God’s LOVE and HATE in one incredible act

 God’s LOVE and HATE in one incredible act

Rom 3:26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be JUST, and the JUSTIFIER of him which believeth in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.

The bolded statement of Paul above, found in his letter to the Romans, is a paradox. It reveals that God is absolutely just. God is the personification of righteousness and rightness. However, in the same statement Paul tells us that God justifies persons who believe in Jesus. Now, just that you are fully clear on this paradox, look what Paul tells us in Romans 4:5,

Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. 

Do you see the paradox? How can God, who is just, and does what is right, justify the ungodly? Surely this would contravene God’s justness? Well, the key to unravelling this paradox is to understand that this applies to, “him which believeth in Jesus”.

When you believe in Jesus, specifically the gospel of the cross of Christ, salvation happens. In that moment your unrighteousness and ungodliness are nailed to the cross, and Christ’s righteousness is imputed to you. You are transferred from Adam’s administration of condemnation and death, into the administration of Christ under justification and life.

With this understanding, the paradox is resolved. God is just, and His justification applies to those who accept His free gift of grace, the righteousness of Christ by means of the cross.

In closing this post, let me draw attention to another paradox, the cross itself. Believers look fondly on the symbol of the cross since it represents the grace of God for their salvation. However, have you considered the cross from the view of Christ? Where we see the cross as God’s undiluted grace, Christ saw it as God’s undiluted wrath. Christ bore the full brunt of God’s wrath as He took upon Himself the sins of the world. For us, the cross shows the pure love of God, but Christ saw the cross as the unconditional hatred and disdain of God for sin. The cross represents God’s forgiveness to us, but Christ received God’s righteous punishment.

Can you see the paradox? The cross is a powerful symbol of both the righteousness of God, requiring the sentence of death for sin, but also the grace of God to give life to those who trust in Christ. The cross is our salvation, but it required a sacrifice of the highest degree as payment.

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!