Justice

Position statement: Justice is when the law is satisfied. if you break the law then justice is made complete with the punishment you receive. Mercy and Justice are inseparably connected with each other. Mercy provides a way for the price that justice demands to be satisfied.

“Love and Law,” Ensign, Nov, 2009
“The effect of God’s commandments and laws is not changed to accommodate popular behavior or desires. If anyone thinks that godly or parental love for an individual grants the loved one license to disobey the law, he or she does not understand either love or law.”
-Dallin H. Oaks

"That He May Write upon Our Hearts" August 2009 Ensign

And then, after bearing testimony of the Savior and His Atonement, the father made this plea for a softened heart: “O my son, I desire that ye should deny the justice of God no more. Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point because of your sins, by denying the justice of God; but do you let the justice of God, and his mercy, and his long-suffering have full sway in your heart; and let it bring you down to the dust in humility” (Alma 42:30).
-Henry B. Eyring 

"To Always Remember Him", April 2011 Ensign

"Being “lifted up upon the cross” is, of course, a symbolic way of referring to the Atonement of Jesus Christ by which He satisfied the demands that justice may have upon each of us. In other words, by His suffering and death in Gethsemane and on Golgotha, He paid all that justice could demand of us for our sins. He therefore stands in the place of justice and is the personification of justice. Just as God is love, God is also justice. Our debts and obligations now run to Jesus Christ. He, therefore, has the right to judge us." 
-D. Todd Christofferson 

 "Finding Forgiveness", March 2010 New Era
"Every incorrect choice we make, every sin we commit is a violation of eternal law. That violation brings negative results we generally soon recognize. There are also other consequences of our acts of which we may not be conscious. They are nonetheless real. They can have a tremendous effect on the quality of our life here and most certainly will powerfully affect it hereafter. We can do nothing of ourselves to satisfy the demands of justice for a broken eternal law. Yet, unless the demands of justice are paid, each of us will suffer endless negative consequences."

" The Mediator Jesus Christ", April 2011 Liahona

"“It is justice that demands that you pay the contract or suffer the penalty,” the creditor replied. “That is the law. You have agreed to it, and that is the way it must be. Mercy cannot rob justice.”

There they were: One meting out justice, the other pleading for mercy. Neither could prevail [win] except at the expense of the other.

“If you do not forgive the debt, there will be no mercy,” the debtor pleaded.

“If I do, there will be no justice,” was the reply.

Both laws, it seemed, could not be served. They are two eternal ideals that appear to contradict one another. Is there no way for justice to be fully served and mercy also?

There is a way! The law of justice can be fully satisfied and mercy can be fully extended—but it takes someone else. And so it happened this time."

 -Boyd K. Packer

 "The Atonement and Faith", April 2010 Ensign
"The awful demands of justice upon those who have violated the laws of God—the state of misery and torment described in the scriptures—can be intercepted and swept away by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This relationship between justice on the one hand and mercy and the Atonement on the other is the core idea of the gospel of Jesus Christ."
-Dallin H. Oaks


 "His Grace Is Sufficient", August 2012 New Era
 "Christ asks us to show faith in Him, repent, make and keep covenants, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. By complying, we are not paying the demands of justice—not even the smallest part. Instead, we are showing appreciation for what Jesus Christ did by using it to live a life like His. Justice requires immediate perfection or a punishment when we fall short. Because Jesus took that punishment, He can offer us the chance for ultimate perfection (see Matthew 5:48; 3 Nephi 12:48) and help us reach that goal. He can forgive what justice never could, and He can turn to us now with His own set of requirements"
 -Brad Wilcox

"To Heal the Shattering Consequences of Abuse", April 2008 General Conference
"Rest assured that the Perfect Judge, Jesus the Christ, with a perfect knowledge of the details, will hold all abusers accountable for every unrighteous act. In time He will fully apply the required demands of justice unless there is complete repentance. Your preoccupation with a need for justice only slows your healing and allows the perpetrator to continue his abusive control. Therefore you should leave punishment for the diabolic acts of abuse to civil and Church authorities."
-Richard G. Scott


"The Blessing of Scripture", May 2010 Liahona
"“wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10; see also Helaman 13:38). His commandments are the voice of reality and our protection against self-inflicted pain. The scriptures are the touchstone for measuring correctness and truth, and they are clear that real happiness lies not in denying the justice of God or trying to circumvent the consequences of sin but in repentance and forgiveness through the atoning grace of the Son of God"
-D. Todd Christofferson

"Who Is Jesus Christ?", March 2008 Ensign
"“And now, 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; emphasis added)."
-Boyd K. Packer