“Thus Mercy Can Satisfy the Demands of Justice”

There are two aspects of justice:

1. Obedience to law results in blessings that bring joy (see D&C 130:20–21).
2. Disobedience to law results in punishments that bring sorrow (see Alma 42:22).

There are two ways to satisfy justice:

1. Never violate the law.
2. If you do violate the law, pay the penalty.

Problem: No flesh is justified by the law (see 2 Nephi 2:5); everyone has sinned (see Romans 3:23). Thus, a penalty must be paid.

There are two effects of sin:

1. By temporal law we are cut off—justice is violated (see Alma 42:14).
2. By spiritual law we perish—“there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God” (1 Nephi 15:34).

Jesus “offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law” (2 Nephi 2:7).

Christ initiated the law of mercy, but how?

1. He kept the law perfectly and was without sin. He was justified by the law.
2. In the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross, He suffered and paid the price for the penalty as though He was guilty of every sin ever committed.
3. He is our Advocate with the Father (see Alma 33:11; D&C 45:3–5).