious and righteous. As adjectives the difference between just and merciful is that just is factually ; right, correct; proper while merciful is showing mercy. (Al-Ma’idah 5:3) The Most Merciful in Christianity. Psalm 103:1-8. Thus if I owe a person a favor, it satisfies justice for me to repay him the favor, but this does not stop me from going beyond what justice alone requires and doing him an additional favor. In the Koran there is a whole chapter, named for the great character of God - Ar-Rahman ("Merciful"). Bless others with a taste of what you've been blessed with. As perfect creator of the world, God is uniquely qualified and has unique authority to judge the wicked. Then in his mercy and love he comes down in the person of his Son, Jesus Christ, and pays the penalty for us. When God shows us mercy, He chooses not to punish us in the manner in which we truly deserve.