The article The Justice and Mercy of God by Kelly expounds on how mercy and justice are the attributes of God. According to Kelly, these attributes presents the eternal being of God. However, he argues that mercy is the main attribute of God (Kelly 206). Based on this claim, one can argue that God’s justice relates to His mercy. That is, His justice is influenced by the mercy He has for the humans. According to Kelly, the justice of God does not present Him as a punishing God, but as a God who restores a good relationship with His people. This argument is also supported by the Bible in Romans 3:23. According to this verse, the understanding of God’s righteousness makes us to “readily admit our failure in reflecting God’s image.” In other words, the comparison of ourselves with God makes us understand why it is important to use Him as the standard of righteousness. Similarly, we learn from this article that God’s justice is aimed at delivering us from evil and oppression (Kelly 203). Therefore, we learn about God’s resistance to sin and injustice by comparing ourselves with Him.
Kelly also expounds on the God’s mercy to human beings. According to him, God holds his justice wrath to give room for conversion. This assertion is also supported by Romans 3:10-18, Psalms 53:1-3, and Luke 18:13 that state that the sinful nature our surrounding make God our only hope. Equally, Romans 2:4 states that “despisest thou the riches of His forgiveness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” Paul argues in this verse that God leads us into repentance because He is merciful. The justice and mercy of God is also elaborated in Psalm 23:3 that states “He leads me in the path of righteousness. From the article and these verses, one can conclude that God’s mercy influences Him not to revenge on our sinful nature. Similarly, one can learn that God’s just is aimed at delivering sinners from evil or oppression.
Work Cited
Kelly, Gerald. The Justice and Mercy of God. The Australasian Catholic Record, 2015.
