Divine Love and Divine Law: A Framework for Justice and Mercy

"What, do ye suppose that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would cease to be God." 

Alma 42:25

"And again, verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same." 

Doctrine and Covenants 88:34

"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." 

1 John 4:8

It seems a bold claim that Alma makes to his son Corianton in the above mentioned verse from the Book of Mormon-- a casual reading would suggest that Alma asserts that Deity might somehow lose His Divine Authority if He strays one inch from the exacting, inert, and un-embodied law of Justice. I do not think this is Alma's assertion; rather, the Book of Mormon prophet uses this strong language to underscore the degree to which justice-- the adherence to and impartial application of Divinely appointed law--is an inherent element of the God's nature. Both ancient and modern prophets have made it clear that God has instituted laws to govern how His universe will operate; through the Prophet Joseph Smith the Lord declared that "all kingdoms have a law given; and there are many kingdoms; for there is no space in the which there is no kingdom; and there is no kingdom in which there is no space," (Doctrine and Covenants 88:36-37); the Psalmist wrote that "the Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul...the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart." Clearly, God intends His creations to operate within a system of laws--a divinely appointed order through which each creature may "fill the measure of its creation" (D&C 88:25).

We also read, as in the First Epistle of John, chapter 4 verse 8, that God is a being of love; "shewing mercy," as the Book of Deuteronomy declares, "unto thousands that love [Him]" (Deuteronomy 5:10). The Apostle Paul testified that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God." (Romans 8:38-39) This Divine love for is most surely demonstrated  in the gift of His Only Begotten Son, the Savior Jesus Christ (see John 3:16). Indeed, both the New Testament and the Book of Mormon seem to reveal a God of Love, Mercy, and Compassion. 

Some perceive a seemingly insurmountable contradiction between these two elements of the Divine Nature--Divine Justice, or impartial adherence to Law, and Perfect, Compassionate, Divine Love. One argument suggests that while "Divine Law" ruled in Old Testament times, with the coming of Christ and the fulfillment of the Mosaic Law, "Divine Love" took over--Christ satisfied the demands of justice, and so with a slight twisting of Paul's words, the Law was dead. What follows from this, either implicitly or explicitly, is that a truly loving God would neither allow pain nor prohibit that which we perceive in the moment as happiness. It is far to easy to see how such a train of though may culminate in hedonism or an abandonment of faith--or both. However, such a conflict between God's love and His law is a false dichotomy; Christ made it abundantly clear in His Sermon on the Mount that He did not come "to destroy the law, or the prophets: [He was] not come to destroy, but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17). Indeed, Jesus Christ did fulfill the Law of Moses, but He replaced it with a Higher Law, articulated in that same Mountaintop Sermon--prohibitions against adultery and murder, for example, superseded by prohibitions against lust and anger. Again, He underscored the importance of obedience to Divine Law with His declaration that "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven." (Matthew 7:21). Thus, as Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles states, "if a person understands the teachings of Jesus, he or she cannot reasonably conclude that our loving Heavenly Father or His Divine Son believes that Their love supersedes Their commandments." (Dallin H. Oaks, "Love and Law," Ensign November, 2009). 

How, then, do these two principles co-exist in the Great Plan of Happiness, and in God's dealings with His children? To answer, we must understand the nature of God's Love, and the purpose of His laws--two elements of the Divine Nature that are, in fact, inseparably connected. In a discourse give in Nauvoo in the spring of 1844, Joseph Smith taught that in the earliest of all primordial Beginnings, "God himself, finding He was in the midst of spirits and glory, because He was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like Himself." (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith, ed., Covenant Communications, Inc.,  p.367). Thus, Divine law is in fact a manifestation of Divine Love--God Loved us in our most primitive, fundamental, and pre-mortal state, and so He instituted a system of laws that would allow us to become partakers of His Divine Nature, thereby gaining the capacity for Eternal Joy. As Elder Oaks stated, "God's love is so perfect that He lovingly requires us to obey His commandments because He knows that only through obedience to His laws can we become perfect, as He is. For this reason, God's anger and His wrath are not contradictions of His love but an evidence of his love." (Elder Oaks, "Love and Law," Ensign, November 2009). The Apostle Paul develops this theme further in his Epistle to the Hebrews, teaching that "whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth," to the end that "we might be partakers of his holiness." (Hebrews 12:6,10) 

Such an argument, of course, requires the acceptance of certain paradigmatic assumptions. First, we must accept that God does in fact have a plan for us, and that the plan is in fact feasible--in other words, we must accept the notion of a Supreme Being who knows what He is doing. From this assumption, it follows that He would be capable of instituting just such laws as would be necessary to bring about our Eternal happiness, and no others. The second assumption relates to the idea that the aforementioned happiness is, in fact, eternal and not temporal; we must accept that the things that seem to bring us pleasure in the moment are not always the same things that will bring us true joy in eternity. Really, this is simply another iteration of the first assumption--we must be willing to trust that God knows what He is doing, and that an Eternal Being has a better concept than we do of what brings Eternal happiness. Finally, we must accept the idea that we are in fact moral agents, capable of choosing between good and evil, but also that we exist as agents, independent of our actions. In other words, my choices need not necessarily define me, at least not in totality. To be sure, a pattern of choices repeated over a lifetime will slowly shape a character, but we must accept the possibility that no matter how entrenched we are in any habit, lifestyle, or character trait, we still have possibilities--we can still make choices. If this is true, then it is possible to conceive of a God who loves me unconditionally, but still cannot and will not look upon my sins and misdeeds "with the least degree of allowance" (Alma 45:16). Indeed, He cannot allow my sin for the very fact that He does love me unconditionally, and He does not want me to take any course of action that might preclude me from any opportunity for future happiness. 

There is, of course, one key Piece missing from this puzzle. To find it, we return to where we began--the forty-second chapter of Alma, as the prophet teaches his once-wayward son of Mercy and Justice. These two eternal principles, Divine Love and Divine Law, can only be completely reconciled through the Great Reconciliation--the Infinite Atonement of Jesus Christ. As Alma taught, "the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also," (Alma 42:15) but, as Alma later clarifies, "mercy claimeth the penitent," (ibid, v.23). Thus, though we all fall short of perfection each day of our lives, we may be reconciled to Divine Law through the operation of Divine Love, as we exercise faith in Jesus Christ, allow that faith to work in us to the point of repentance for our offenses against Divine Law, covenant through baptism to do all we can to follow Jesus Christ, and receive the companionship of the Holy Ghost to both sanctify us, and empower us to continue upward on our path towards the Eternal Happiness God intends for us.