Grace and justice are two things that really don't seem like they go together. After all, if justice is served, consequences are administered. But grace, at least the modern day thinking on grace, seems to be the opposite. Grace is letting the person off with no consequences. So it may seem that grace and justice simply cannot coexist.
However, this has to be false. After all, God is a God of both justice and grace. In fact, both justice and grace find their perfect being in God. The problem for us is that we cannot seem to ever get the right "mix". We've all pushed for justice and consequences when grace was really what was needed, and vice versa.
It seems that part of this reason is because we're talking about two things that have different sources of their being. Justice tends to be a more "real", or perhaps, physical, thing. We see consequences. We see when someone is punished for their wrong. In other words, justice seems to have to do with life in this world.
Grace, on the other hand, seems to be a more spiritual thing. Grace can be shown even while justice is administered. A person can love the person, completely forgive them, and yet, see through to justice and consequences. And perhaps that is the key for us as we think about these two and see how they can coexist together.
What do you think? Are grace and justice compatible or not? Why?
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