One of the more confusing aspects of Christianity is the relationship between justice and mercy. Typically, we assume justice is synonymous with consequence, whereas mercy is the suspension of consequence, and, therefore, the suspension of justice. Therefore, as Christians, who are supposed to walk in, and uphold both, are we not inevitably forced into some crazy contradiction?
In order to understand how any two things relate, we must first understand what they actually are. The typical understanding of justice and mercy, in reality, is skewed. Justice, rather than simply being consequence, is actually the correction of a wrong. Mercy, similarly, may actually involve consequence, though the consequence will inevitably be different than is deserved. We may sum it up as justice being the full repayment of a debt, whereas mercy is the unmerited reduction, or even cancellation of debt at the expense of the creditor.
Back in 2014, I myself struggled with this question. While returning home from a photography run, I was attacked by a man who wanted my camera. He did not manage to take, nor even damage the camera, but he did significant damage to me. And of course, even lacking the physical damage, the mere attempt to take my camera without my permission is theft, which is "upgraded" to robbery through the use of violence.
Immediately and without hesitation, I reported the incident to the police the moment my attacker was out of sight. But when I arrived home and met the officer who was dispatched, I wrestled with the question. As a Christian, should I not forgive my attacker? Is it right for me to turn him over to the law? The conclusion I drew at the time was simply that justice and mercy weren't the real questions here. Could he go out and do this again? As he was already a repeat offender, the evidence would suggest he would. Therefore, the only correct thing to do here was to press charges.
Sadly, the British justice system is inept. My attacker was incarcerated, but swiftly released, serving only a small portion of the sentence appropriate for attempted robbery. However, this story does have a happy ending. My attacker found me again, this time walking my dog on the street. But though he approached me, it was not in hostility. He apologised! We shook hands and parted ways. I haven't seen him since, but I would like to think perhaps he has changed. As far as I'm concerned, therefore, both justice (the correction of a wrong) and mercy (kindness to a debtor) had been satisfied.
Since the time of the attack, I have thought in greater depth about this issue. It was never simply an issue of "if they'll hurt someone else, turn them in, but if not, forgive". In fact, I can think of no such principle in Scripture. But I do see other things.
To begin with, I actually see a distinction between believers and unbelievers when it comes to conflict resolution. Church discipline is a thing. The Church has no jurisdiction over unbelievers (1 Corinthians 5:12-13). In the ultimate sense, this job belongs to God, though He uses things like government to do so (Romans 13:1-7).
But what does it look like when the Church judges its internal conflicts? The best passage for this, I believe, is Matthew 18:13-20. Here, we read "“If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he won’t listen, take one or two more with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. If he pays no attention to them, tell the church. But if he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you. I assure you: Whatever you bind on earth is already bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth is already loosed in heaven. Again, I assure you: If two of you on earth agree about any matter that you pray for, it will be done for you by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there among them.”"
The first thing I always note in this passage is "If he listens to you, you have won your brother." Here, we have our goal. It isn't vengeance for sin, it's a restored relationship. And it isn't even one that needs to be known of by others. It's between you, your brother, and God. Thus, here we have the beginning of our answer: However we execute justice or mercy, it should always be with the intention of reconciliation. Of course, this is with the knowledge that sinners do not always respond amicably. Thus, a process is followed, which eventually ends with "...let him be like an unbeliever and a tax collector to you."
So what does this mean? Well, thankfully, we have an example of Paul explicitly putting a man out of the Church for a particularly grievous sin. In 1 Corinthians 5:1-8, we read "It is widely reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and the kind of sexual immorality that is not even tolerated among the Gentiles—a man is living with his father’s wife. And you are inflated with pride, instead of filled with grief so that he who has committed this act might be removed from your congregation. For though I am absent in body but present in spirit, I have already decided about the one who has done this thing as though I were present. When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus with my spirit and with the power of our Lord Jesus, turn that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord. Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast permeates the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch. You are indeed unleavened, for Christ our Passover has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old yeast or with the yeast of malice and evil but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
Here, we see Paul exercising the final step seen in Matthew 18: Two or more were gathered in the name of Christ (1 Corinthians 5:4), and thus this man was judged. Now, note first, the goal is again reconciliation. It is "...so that his spirit may be saved in the Day of the Lord." But the most interesting, and perhaps baffling phrase here is where Paul says that in order to do this, the Corinthians must "turn that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh".
Of course, we must also address the elephant in the room here: Clean out the old yeast. This is a theme throughout Scripture. For example, in Galatians 6:1, we are told "Brothers, if someone is caught in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual should restore such a person with a gentle spirit, watching out for yourselves so you also won’t be tempted." (Emphasis added). And later on in 1 Corinthians 15:33, Paul tells the Corinthians "Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”" Thus, however we approach any situation involving sin, we must always have our shields up. The restoration of a sinner is not as important as ensuring we, ourselves, do not fall into the pit with him. But what do we do when they insist on staying in that pit? It seems that by "deliver them to Satan", Paul is actually saying just leave them in there.
