The cross: justice or mercy?

[jaydam]

Would you consider the cross to be about justice or mercy?

It seems that justice did not require the cross, but mercy did.

I pose this in response to a couple people I am talking to who say that the cross ensures not one moment of history is unjust. I contend that even without the cross not one moment in history would necessarily be unjust, and the cross does not balance the scales of justice, but introduces the option of mercy.

Additionally, with the cross couldn't we say that then one moment in history is then surely unjust? The moment that God allowed his own son to suffer unjustly for sins he did not commit, so that the requirement of justice could be met for man.

[Paidion]

Jesus died to deliver us from sin—set us free from our self-serving nature. That is a great mercy!

But what do you have in mind concerning "justice"? Do you think of "justice" as "punishment"? Or is "justice" tantamount to "fairness"?

[jaydam]

I guess in the case we are discussing it, justice would be something along the line of "all guilt adequately answered for"

If the scales of justice demand God judges and condemns a man for his sins, then God could just judge and condemn every man, and it seems that the demands of justice would be satisfied. Thus, as I see it, justice does not need the cross, as it could be met apart from the work of the cross. Every man would be judged rightly as a sinner, and justice would be satisfied with a appropriate judgment.

But the cross is a super-judicial act, not brought on by the need to ensure justice. To me this indicates a base morality beyond justice that must be met.

Others say the cross satisfied justice, and while it did, I believe is more likely satisfied mercy or love since justice could have been satisfied regardless.

[Paidion]

Thanks Jay. It seems to me that your thinking is pretty straight on this matter.

I disbelieve that God's system of punishment is penal but rather remedial.

I am not certain that the death of Christ "satisfied" anything. The NT scriptures seem to indicate that its purpose was to appropriate God's grace which enables us to live righteously and to overcome evil.

[morbo3000]

Jay... you are asking questions about the atonement. There are more than one way of looking at that. A lot of people believe that it's not an either/or proposition, but rather a combination. I don't have the knowledge to explain them. Here's wikipedia on it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atonement_in_Christianity