Grace, Mercy, and Justice

-
Introduction

            There is a common objection that I hear about God and it is how can God’s justice and grace be unified since these two things together seem to cause a contradiction. The essential position that I want to defend here is that God’s justice and his grace are two aspects that are perfectly unified in the cross of Christ. Also, tossed into the mix here is God’s mercy and how this relates to justice and grace. Dr. Frank Turek has said that justice is getting what we deserve, mercy is not getting what we deserve, and grace is getting what we do not deserve.[1] This statement speak volumes to the truth that is in God. Realistically, this is going to be a summation from the beginning (creation/ fall), leading all the way to the redeeming work of Christ at the cross. It is only at the cross of Christ that we can as a fallen people receive that grace.

Grace, Mercy, and Justice

            Going against the arranged title of this article I am going to start with justice. Why are we deserving of God’s justice? Generally speaking, it would be good to look back over history. The starting point where sin came into the world is said to have happened at the fall of man. This is simply where Adam and Eve gave into the persuasion of Satan and disobeyed God (Gen 3:1-13). So, essentially our first parents were disobedient to God and thus brought sin into the perfect creation. God is a perfectly holy being and sin is something that is contrary to his essential nature. Thus, sin must be dealt with.

The problem that modern man has with this perception of sin being punished is that many have redefined what sin is. Some have even said the God of the Old Testament (OT) is far different than the God of the New Testament (NT). This is a misconception and God is the same today as he was back then, he does not change, in the sense of his essential character (Mal 3:6). However, modern man does not want to accept this kind of God, the God who takes sin by the horns and give it what it deserves. “Man tries to remake God to conform to his own wishful thinking so that he can make himself comfortable in his sins.”[2] This comment by Billy Graham truly captures the main problem in man. We do not want God to give us what we rightfully deserve.

In response to this, I have heard it said that “I did not eat the apple” or “I would have not sinned in that position.” The truth of the matter is that any one of us placed in that situation would have done the same thing and it can be plainly seen in how we live our lives now. All of us live in sin even if we try to avoid sin, we still succumb to it at some point. Therefore, even though we did not directly partake in the consummation of the sin event that has to lead us to our current state we still have that original sin imparted in us via the transmission of sin from our parents, which they got from their parents, all the way back to our first parents.

Since the fall introduced sin into the perfectly created world we are all born with this natural inclination towards sin and wrongdoing. This is completely and utterly based on the free will of man to decide what to do for him/herself. What this leads to is this nature within us that is contrary to what can ultimately be in the presence of God. God being a holy and just God must deal with this wrongdoing that is being committed against him and his creation. Thus, justice is getting what we deserve. Ultimately, we all “deserve” to be punished for the things we have done. A minor caveat here if I may, I have heard some people say that all sin is the same and I tend to disagree with this statement. Though sin does cause a stain on us and any stain in the sight of God is against his perfect nature this does not mean that we all will suffer the same exact punishment for our wrongdoing.[3] Now, this is not something to be celebrated by any means because even with this being the case once we are in the moment of receiving our punishment we would still be separated from God which is not our ultimate purpose (rather to be with God is).

What about mercy? God has shown mercy all throughout the Bible but how does that relate to us now? Well, in 2 Samuel 24:14 David suggests to Gad that they should fall on the mercy of God. But why? Well, God is found to give out a great deal of mercy in the OT especially when he waits roughly 400 years to impart his divine judgment on the Canaanites. At first glance, it may seem like Christ is offering mercy since by accepting his sacrifice and saving grace we avoid being punished by God (well partially because there will be tears at the judgment seat, Rev 7:17; 21:4). But I think the manner in which God shows modern man mercy can be seen in the simple fact that God has changed his method of operation. By this I mean, that we no longer perceive people being wiped out for a great deal of sin and wrongness that is intrinsic to their culture. Some may argue with this point and suggest that natural disasters and wars are God’s method of judging those nations or people and that may be partially true, but I think we are left to our own devices. The main reason this is suggested is that the sin of America as a whole is on the rise rapidly and it is not slowing down, and this can generally be seen in relatively prosperous nations. Admittedly, this is somewhat conjectured on my part but by observing how far down the drain the United States has gone with the advent of new abortion laws and those sorts of things, the fact that we are still moving along and doing pretty well shows God is exceptionally merciful.

