It is a very common question; If God is loving and merciful, why can’t God just forgive us? It is very true that God is loving and merciful in all that he has created. The Bible says that he so loved the world that he sent His ONLY begotten Son to die on the cross. It was because of His love for us, he sent His Son. He is merciful. God rejoices in showing mercy. Then why can’t he then just forgive us? Why should he send sinners to hell to be burned there?

And also, why God had to send His Son to come down here, to suffer and die on the cross when He could just forgive? Well, these are some of the many questions asked by so many people today about God. There are some things we need to get straight about the nature of God.

Romans 3:10-12 KJV

as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; There is none that doeth good, no, not one.

The state of mankind after the fall is that we are totally opposed to God, we love evil and hate what is good. We are naturally selfish, full of ourselves, and made idols either physically or in our own minds. We have broken the Holy law of God. We have not kept any single of it all.

What should God do with those who break His Holy Law? What should the judge at the court of law deal with the guilty breaker of the laws of the land? What should that judge do, if he is just, to that robber, rapist, thief, or corrupt officer? We all agree that the offender should pay duly for his actions and should serve the penalty for his actions as stipulated in the constitution. God also, because He is Holy and Just, has vowed that the wicked shall not go unpunished and He will punish every sin.

But you may tell me, “wait a minute, God is loving and merciful.” Yes, that is true. God is merciful and loving, but He is also just and Holy. He must love what is good and hate what is evil. And because we have broken the commandment of God, we deserve death. The penalty for sin is death. That is the wages we all deserve for our sins against Holy God. Therefore if God doesn’t give us these wages, this makes him unjust, unholy, and a liar.

But how will Holy God be reconciled to with evil man? How will he be just and justified of the ungodly? It is through Christ Jesus, the mystery of godliness is. Through Christ, we are justified — declared righteous by God before God based on what Christ has done on the cross. What has Christ done on the cross? It is dying on our behalf, taking upon himself the wrath of God upon himself on our behalf. He paid the debt of sin which we could never pay. Those who believe in Him shall not perish in eternal hell (serving just recompense for their sins) but will have eternal life through Christ Jesus.

Romans 3:24-26

²⁴ Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

²⁵ Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

²⁶ To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

King James Version