Third in a 3-part series on God’s holiness, justice, and love. About a 6-minute read.
((In that this is posted for an international audience, rather than provide specific examples limited to only a few contexts, cultures, or countries, it will focus on biblical truth and principles that are applicable to all contexts.)
If ever society has needed justice and mercy, and grace and love, it is now. Everyday, everywhere, it seems things are falling apart. Corruption, duplicity, and divisiveness not only saturates government and business, they are also found among those who purport to be God’s people. On the streets of our cities, shootings and killings are outpacing the COVID crisis. The fruit of brokenness and sin destroy family security and stability, spawning ongoing social dysfunction that perpetuates even more violence and pain.
Justice for a Jesus-follower is best understood as what is needed because God is holy and we are not. God is merciful when he doesn’t give us what we deserve. And what do we deserve because we are not holy, that is, sinful and separated from God? We deserve death, eternal separation from God. We desperately need God’s mercy.
On the other hand, grace is being given what we don’t deserve. It is a gift freely given . . . lavishly given. Grace is experienced as unconditional, no-strings-attached love. We desperately need God’s grace.
According to Ephesians 2:8-9, as Jesus-followers, you and I have been saved from sinful unholiness by God’s grace. There’s nothing we can do to earn grace. It is by definition a gift from God. It is not given because of anything we can do to be worthy of it. If we did it would be compensation, goods received for service. It would be something we could boast about. “Look what I’ve done to get on God’s good side!” Rather than boast, by faith we humbly receive the love and forgiveness given to us by God.
Does this all sound too familiar? Don’t stop reading! Don’t jump ahead! Let’s think it through again, even if it’s “old” stuff. It’s all foundational to living out God’s holiness, justice and mercy, grace and love.
The grace-gift of God is tied to Jesus and the Father’s love in John 3:16. Transliterating, God loved (your name, anyone’s name) so much that he gifted his one and only son so that when (your name) believes and trusts him as Savior and Lord, (your name) will not experience the judgement of eternal death and separation from God. Rather, (your name) will be graced with eternal life, a life that doesn’t begin in the future but begins now, a life characterized by the same grace and love freely and lavishly given to (your name) by God.
Ultimately, the solution for our current quagmire of corruption, duplicity, and divisiveness can only be resolved through the justice, mercy, grace, and love of God. Why? We are in this mess because God is holy and we are not. Not that God is a mess. We are. Bluntly, in language we don’t use often now-a-days, we are sinners and God is not. We sin; we can’t help it. God doesn’t sin; he can’t help it.
We sin; we can’t help it.
God doesn’t sin; he can’t help it.
So what it comes down to is truth, worldview, who God is, our messed up sinful human nature, the source of evil and suffering, and how it all can get fixed.
This can be experienced personally in the present tense. It will one day be experienced societally (systemically) through God’s redemptive work in and for his creation.
Present tense, on a personal level, as Jesus-followers we receive God’s grace and love through acknowledgement of our sinfulness, and that Jesus took the capital punishment judgment for our sin on himself. In place of the old sinful, brokenness of ourselves, he graces us, gifts us, with new life, new character, new motivation, new resources to take what we have been lavishly given to pour into others’ lives.
Future tense, societally and systemically speaking, our innate propensity to personal and social sinful selfishness, our corrupted understanding of the nature of God and the nature of humanity, and our divisive and destructive ways will be completely resolved only when God ultimately redeems creation. He will provide a new heaven and a new earth fully aligned with who he is and what his purpose of his uncorrupted nature was originally intended to be (Revelation 19-22).
As Jesus-followers, how then shall we live? What shall we be like? What shall we do about this mess?
God’s presence and impact everywhere. Infectious.
A spiritual pandemic.
We shall be God-lovers with everything we’ve got. We shall be people-lovers as a result of the transformation God is bringing into our lives. And if in our lives, then in the lives of others in our lives. Salt and light. God’s presence and impact everywhere. Infectious. A spiritual pandemic.
Yes, there are big differences between people everywhere. In every culture and country. But God’s people everywhere in every culture must be marked by unbridled love for God and embracing love for people. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35).
It doesn’t get any clearer than that.
Let’s move our perspective beyond the dissonance of collapsing current events. God is not surprised by the news. Or by prideful hearts. Or by segmented societies. Or by international conflict and intrigue.
Let’s move our perspective to God’s eternal purposes and life-principles. He has given us a mission to complete. His end-game is a gathering of people from every tongue, tribe, and nation gloriously and fervently worshipping at his throne (Matthew 24:14, 28:18-20, Revelation 5:6-14, 7:9-17).
It’s time to pull together, not split apart.
It’s not about us. It is about pursuing God’s heart.
Holy God has lavishly given us grace and love to freely share grace and love.
Community Conversation
Your neighbor has a starkly different political perspective than you. It seems to you as if his or her opinions and perspectives are “of the devil” because they are directly contrary to the Bible. You both feel very strongly about your political views. Describe how you will provide grace and love to your neighbor while maintaining your own resolute convictions.