Grace vs. Justice

It's easy for us to understand the concepts of justice.  Especially in American society, the search for justice in every area of life is paramount.  We want people to get what they deserve, nothing more and nothing less.  Biblically, what we understand as justice doesn't make any sense, at least not with Jesus.

There are different ways we can approach the understanding of the grace and mercy Jesus provides for our lives.  One of those ways can be found in the book of Romans.  We are all familiar with the romans road to salvation.  We are all dirty sinners, not one of us is better than the other person.  It doesn't matter what you've done in your life or what you haven't done.  The fact remains that sin is sin and a sinner is a sinner.  Thank God for His grace and mercy and the beautifully free gift of salvation through Jesus, because now we are saved and made clean and free from our past and our sin.  What's even more important to understand is we are not sinners once we receive Jesus.  Yes, we still sin but we are not associated as sinners any longer, at least not in the The Kingdom.

If God followed our system of justice no one would make it through the pearly gates of heaven.  If God followed our system of justice, we would all be forever tormented with the punishment for our sinful ways because we would have to pay for the sins we'd committed. 

I can understand how a lot of people may believe that God's grace removes us from the power of sin and spending our eternal lives burning in the flames of hell.  That's almost too easy to understand.  Yet, there is a belief that says, "although I may escape the flames of hell, I will be punished with lack, sickness, and regret on earth because of my sins."  It's just another form of justice that we adopt for our lives and the lives of others.  We feel that everyone, including ourselves, deserves punishment for our mistakes and for our sins.  However, God says that through His grace, mercy, and love, when we repent of our sins we are set free from the power of sin in our lives.  God is not a police officer watching to make sure we pay for our mistakes.  I thought the cross made all of this pretty clear.  Because of Jesus, through repentance we are set free from the power of sin in our lives.

I went through something in my life, 6 or 7 years ago, which taught me a great lesson on God's grace and mercy and His justice.  World justice said to pursue the case and make sure the person paid for what they'd done.  Grace and Mercy said to let it go and trust God that His word was relevant and true for my life.  

This is not relegated to "non-believer's".  Even Christians seek vengeance and justice when we are wronged.  We want the other person to pay for the mistakes they've made.  That's just simply not God.  God is love and forgiveness and because we are commissioned with being Jesus to the people around us, that means we are to love and forgive in ALL situations and circumstances.  There is literally NOTHING someone could do in our lives that would justify not loving and not forgiving them.  However, this doesn't compute with our feelings or our intellect.  We read that sentence and immediately go to the negative or worst case scenario's.  Friend, let me tell you that God's grace and mercy triumph all!  

Let me challenge you with beginning to live your life the way Jesus lived His.  Offer abundant grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness to EVERYONE in your life, past, present, and future.  Do not seek justice or vengeance, instead seek love redemption.

Cheers,

~ Anthony