Two questions....

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  1. If God be merciful, then why do our actions matter? and,
  2. If God be just, how do we reconcile justice with love???
Any help appreciated:)
 
God is perfectly just and merciful. His mercy is in the fact that God does not strike us dead the minute we sin, and just in that we will be judged upon our death.

But the true place where God’s mercy and justice meet is on the cross. God is just and the punishment for sinning is death. Christ being an infinite being was able to pay the punsihment in full, effectively achieving justice. In other words Christ went to the Jail and paid enough money to release us all. However, if we refuse to follow Christ and do not accept this mercy, (in other words if we choose not to leave the jail of our sins) then we will be left to justice once we die. God longs for all of us to be with Him and He loves all of us, but God can’t be with sin. If we don’t follow him and let go of our sins, then we can’t go to Heaven. It just can’t happen since God does not abide with sin. I hope this answer helps you out. If there are anymore questions you can just respond here or send a pm. Good luck and God bless.
 
God is merciful to teach us to be merciful both with our own failures (sins of omissions and sins of commission) and also to have mercy in forgiving the failures of other people.
 
josephback said:
  1. If God be merciful, then why do our actions matter? and,
  2. If God be just, how do we reconcile justice with love???
Any help appreciated:)
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  1. God is merciful, so are you going to abuse his mercifulness?
  2. None of our businness. It is God’s businness. The Bible says that so far away is the Heavens from Earth that our thoughts are far away from God’s thoughts. We judge how God judges? Futile attempt.
 
Our actions matter because it is evil to permit or cause needless death or suffering.

We know how God’s justice and mercy can co-exist from the prayer He gave us:

“Forgive us as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

Neither more nor less! 🙂
 
josephback said:
  1. If God be merciful, then why do our actions matter?
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Actions are the matter of what is formal in the person, if your love for God is formal then your actions will display how much you love Him formally, least you be unable to perform an act.
  1. If God be just, how do we reconcile justice with love???
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Simple, justice is a form of love as is mercy. The recipient of justice should, by law of reason, unconditionally accept the severity of his or her sentence from the Divine Judge. It is mercy why we even exist after the Fall, and it is justice done to those that deny the Redeemer and His Bride.
 
josephback said:
  1. If God be merciful, then why do our actions matter? and,
  2. If God be just, how do we reconcile justice with love???
Any help appreciated:)
Click to expand...
The Church teaches that Gods’ love and mercy actually trumps His justice, but in any case I don’t think justice actually exists without love-they’re complimentary, IMO, not mutually exclusive. In any case, would it be loving to allow good and evil to coexist forever? Is not justice necessary in order to ultimately separate the two?
 
fhansen said:
The Church teaches that Gods’ love and mercy actually trumps His justice, but in any case I don’t think justice actually exists without love-they’re complimentary, IMO, not mutually exclusive. In any case, would it be loving to allow good and evil to coexist forever? Is not justice necessary in order to ultimately separate the two?
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Actually, the church teaches that God is both INFINITELY merciful and INFINITELY just, both in perfection. So no, God’s mercy does not “trump” God’s justice.

The answer to how can God be perfectly merciful while being perfectly just is “Jesus”. Jesus suffered the justice of God, so that we could have the mercy… the price of sin is still paid… just not by us.
 
josephback said:
  1. If God be merciful, then why do our actions matter?
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I answered question 2 in my last post, but I think this is quite a different question:

A) Because God is so merciful that He’ll let us go from His presence forever if we don’t choose to love Him over our sins (which are incompatible with living with Him)
 
josephback said:
  1. If God be merciful, then why do our actions matter? and,
  2. If God be just, how do we reconcile justice with love???
Any help appreciated:)
Click to expand...
I’d also suggest re-reading Matthew Chapter 5.

Jesus lists the Beattitudes there and then in verse 48 He makes this statement, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
 
promethius said:
Actually, the church teaches that God is both INFINITELY merciful and INFINITELY just, both in perfection. So no, God’s mercy does not “trump” God’s justice.

