Grace and Justice

This week, I have talked about grace quite a bit.  We've looked at specific grace and general grace.  I have just a couple of random thoughts to close out the week.

Grace is giving someone something that they have not earned or deserved.  Sometimes this means providing something for them that they need, and at other times it involves our attitude toward them.  For example, we may give a meaningful, valuable gift to someone, knowing it's something they really way (first part of the previous sentence), or we give someone care, concern, or even love and compassion, even if their actions and words indicate that they should receive something else (our attitude).

And yet, as we read through the Bible, we also encounter a God who is a just God.  There are consequences to our actions, words, and choices in life, and not all of those consequences are ones filled with His grace.  For some, there was indeed a due price that came upon them.  This really is something we shouldn't be surprised at.  God is a God of justice.

So we find a tension in our faith, and in the practice of our faith.  When do we respond with grace, and when do we respond with justice?  Is it possible to respond with both at the same time?  How do we know which one is appropriate for a given situation?  Which one will bring about the desired end which God has in mind, of restoring that person to Himself?

Disconnected from the full knowledge of God's will here in the world, we will mess this up.  We will be gracious when justice was called for, and vice versa.  We will find ourselves gravitating toward one end of the spectrum more frequently than the other.  Since we are not Jesus or God, we simply cannot know perfectly what is the appropriate thing to do in every situation.

I'm planning to look more at some of these tensions in matters of our faith next week.  I hope you'll stick around and follow them, and chime in with any thoughts you may have along the way.