Now, I can turn my attention to grace, which is the joyous part of the story. What we find in Jesus Christ is like nothing before seen within the realm of religious teaching. Jesus came to save the world (Jn 3:16) by his sacrifice. Jesus claimed to be God and I believe that this claim is found to be true when one sees that he was bodily resurrected from the dead and raised to glory. When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior something really amazing happens, our position of general dissonance towards God is shifted to one of resonance. Sin has essentially stolen us from our creator by endowing us with this ever-present desire to fight against him. But with the work of Christ we find that he has bought us back, he paid the highest price by giving up his life (as the God-man) and paying the debt that we could not afford. Jesus Christ took victory over sin which has given mankind the option to be set free and set apart so that we may live with God and Christ forever once we part this world.[4] So, grace is that aspect of Christianity that makes it very unique in the world of religion. All other religions proclaim that one must do some sort of work or internal navigation to change the trajectory of one's ultimate destiny. But in Christ, his life, death, and resurrection are the means by which our trajectory has changed and there was nothing done on our part to have furthered this cause or to have made it better.

Conclusion

Generally, I tend to write things that are more philosophical in nature or technical in a sense, but I wanted to give something that was a little more pastoral. God’s justice is not something that we want because no one wants to get what they deserve, and they will always fight to prove the point that any punishment would far exceed the crime. But the beauty is that in Christ Jesus we find that there is no need to fear punishment because it has already been satisfied in him and he was glad to take the victory over sin that we so desperately needed. The moral of the story is that there can only be one worldview that is true and as of right now there are only a few plausible conclusions for how everything in the universe has come about: naturalism (everything is by chance and nothing exists outside of nature), monotheism (there is one creator God who fashioned everything, with Christianity being the best case there because of the resurrection of Christ), polytheism (multiple Gods have taken part in the creation and sustainment of the universe), or pantheism (everything is part of God and God is part of everything, the law of karma and reincarnation). These are the basic options of how to explain what is. There is a cumulative case that can be presented in favor of the Christian faith but what has been set up in this particular discourse is the fact that Christianity is utterly unique in that mankind has to “do” nothing but rather accept and follow Christ. Everything else depends on the action of the individual. Christ has given us grace so as to avoid what we deserve by accepting something we do not.


[1] Frank Turek, “How Old is the Universe and Other Big Questions,” Podcast, crossexamined.org.
[2] Billy Graham, “The Justice of God,” billygraham.org.
[3] Here is a list of references that suggests different levels of sin: Jn 19:11; Luke 7:41-43; Luke 10:11-13; Luke 12:47-48. But ultimately all sin separated us from God which is the main takeaway here Rom 6:23.
[4] Bible Verses about Redemption: Eph 1:7; Gal 1:4; 2:20; 3:13; Heb 9:15; Acts 3:19; Rom 5:10. This is not a comprehensive list.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Apathy Hinders Inquiry: An Argument Against Apathy and Strong Agnosticism

-
Introduction             It has been some time since my last article with a moderate amount of depth. Here, I intend on presenting an argument against apathy and strong agnosticism. The idea for this is that it seems to be a cultural mantra that we cannot “know” anything, especially if it concerns something outside of the physical world. However, with an apathetic or strongly agnostic attitude, this can hinder one’s ability at inquiry . When I say inquiry, I mean the general disposition at investigating or attempting to gain knowledge. Understanding the Meaning             Though apathy and agnosticism are not traditionally merged, I do believe they are connected. First, let us look at the definitions of both and move forward from there. Apathy is “a lack of interest or concern.” [1] Strong agnosticism can be defined as “the view that any ultimate reality (such as a deity) is unknown and unknowable.” [2] With the definition of strong agnosticism, I did remove a single w
Read more

Tertullian: A Theological Analysis

-
  Introduction               Tertullian is a fascinating character of history. The writings he has left have been impactful and theologically relevant throughout time. The goal is to understand him as a theologian and to ascertain if his love of Montanism spurred theological changes and what that meant for his “orthodoxy.” [1] Obviously, orthodoxy was something that had yet to be nailed down precisely at this point in the Church’s development. However, this did not stop the early Church Fathers from arguing against and declaring some teachings as heretical. It is against this backdrop where this study finds itself. At bottom, the essential conclusion is to find if Tertullian’s “ecstatic” shift affected his fundamental beliefs to the point where he would be deemed a heretic.             Montanism is what drew Tertullian. The reasons for this are speculated constantly in the literature. With that said, how did the teachings of “The New Prophecy” change or manipulate the strong and
Read more

Open Theism and Evangelicalism

-
Abstract             When thinking about the knowledge of God or his power, humanity has struggled to find sufficient answers to how God has these attributes. The goal in this discourse is to see if a more modern option is evangelical or not. Open Theism has many proponents and has received significant backlash from its more conservative counterparts. Does Open Theism diminish the knowledge and/ or power of God? To what extent does this occur? The primary focus is to find if one can hold to an open view of God yet remain evangelical and to know if it is a viable option for Christians.   Outline Introduction Understanding Omniscience Defining Omniscience Views of Omniscience Understanding the Openness of God What does Clark Pinnock Believe Critiques Is Pinnock's View Evangelical Conclusion         Introduction             Discussing how God must or must not be is a complex topic to navigate due to the level of emotions attached to the idea of God.
Read more