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Alma 42:25 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.

I am uncertain if I understand this. It seems to be contradicting the New Testament (new covenant - God's eternal mercy, turning the other cheek, etc...) message of Jesus regarding forgiveness and returning instead to Old Testament (eye for an eye) values.

What gives?

Why would God cease to be God?

I have always had a problem with this as well, Mok. It seems to go against all of the other teachings regarding Christ's coming marking the ushering in of a higher law.

Glad I'm not the only one who is confused about this.

Hello Liz and Moksha,

Here are the two Proceeding Verses, From Alma Chapter 42:

Alma 42:23-24:

[23] But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence, to be judged according to their works, according to the law and justice.

[24] For behold, justice exerciseth all his demands, and also mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the truly penitent are saved.

I am not sure if that helps the context that much better.

However, I do really like the Passage, From Second Nephi Chapter 10, Verse 24.
Here is the Scriptural Passage, Second Nephi Chapter 10, Verse 24:

2 Nephi 10:24:

[24] Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved.

LDS doctrine on this subject is that Jesus suffered, infinitely, in the Garden of Gethsemane for our sins and on our behalf so that we wouldn't have to.

Ergo, since someone paid the price, God can extend mercy without justice being robbed.

Dr. Shades wrote:LDS doctrine on this subject is that Jesus suffered, infinitely, in the Garden of Gethsemane for our sins and on our behalf so that we wouldn't have to.

Ergo, since someone paid the price, God can extend mercy without justice being robbed.

On what is God's extension of mercy predicated in LDS doctrine?

Dr. Shades wrote:LDS doctrine on this subject is that Jesus suffered, infinitely, in the Garden of Gethsemane for our sins and on our behalf so that we wouldn't have to.

Ergo, since someone paid the price, God can extend mercy without justice being robbed.

Thanks, For the clarification, Dr. Shades!

On what is God's extension of mercy predicated in LDS doctrine?

It has taken me a long time to figure out that this is a personal question between each person and Jesus Christ. It would have been a lot easier had someone told me, but since they didn't or couldn't, this was one I had to struggle with wandering in strange paths for many years to come to grips with. In my view there simply can't be an all encompassing LDS doctrine for the details of this question. And I'm ok with that because I really don't need one, nor did I ever. When I have the spirit with me, what more do I really need? Well, I guess I needed an answer to the question you posed above. And yeah, a lot of time was wasted with me trying to get this answer, but now I have it. But everyone has to find that for themselves. It's one of those things that doesn't seem to be given like so much of the knowledge I've used in this life.

Perhaps this is one of those "we see through a glass darkly" moments. Prophets have been known to have them, throughout the ages, and it's danged irritating when someone actually writes those moments into the canon. It's one of the reasons we should never forget that prophts are men, and are therefore fallible.

msnobody wrote:On what is God's extension of mercy predicated in LDS doctrine?

It's predicated on how well or faithfully one obeys the commandments.

Dr. Shades wrote:

msnobody wrote:On what is God's extension of mercy predicated in LDS doctrine?

It's predicated on how well or faithfully one obeys the commandments.

Thanks for that clarification. Just making sure you weren't going mish on me, Shades. Speaking of which, the mishionaires came today and I missed them.

Note: I was going to correct the spelling of missionaries above, but I kind of like the new spelling. It's an inadvertant typo combo of mishies and missionaries.