Can I Not Trust in God's Mercy?

But is God not also merciful? 

I still might try one more avenue.  

• I might plead clemency.  
• I might try the road "Mercy".  
• Can I not trust in God's mercy to deliver me from my sins and misery?  

Yes, God is merciful!  

• He will deliver me, 
• but not apart from satisfying His justice.  
• These two seem to be opposed to each other.  
• I might suppose that God is either one or the other, but that He cannot be both.  

However the Bible teaches me that God is both just and merciful.  

• His justice and mercy go hand in hand.  
• God's mercy and justice meet in the person of Jesus Christ.

In Christ, the demands of the covenant are met.  

• Christ obeyed the law of God perfectly.  
• He did so on our behalf, 
• and this obedience, this righteousness, is mine if I turn to Christ in faith.  
• By faith I receive these benefits of Christ.  

Furthermore, the wrath of the covenant is satisfied in Christ.  

• Christ bore my punishment and curse.  
• By His stripes I am healed.  

Lord's Day 4: 

God is indeed merciful, but He is also just.

• His justice requires that sin committed against the most high majesty of God
• also be punished with the most severe,
• that is, with everlasting punishment of body and soul.

Be certain of this: 

• there is no mercy apart from justice.  
• If there were, I would have no need of Christ.  
• There is, however, no other road than Jesus Christ.

Adapted Excerpt from Only By True Faith by Van Delden

Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 4