Heidelberg Catechism
Q & A 11
Q. But isn’t God also merciful?
A. God is certainly merciful,1
but he is also just.2
His justice demands
that sin, committed against his supreme majesty,
be punished with the supreme penalty—
eternal punishment of body and soul.3
Note: mouse over footnote for Scripture references.
Andrew Kuyvenhoven writes (33-34),
The last of the three excuses attempts to play off God’s justice against God’s mercy. Polytheists . . . do that; they call on one god for protection against another. But our God is one (Deut. 6:4), and in the heart of our Father-Judge are no such contradictions. . . .
You and I have to do with a righteous God. He always punishes sin, temporally, eternally, in body and soul. Now our sins are either punished in Jesus—then it is all over—or we have to bear our own punishment.
Dr. Kuyvenhoven is right: God’s justice and mercy are not opposed, but united; and his mercy does not come by simply ignoring his justice. How it does come, how that happens, is the gospel.
I would say I comfortably have an opposite view. I hear, in your writing, retributive judgement trumping mercy every time. I go the other way. I also disagree that it is God's retributive judgement that gives people so much trouble. I think, frankly, that it is God's mercy that gives us the most trouble. This is evident by the incredible difficulty I see people having with even addressing it meaningfully and not letting retributive justice override everything else.
It is the problem that Jonah had. God showed mercy, and Jonah was unable to tolerate it. And then God clarifies – if I am concerned even about a little shrub like the one you're sitting under, how much more would I be concerned about human beings?
Retributive justice is incredibly easy to understand. Every preschooler knows how to shout "That's not fair!", or how to hurt someone who has hurt them. What takes a lifetime to understand, in my view, is true mercy, to actually follow Christ in not seeking retribution, in returning evil with good and hatred with love. This is most certainly "justice", but it is not the false "justice" of punishing naughty thoughts with infinite torture.
So I ask you to contemplate the cross of Christ, and compare that to the idea of a God who is primarily punisher and retributor. What I see in the cross is God's radical demonstration that retribution is not God's design – but rather one of our most popular idolatries.
I hear, in your writing, retributive judgement trumping mercy every time.
Not at all; not in the slightest.
I think, frankly, that it is God's mercy that gives us the most trouble.
I agree with that, but I think perhaps not in the way that you meant it; though I could be wrong about that.
What I see in the cross is God's radical demonstration that retribution is not God's design
And what I see in the cross–and what the confessions our common denomination upholds proclaim in the cross–is God's radical demonstration that his love for us is so great that he will take the price of retribution on himself, that he would satisfy in himself the demands of justice so that he might offer us mercy. But mercy comes on his terms, in his way, not ours, and with no diminution of his holiness–or his justice.
I'm no scholar, just a simple mom trying to understand – but I see that retribution isn't God's design – he designed us for fellowship with him – but retribution is necessary, because of our choice to walk away from holiness. And I see the cross as the ultimate completion of this necessary retribution, because of God's great love for us. I wouldn't want a God who wasn't holy enough to demand retribution – nor would I want a God who didn't love me enough to pay the price. In Christ, I have both.
I hope that made a little smidgeon of sense. lol
It makes sense to me, anyway.