This seems to fit in with what God does in various places throughout Scripture. In Romans 1, for example, we read things like "And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong." (v28). As a result of their immorality, they "...received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error." (v27).
See, sin is its own reward. In the ultimate sense, God punishes impenitent sinners with the second death, but by a simple process of cause and effect, sin brings its own misery. Those who engage in it do not always need to be punished, simply because they punish themselves. This, in theory, causes repentance.
And it's actually the entire reason Christians do not escape the justice of God. See, when we think of God as our Father, we often think in terms of a provider and a protector, but we should also remember, "The one who will not use the rod hates his son, but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently." (Proverbs 13:24). It is no wonder, therefore, that we later read "In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: My son, do not take the Lord’s discipline lightly or faint when you are reproved by Him, for the Lord disciplines the one He loves and punishes every son He receives. Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline—which all receive—then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had natural fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn’t we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time based on what seemed good to them, but He does it for our benefit, so that we can share His holiness. No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore strengthen your tired hands and weakened knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but healed instead." (Hebrews 12:4-13).
In this life, justice almost always has some kind of teaching quality. Even those who suffer the ultimate justice, i.e. death, do so in order to teach others. Peter tells us as much in his explanation of Sodom and Gomorrah: "...He reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to ruin, making them an example to those who were going to be ungodly" (2 Peter 2:6). But for Christians, this discipline thankfully does not end in everlasting doom. Instead, it leads to a correction in behavior, and thus a restored relationship.
This is seen in two prominent examples in the Bible: Zacchaeus, and Paul. Zacchaeus was a tax collector in Scripture. Tax collectors in his day were not nice people, being notorious liars and thieves. We even saw in Matthew 18 that impenitent church members should be seen as unbelievers and tax collectors. That's how notoriously evil they were. And it seems Zacchaeus is no exception, as upon repentance, he says "Look, I’ll give half of my possessions to the poor, Lord! And if I have extorted anything from anyone, I’ll pay back four times as much!" (Luke 19:8).
Zacchaeus actually received no consequences. Instead, Jesus proclaims "Today salvation has come to this house (...) For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:9-10). This reinforces the goal of reconciliation. But note Zacchaeus' attitude. He doesn't receive any consequences, but nevertheless seeks to right his own wrongs. Thus, mercy often leads to self imposed justice.
Think of it this way: If you owe someone a debt of $100, and they cancel it, saying "you no longer owe me anything", that doesn't stop you from trying to pay them back, and may even motivate you to do so. In the same way, Scripture tells us that we are not saved by works, but to works (Ephesians 2:8-10). Thus, mercy guides us to a better way than justice.
Paul needed a little more convincing than Zacchaeus. In his first epistle to Timothy, he tells us his testimony: "I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry— one who was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man. But I received mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord overflowed, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them. But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate His extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:12-17).
This is one of the most fantastic examples of mercy in the entire Bible. Throughout most of human history, the just protocol for murderers has been "Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will be shed by man, for God made man in His image." (Genesis 9:6). Yet, Paul was delivered from this, becoming one of the most notorious Christian missionaries to ever walk the Earth.
What's noteworthy about Paul is that, for obvious reasons, the Church as a whole was initially wary of him. Having persecuted them to their deaths, Paul was public enemy number 1. But hearing that God Himself had converted him, they rejoiced, and accepted him as their brother. He himself would later go on to write "Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect? God is the One who justifies." (Romans 8:33).
Ultimately, God is also the One who condemns. "Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for His wrath. For it is written: Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay, says the Lord." (Romans 9:33 cf. Deuteronomy 32:35).
This brings us to the crux of the issue; Although we are to imitate God, there is only so far we can take that. Of course, for some of us, it is different than for others. A magistrate will have to make different considerations than a pastor, and a pastor will have more to think about than a father. But the heart of the issue is "stay in your lane".
Each of us, therefore, is to act with wisdom. We may identify sin where it appears, protecting ourselves from temptation, and seeking to restore the sinner. Where necessary, if indeed it is within our authority, we may mete out discipline, but always with the motive of love and reconciliation. God, and God alone, may write each of us off, and we must obey Him. Under His command, it is often better to endure a temporary injustice, entrusting ourselves to God, for His glory. As Jesus said, "But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also." (Matthew 5:39). Thus, the appropriate balance of justice and mercy is to simply seek the best for those deserving of justice, knowing that God sought our good when we should have faced His wrath.