Justice Is Superior To Mercy

The Bible speaks of both justice and mercy, yet it is rare to find a Christian who grasps both concepts in a consistent way.  To deny the importance of either in Biblical soteriology is erroneous.  That both are instrumental in the process of salvation does not mean that the two possess equal independent value, however.  From a conceptual standpoint alone, one can discover that justice is superior to mercy by its very nature.

Justice is giving people what they deserve, and, as such, is at the core of all of morality.  Without justice, there are no human rights, no obligations to treat anyone in a certain way, and no deserved penalties for any type of activity.  It is a requirement for any moral system that some people must deserve to be treated in a certain way, whether in the sense of being respected for an inherent worth or of being punished for violating an obligation.

In contrast, mercy is not giving people what they deserve.  Even people who acknowledge this definition can still misunderstand the concept: for example, someone might think that a person who kills another human--under the influence of a hypothetical mind control--and is not executed as Biblical law prescribes is shown mercy.  There is no mercy involved in this scenario, however.  It would be an injustice to punish someone for an action he or she has no control over, since moral responsibility is inherently tied to individual autonomy and volition.  Likewise, there is no mercy involved in a situation where a person is spared from a degrading, inhumane legal punishment, since the law is not just to begin with.

With the definitions of justice and mercy established, it becomes apparent why justice is the superior thing.  Mercy only has significance because justice has significance.  In other words, mercy's value is purely contingent on the existence and value of justice, but the inverse is not true.  Justice would have inherent value even if mercy did not exist.  Justice is an intrinsic part of any set of existing moral obligations, but mercy is not.  This is the simple truth of the matter.  Many act as if mercy is a universal moral obligation for humans, but the very concept of mercy is only possible if mercy is not obligatory.

One can see from reading the Bible that God's mercy can only exist in light of his justice, yet these attributes of God are often distorted, as if people receiving what they deserve from God is secondary to acts of mercy!  It is the other way around.  Mercy, by nature of what it is, is inevitably secondary to justice.  God must be just; he does not have to be merciful.  If he had never decided to provide a way for any humans to be saved, there would be nothing immoral or inconsistent about his choice.

All divine and human mercy is strictly supererogatory.  In other words, mercy is good, but not necessary.  No one has a moral duty to be merciful to others.  Since one can only show mercy when there is an opportunity to enforce actual justice, not the arbitrary misconceptions of justice scattered about human cultures, one will practically never have a chance to show legitimate mercy.  Instead of fretting about coming across as merciful, Christians need to first and foremost practice justice.  Justice is superior to mercy, for the latter cannot even exist without the former.