The Idea of an Essay, Volume 4

Analysis & Response 105 our sins according to the scriptures” (King James Version). This is the paramount example of justice and mercy coinciding. When man first sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, we were immediately doomed to an eternity in hell. God had warned us that sin would bring both physical and spiritual death. But just like the starving man in Afghanistan, mankind chose to ignore the warnings and commit the sin. The fact that sin must be paid for is undeniable and unescapable, because God cannot break his promise of punishing wrong doings.Thankfully, the Lord provided an option for everyone, and that was his son, Jesus. He died on the cross to take away all people’s sin, even though he had never done any wrong. In this way, justice was fulfilled by punishment of sin, and mercy was given in the form of a second chance and a second choice. Just like Adam and Eve had a choice of whether or not to follow God, the entire world now has the choice to accept and embrace Jesus or reject his gift of salvation. It should be evident by now that justice is not and never will be the same as fairness. Justice is putting a poor family in jail for not paying their taxes, hanging a soldier for falling asleep at his post, and exporting illegal aliens even when they have no life in their home country. It is giving the gold mettle to the competitor no one likes, and spanking a child for lying. Justice is sending me to hell for stealing a peanut. But thank the Lord that justice and mercy can be used together, or we could all be going to hell with no one to blame but ourselves and a piece of fruit. Works Cited Kean, Sam. The Disappearing Spoon . New York: Little, Brown, and company, 2011. Print. Mandery, Evan. A Wild Justice: The Death and Resurrection of Capital Punishment in America. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2013. Print. Sedgwick, Catharine. A New-England Tale . Ed. Susan Harris. New York: Penguin Books, 2003. Print Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Justice: Right and Wrong . Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University press, 2008. Print. The KJV Study Bible . Uhrichsville: Barbour Publishing, 2011. Print.