Lesson 34. Love Is Mercy and Justice

One of the most important qualities of love is that it is the union of mercy and justice. For many people, this combination is a discovery. If I understand this question differently, I create my own image of love in my mind, attempting to fit it within the limits of my personal conception. I then expect this gift to manifest itself in me and in other people only in the ways I consider right.

As a result, I encounter actions that appear contradictory to me, and I do not always understand how to conduct myself properly from the standpoint of love when the need arises to act in a particular way.

Once, at a camp meeting, I was walking after lunch when I saw one of the brothers holding a mouse by its tail and striking it against the pavement. I was surprised and asked why he was doing this. He replied that someone had run over the mouse, and it lay half alive and suffering beside the road. Out of compassion, the brother decided to hasten its death, and that is what he did. I began to think.

I very often hear our kind and loving God accused of cruelty and violence that He permitted during Old Testament times. And regarding our own time, the question is frequently asked: “If there is a god, why has he allowed so much evil? Why do children become sick and die of hunger?” Moreover, they speak of god with a lowercase letter. One must answer such people and vindicate the true God.

The truth is that God loves all the people He created. He desires the death of no one, but wants everyone to be saved and inherit Eternity.

Another important truth about God is that He alone is the Giver of Life, and from His hand life passes to every creature and every person. God may give life and take it away at His own discretion, without consulting anyone or giving anyone an account of His actions. He is God the Creator, and the whole Earth belongs by right to Him alone. Every question about His prerogative to act in one way or another has a single answer in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”

And yet, possessing absolute power and authority in the Universe, our Heavenly Father condescends so far as to allow His creation to judge Him. God gives an account of all His actions. By examining the deeds of the Eternal God, we can see the harmonious union of mercy and justice.

God is Love. This is what is written, and this is how it truly is.

If love is made merciful only and given authority solely in that sphere, very serious problems will arise that cannot be resolved through mercy. Evil will engulf your entire world, and you will understand that a law is needed to place limits upon the influence of sin—a law whose violation requires justice to come into force and establish order. I believe the presence of law and police in any nation creates normal conditions for the life and safety of its citizens and their property.

If, however, only justice is taken into account and the violation of laws and rules is considered from that position, prison and death await all of us, without any possibility of mercy or leniency. Justice demands exact obedience to the law, grants no indulgence to offenders, and scrutinizes every detail, acting only according to the letter of the law and desiring to be absolutely just and impartial. And if we take into account the fact that God knows everything about me—even what I do not know about myself—I will have no chance of salvation when I meet His justice.

Now let us combine these two concepts. Then we receive that very Agape Love which possesses mercy sanctified by a just attitude and which acts justly on the basis of mercy.

There is a wise saying in Ecclesiastes 8:11: “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.”

It is love that gives a person the freedom to make a choice and reap the fruit of what has been sown.

But what do I do with this freedom? What does the world do with it?

We see what is happening around us. Sin boldly raises its repulsive head, and people infected with the spirit of rebellion against God are not afraid to do evil. Whereas evil was once local, it has now become a pandemic spreading equally throughout the world, destroying everything good around it and uprooting truth from people’s minds.

What, then, is a loving God to do? Once He cleansed the Earth with the waters of the Flood, acting justly toward evil. But He promised there would never again be a flood. What, then, will there be? There will be the Second Coming of Christ, at which sin will come to an end and every person will receive exactly what they chose and desired to receive. Those who believe in Jesus will obtain the right to Eternal life, while the wicked will obtain the right to death. Everyone will reap what they sowed and receive what they chose. “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”

When a sinner meets the Righteous God face to face, that person will understand how much mercy was shown, with what longsuffering and love for humanity God treated them, and with what great compassion their many sins were forgiven—yet all was rejected with contempt and indifference. Then the person will see and learn what justice means and how it acts. No one will then say to God, “What doest Thou?” and no one will question His authority to punish and take away life.

When love finds a place in my heart, it teaches me to love the sinner and treat every person mercifully, showing leniency and understanding. At the same time, however, love hates sin and does not justify its presence in my life or in the conduct of other people. Love does not surrender its position but resists the corrupting influence of sin.

Not everyone understands this union, and therefore people expect a loving person to direct toward them only modest smiles, self-sacrifice, and good deeds. All these things should indeed be present, but we must also remember that love is not spinelessness. It is steadfast obedience to God’s law, within whose bounds love is free to act at its own discretion.

This is what love is, and this is what it will remain.

Mercy and justice are two sisters in my heart. They always give me wise counsel so that I may act rightly. They desire that I always give them authority to act according to the circumstances.

And what things one hears said against one’s love! But more about that later.

1. In the light of this lesson, please read Colossians 3:14; Exodus 34:6–7; and Revelation 3:19.

2. Explain what you understood from this lesson. What new truth was revealed to you?

3. How do you picture love combined with these qualities in practical life?

4. How can love act toward my sins and toward the sins of those near me?

5. What would happen if God were only just?

6. What would happen if God were only merciful?

7. Why must love contain both qualities?