Day 4: Justice & Forgiveness

My good friend visited me recently and confessed that the reality of hell was something she thought about often. She could not get over this concept of the Christian faith. Sometimes when thinking about such a complex topic, we need to remember what a world void of punishment would look like: all the evil in this world would go unpunished and the murderer would stand un-convicted for their wrong-doing. It’s in God's love that he is a God of justice.

In Exodus 34:6–7, we see the emphasis on forgiveness—he is a forgiving God. We should rejoice in that. But he also is a just God and does not clear the guilty. We should rejoice in that as well; it gives us hope in this world full of evil.

Yet this verse in Exodus emphasizes God’s justice and kindness to forgive no matter what we have done, as long as we respond to the forgiveness granted to us with a repentant heart. I always think of the thief on the cross who mocked Jesus unto death and only changed his mind at the last second, where he then confessed his sins and accepted the gift of salvation before his own death! (Luke 5:31–32). This shows that you could be the worst of sinners and the Lord, in his gracious mercy, will pardon you.

What makes this forgiveness and justice simultaneously possible is Jesus’ death on the cross. Though we deserved to die for our sins, Jesus died in our place. Because of that, we receive forgiveness for our sins. As Paul wrote to the Romans:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Rom. 5:6–11)

How do we respond? We seek to stay current with our own repentance and truly rejoice in his forgiveness! We take comfort in his justice when we see the evil in the world. Do we understand the seriousness of our sin in this way?