The phrase "demand of the law" is a metaphor. The law cannot literally demand anything. It has no brain or will.



Justice, as used in Scripture, has to do with restoration, not retribution. It is fulfilled by acts of mercy and compassion, as I showed. Your response here is not addressing the point made. You have no quotes from Scripture.

Once again, law and justice cannot literally condemn or pardon. They have no brain nor will. These are metaphors. God condemns, and God pardons.

The cleansing blood of Jesus makes pardon possible because of what it does for us. We are the ones that need to change.



I started a post on this subject a couple of years ago. The short answer is that the judgment reveals the truth, and the truth, both for and regarding those who have rejected God has not been revealed.



Read Faith and Works, the first essay. They are alive because of God's grace.



This is another FOTAP question. The best way of addressing your question that I can think of is to cite EGW's statement from GC, first chapter:

A thought comes to mind, MM. You claim that God, like man, is bound by His law. You also believe that God kills. But if God is bound by His law, then He can't kill. The law won't allow Him to. It would demand that justice be served against God.

The commandment means - Do not murder.

Is it possible for God to murder? Or would any killing of God automatically be reclassified as something else? If that's the case, what good is it to say that God is bound by the law, since any killing of God's would not be a violation of the law "Thou shalt not kill."

It is clear to me that God cannot sin. God is love, and love fulfills the law. If we think God has sinned because He kills people - we are wrong.

Titus
1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

Romans
3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

How does this reply answer my question?

It is incorrect to assume God is violent because He kills sinners. There is nothing "violent" about it. The law confirms it. Killing sinners, when God commands or permits it, is in harmony with the law. Indeed, law and justice demand it. The law, unlike God, cannot pardon sinners. In this way the law is not a transcript of God's character.

This doesn't answer my question either. Here's my question:



If any killing that God would do is OK, then there's no point in saying that God abides by the law "Thou shalt not kill" as it has no impact on Him. If the law has some impact on Him, there needs to be some case where God is prohibited from doing something, so I'm asking for an example of that.

The reason I'm raising this point for discussion is that you brought out that God is bound by His law, and for that reason cannot pardon someone by Himself without death occurring because of His being bound by the law. But in the case of killing, it does not appear that you believe that God is bound by the law. At least I'm not seeing how. That's what I'm trying to get at.

The following insights confirm the truth about Jesus being our substitute and paying our sin debt of death. Law and justice demand death for sin. This debt must be paid. The only way God can justify pardoning penitent sinners, therefore, is due to the fact Jesus paid our sin debt of death. Jesus was treated like a sinner. This glorious truth is a wonderful problem. It is deeper than we can fathom.

MB 116
Glorious truth!--just to His own law, and yet the Justifier of all that believe in Jesus. {MB 116.1}

TMK 35
This wonderful problem--how God could be just and yet the justifier of sinners--is beyond human ken. As we attempt to fathom it, it broadens and deepens beyond our comprehension. {TMK 35.3}

AG 66
He is ready to pardon their sins if they will surrender and be loyal to Him. In order to be just, and yet the justifier of the sinner, He laid the punishment of sin upon His only begotten Son. {AG 66.3}

AG 138
The atonement that has been made for us by Christ is wholly and abundantly satisfactory to the Father. God can be just, and yet the justifier of those who believe. {AG 138.5}

MYP 69
God gave His only-begotten Son to save man. This He did that He might be just, and yet the justifier of all who accept Christ. Man sold himself to Satan, but Jesus bought back the race. {MYP 69.4}

9T
Christ bore our sins in His own body on the cross, that God might be just and yet the justifier of those who believe in Him. There is life, eternal life, for all who will surrender to Christ. {9T 193.2}

AG 139
Justice demands that sin be not merely pardoned, but the death penalty must be executed. God, in the gift of His only-begotten Son, met both these requirements. By dying in man's stead, Christ exhausted the penalty and provided a pardon. {AG 139.2}

SD 239
The justice, truth, and holiness of Christ, which are approved by the law of God, form a channel through which mercy may be communicated to the repenting, believing sinner. {SD 239.2}

SC 14
In becoming your Substitute and Surety, by surrendering My life, by taking your liabilities, your transgressions, I am endeared to My Father; for by My sacrifice, God can be just, and yet the Justifier of him who believeth in Jesus." {SC 14.1}

LHU
While the law of God is maintained, and its justice vindicated, the sinner can be pardoned. The dearest gift that heaven itself had to bestow has been poured out that God "might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus." {LHU 227.2}

5BC 1150
God bowed His head satisfied. Now His justice and mercy could blend. He could be just, and yet the justifier of all who should believe on Christ. He looked upon the victim expiring on the cross, and said, "It is finished. The human race shall have another trial." The redemption price was paid, and Satan fell like lightning from heaven (MS 111, 1897). {5BC 1150.1}

HP 15
Was the penalty remitted because He was the Son of God? Were the vials of wrath withheld from Him who was made sin for us? Without abatement the penalty fell upon our divine-human Substitute. Hear His cry, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34). He was treated as a sinner, that we might be treated as righteous, that God might be just, and yet the justifier of the sinner. {HP 15.6}

AG 161
It could be successful only by . . . Christ becoming man, and suffering the wrath which sin has made because of the transgression of God's law. Through this plan the great, the dreadful God can be just, and yet be the justifier of all who believe in Jesus, and who receive Him as their personal Saviour. {AG 161.4}

FLB 101
Hating sin with a perfect hatred, He yet gathered to His soul the sins of the whole world. Guiltless, He bore the punishment of the guilty. Innocent, yet offering Himself as a substitute for the transgressor. The guilt of every sin pressed its weight upon the divine soul of the world's Redeemer. The evil thoughts, the evil words, the evil deeds of every son and daughter of Adam, called for retribution upon Himself; for He had become man's substitute. {FLB 101.3}

AG 172
What a price has been paid for us! Behold the cross, and the Victim uplifted upon it. Look at those hands, pierced with the cruel nails. Look at His feet, fastened with spikes to the tree. Christ bore our sins in His own body. That suffering, that agony, is the price of your redemption. {AG 172.4}

MM, this doesn't address my question either. Here's my question:



What you just posted has nothing to do with what I'm asking.