These two statements are not half-truths. It is not like the parable of the blind men describing an elephant.
God is not an equation. God is not 10% just, 10% wrath, 10% judge, 10% love, 10% good, 10% mercy, 10% faithful, 10% all-knowing, 10% all-seeing, 10% all-powerful. Whatever God is--God is absolutely and totally.
Nor can you reckon the equation another way: God is not less just because he is more merciful. God is not less merciful because he is more just.
Nor should you make this mistake: God the Father is JUST, God the Son is MERCIFUL, God the Sprit plays "tag you're it" deciding who gets justice and who gets mercy.
God is just. Let's start there. Justice does not exist outside of God. Justice isn't something God conforms to and obeys. God doesn't just love justice. Through him--by him--all things will be reckoned; justice will be done. There is no injustice in God. No one will receive injustice at God's hand. Though injustice may seem to prevail here on earth, there will come a day when justice will be done once and for all.
The idea of getting what we deserve, only what we deserve, and nothing but what we deserve is a frightening thought. Call it fear of God, if you will. Every thought, every action, every word will be judged by a holy God, a righteous God, a God who hates sin and impurity. Sometimes sin is a matter of what we do; sometimes sin is a matter of what we don't do. How can there be peace between a righteous, holy, good, and faithful God and sinful man?
God owes mercy to no one. I repeat it again. God owes mercy to no one. Not you. Not me. Everyone can expect just treatment by God. No one will ever receive injustice at God's hand. But mercy is not owed. Mercy is not a given. Mercy is not to be taken for granted. Mercy is not the status quo.
Sin keeps us far from a holy God. Sin keeps us in bondage, enslaved. Sin keeps us blind, in darkness. Sin makes us living dead. Though we might change our mind about the seriousness of sin, God doesn't.
Sin HAS to be dealt with, has to be punished, has to be atoned for. God IS just. Someone has to pay the price. Either my sin is reckoned to me, to my account, and I pay for my own sin come judgment day OR my sin is reckoned to Jesus Christ, to his account, and he paid for my sin on the cross.
To be IN Christ, to be in union with Christ, is to be justified. God is then both just and merciful towards me. Justice was accomplished--satisfying God--in a merciful way. That's why imputation is such a beautiful, beautiful word. All my sin credited to his account, all of his righteousness credited to mine. What a Savior! What a Redeemer! Because of Jesus, because of believers' union with Jesus, God treats us mercifully and graciously.
Not because we deserved it. Not because we earned it. Not because we were owed it. Not because God changed his mind. Not because sin isn't that big a deal. Not because God's love outweighs his wrath. Not because times have changed. Because of Christ.
If you receive mercy at God's hand it is because of Jesus Christ. To receive mercy at God's hand--what you need, all you need, is Christ. Christ is the one and only way to receive mercy and not wrath. Christ is the one and only way to make peace with the Father. Christ is the one and only way to be justified--reckoned as righteous--in the eyes of God.
How seriously does God take sin? How seriously does God take justice? All the way to the cross. Grace is not cheap. Someone will pay for your sin--will it be you? or will it be him?
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
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