Mercy, Mercy Me

Q: Does the Bible give guidelines as to when we as Christians should show mercy and when justice must be served?

A: Ultimately, I believe this is an individual choice as to when a Christian should show mercy or allow justice to be served. For example, if one of the neighborhood kids throws a rock through your dining room window, that may be a time to show mercy. However, if you are a juror in a murder trial, it may be a time for justice to be served. Mercy means to show compassion for an offender. In terms of our faith, mercy can describe exactly what the Christian experience is all about. I once heard it stated that "the wages of sin is death and we don't have a life worth giving." What this means is that all mankind is born into this world in sin and separated from God. Sins need forgiveness and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. However, God required a perfect, sinless sacrifice in order to forgive men of their sins. That is why God became a man, in the Person of Jesus Christ, who lived a sinless life and then died on the cross for our sins. We deserved God's wrath, but in His love for us He gave us mercy, in Jesus Christ.

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:4-5)." We show mercy to others as a direct result of understanding the mercy God has shown towards us. Because we come into this world dead in sin we are destined for an eternity separated from God in Hell. It is this knowledge that makes us so thankful for what God has done for us in Christ. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are made alive to God and have forgiveness of sins. Therefore, we in turn share the mercy God has shown to us with those we encounter on a daily basis. This doesn't mean that we make every effort in order that others avoid the consequences of their sins against us. But rather, we are able to use the prism of God's love towards us to filter these decisions through. Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7)." This is not a command to go out and find opportunities in which to be merciful towards others. Otherwise, we would have to develop those guidelines you are asking about in order to make sure we find those opportunities. That is just creating laws to put ourselves under. We want to avoid that. Jesus is saying that the only ones who are merciful are those who have received the mercy of God; Christians.

If you must have a guideline in which to be merciful all you have to do is look at your own life. Think of every sin you have ever committed no matter how large or small. It could be worrying, a lustful thought, something you stole, a lie you told, a person you hurt and so on. If you are anything like me you won't have to think too long before you have more than enough material in which to ponder. Then understand that for each one of those sins you deserved to die. That is where the quote I mentioned earlier comes in. You deserve to die for all your sins yet you don't have a life that would satisfy God for your sins. That is humbling. Or at least it should be. Not even our deaths are good enough to pay for our sins. But there is good news. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23)." Jesus is God's gift to mankind. God's mercy is that He has given us an opportunity to have redemption, forgiveness and eternal life if we accept Jesus Christ and all that He has done for us. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ which saves us is not something we can earn or keep by what we do. It can only be accepted by faith as we live a life of thankfulness sharing that merciful gift with the rest of the world.

In 2 Corinthians 1, God is described as the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort "who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (2 Corinthians 1:4)." Every sin that we have ever committed, ever will commit, or that has been committed against us, is a constant reminder of God's mercy. The truth of what God has done for us serves as a comfort to us each time sin effects our lives. That is what we use to determine when it is time to be merciful and when it is time to be just in our decisions. The death of Jesus Christ was both merciful and just. Just in that it showed how serious God takes sin because Jesus had to die. While at the same time we see His mercy towards mankind by sparing us from the penalty we deserved for our sins. So, if you want to know when to show mercy and when to serve justice ask God to remind you of those instances in your life that are applicable to circumstances requiring you to be merciful or just. Remember, "We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19)." Every decision we make is a direct reflection of what God has done for us and consistent with His character.