The answer to how can God be perfectly merciful while being perfectly just is “Jesus”. Jesus suffered the justice of God, so that we could have the mercy… the price of sin is still paid… just not by us.
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I don’t know-I think humankind would’ve been wiped out at the beginning if justice was strictly administered. The act of the righteous suffering for the unrighteous (1Pet 3:18), dying for us while we were yet sinners (Rom 5:8), seems to me a case of love superseding justice. And maybe that’s the point, because as “Jesus suffered the justice of God”, God is actually paying the price, and where is the justice in that? Anyway, Pope Benedict had these words in Deus Caritas:

**Hosea above all shows us that this agape dimension of God’s love for man goes far beyond the aspect of gratuity. Israel has committed “adultery” and has broken the covenant; God should judge and repudiate her. It is precisely at this point that God is revealed to be God and not man: “How can I give you up, O Ephraim! How can I hand you over, O Israel! … My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger, I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst” (Hos 11:8-9). God’s passionate love for his people—for humanity—is at the same time a forgiving love. It is so great that it turns God against himself, his love against his justice. Here Christians can see a dim prefigurement of the mystery of the Cross: so great is God’s love for man that by becoming man he follows him even into death, and so reconciles justice and love.

**
 
I’ve been doing some more thinking and I have another question. What is LOVE???
 
What kind of God is God? Is He someone that you can relax around or is He someone whose judgement should be feared:confused: Or is it both:( What is the teaching of the Church?
 
josephback said:
What kind of God is God? Is He someone that you can relax around or is He someone whose judgement should be feared:confused: Or is it both:( What is the teaching of the Church?
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God is Love.
The answer is both. If you are loving of God and neighbor, you can relax. When you are in sin you should fear His justice. In addition, this fear should lead to repentance, not dispair.

For more on the Church’s teaching on God, see CCC beginning at article 26.
 
fhansen said:
I don’t know-I think humankind would’ve been wiped out at the beginning if justice was strictly administered.
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That would assume that God’s plan for creation did not include Christ from the very moment of the being of the universe. Furthermore, it would assume that PERFECT administration of justice is synonymous with strict and immediate administration of justice. I call that latter claim into doubt.
The act of the righteous suffering for the unrighteous (1Pet 3:18), dying for us while we were yet sinners (Rom 5:8), seems to me a case of love superseding justice. And maybe that’s the point, because as “Jesus suffered the justice of God”, God is actually paying the price, and where is the justice in that?
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The price is paid. Just not by us. If there were no need for perfect justice, and God could simply “trump” the need for justice by using His perfect Mercy then 1) He would not be just at all, and therefore would be unworthy of worship because He would not be God. 2) there would have been no NEED for Christ in the first place if this was just a trumping, and therefore God is a barbarian for needlessly allowing His Son to be killed when he could just “trump” justice.

Neither of these is true.
Anyway, Pope Benedict had these words in Deus Caritas:

Hosea above all shows us that this agape dimension of God’s love for man goes far beyond the aspect of gratuity. Israel has committed “adultery” and has broken the covenant; God should judge and repudiate her. It is precisely at this point that God is revealed to be God and not man: “How can I give you up, O Ephraim! How can I hand you over, O Israel! … My heart recoils within me, my compassion grows warm and tender. I will not execute my fierce anger, I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst” (Hos 11:8-9). God’s passionate love for his people—for humanity—is at the same time a forgiving love. It is so great that it turns God against himself, his love against his justice. Here Christians can see a dim prefigurement of the mystery of the Cross: so great is God’s love for man that by becoming man he follows him even into death, and so reconciles justice and love.
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I’ve turned the part that is important to the discussion of whether or not mercy trumped justice red. It did not. Instead, they had to be reconciled in the cross.
 
josephback said:
I’ve been doing some more thinking and I have another question. What is LOVE???
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My friend, you really are posting the tough questions:thumbsup:. Love is wanting the best for the other person. If you truly someone you would be willing to die for them. “Greater love hath no man than to die for one’s friends.”
What kind of God is God? Is He someone that you can relax around or is He someone whose judgement should be feared Or is it both What is the teaching of the Church?
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This is tough. God is more of a loving Father. He is someone so inspiring. He is also that infinite joy and beauty your heart longs for. Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they rest in thee.” He is what we long for and once we truly meet him, we will not be afraid. That is also a resounding phrase that is repeatedly said in the Bible. Be not afraid. God loves us, there is nothing to be afraid of. He is a good God, what is there to fear. So, being with God will be greater than anything you have ever felt before as you will find that joy you have longed for all your life.

I hope my posts have helped you out. Good luck and God bless
 
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