“I’D RATHER HAVE GRACE”
With all the recent events and protests, the cry for justice has been loud and clear. Our Pledge of Allegiance states, “With liberty and Justice for all.” I guess the real question is, what is justice? Many people follow the “eye for an eye” philosophy. That means let the punishment fit the crime. That is justice. Jesus teaches mercy, turn the other cheek. It is often difficult for a wronged party to do that. We may hear people say, “I don’t get mad, I get even.” That is a false statement. Nobody wants to get even; they want to get ahead! Generally speaking, if you hurt me, I want you to hurt worse.
Justice is getting what one deserves. People often want justice for others but not for themselves. People want the other person to get what he deserves, however, they never look in the mirror and ask for justice. They would rather have mercy. Defense lawyers fight for mercy for their clients. They try to get a “not guilty” verdict and if they don’t get that, they try to get the lightest sentence possible. They want mercy from the court. Mercy is a good thing, however, there often is still a bit of justice involved. Look at it like this, the prison sentence may be escaped but there still could be other major consequences such as hefty fines.
God is a just God. That is not say He dishes out justice, that is to say He does exactly as He says He will. There is no doubt that God is full of love, mercy, justice and grace. God desires that all men be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. (I Timothy 2:4. II Peter 3:9) Through God’s grace we have the opportunity to be saved. Grace is unmerited favor. God did not grant salvation based on anyone begging for mercy. No, God decided to offer salvation before the foundation of the world and chose Jesus as our Savior (Ephesians 1:4, I Peter 1:20).
God’s justice is revealed in the fact that He has given us the path to salvation. There are two roads to follow in life, the road to eternal life and the road to eternal condemnation. God has given us directions to lead us to eternal life and told us we could just follow the crowd to eternal destruction. He does not force anyone to be obedient to Him. God merely gives us the choice. He will be just in the fact He will do what He says. Jesus put it plainly in Mark 16:16-16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Friends, when we stand before God in judgment, not one of us wants to stand on our own accord because we all fall short of God’s glory. The only chance we have is being saved by the grace of God through the blood of Jesus. We washed in the blood when we are baptized into Christ for remission of sins. From there, we are assured by Paul in Romans 8:1-1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Justice is good, mercy is welcomed, however, give me grace. That is what I need most!
Read Ephesians 2:1-10