Justice or Love

Even before I understood the gospel, I had an interest in the Bible. It was a curiosity; something I didn't know much about, but to which I was drawn. In fact, it was while reading the Apostle John's gospel account, that I first understood the need to be "born again". After making the decision to accept what I'd read in the bible to be true, my interest in learning more of it increased.

Eventually, I found myself listening to bible teachings about every day. The teachings were on reel-to-reel tapes produced by a church in Dallas, Texas. They were recordings of the pastor who taught 6 times per week. He was an ex-Army colonel with a very strong background in the languages of the bible. He was dogmatic, forceful and tough on anyone who didn't agree with him that bible doctrine was the most important thing in life.

He taught systematically, having graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary. He taught there were ten attributes of God including justice, love, righteousness, veracity, immutability, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, eternal life and sovereignty. What was interesting was that he said that the Justice of God was the gatekeeper of all the other attributes. The important implication of this was that Justice had to be satisfied first. Love could not flow unless justice was satisfied.

This teaching and the thinking that followed, has taken its toll on my spiritual walk. When you believe love takes a backseat to justice, a certain amount of implacability and coldness develops. You tell yourself, God loves you because you are justified by the blood of Christ not that he loved you for you.

Yet, this is contrary to scripture. The bible teaches us that God loved us and sent his son to die for us even though we were sinful and separated from him. He did this because he loved us not because we were justified. Getting this, makes all the difference in how I relate to God and others.

This is not a system that really works all the time in our world and it is why we have trouble believing. People don't drive safely because they know the highway patrolman cares for them and wants the very best for them. They drive safely because if the patrolman stops them, he will give them a ticket. Even a child who knows his parents love him, will do wrong things hoping not to get "caught".

When we relate to God in this way, hoping not to get caught or hoping that we've done enough good (bible reading, praying, church going, ministry, etc.) to appease him, we miss the great joy of his love. Relating to God's love, we want to do what is right but we don't cower when we fail, waiting for the hammer to fall. It also gives us more grace for others when they don't live up to our expectations of them.

The journey has been long and hard at times. God has graciously walked along side of me even when I was being an ass. As I look back, I would have to say that the times I was getting the most recognition from fellow believers were the times when my walk was weakest. Its like men or women who work all the time because that is where they find fulfillment and meaning, Christians feel they have to constantly be "doing" in order to "be". Doing for God in order to be loved by him. The Christian community feeds this very thing when it is ministry based while condemning it in every other context.