Forgiveness is often thought to be a direct insult to justice because we think that forgiveness is forgetting the mistakes of others for no reason. But our faith declares that we can forgive for the very reason that justice has already been served by our God when Jesus took to Himself the sins of all mankind that we may be free from all error and offense.
I once wondered why Jesus had to die for my sins. If God is all powerful and if He has complete authority, why can't He just declare us all free of our sins? If He's a loving God, why did He have to sacrifice Jesus—His only Son who was God Himself—for us? Have you ever wondered the same thing?
We can think of God the same way that we think about gravity. When an airplane flies, it doesn't defy gravity (as so many people popularly declare), but actually honours the law of gravity. What many don't know is that the law of aerodynamics cannot work without gravity.
The same holds true for God. God is loving, yes, but His love and grace would not be love and grace without justice. Would you say that a judge would show love if He allowed a criminal to go free? Maybe towards the criminal, yes, but how about the victim? Would he still have love for the victim?
God is extremely just and holy. Psalm 33:4-5 declares, "For the Word of the Lord is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord."
And it is because and not despite of that justice that God can express His love. If God was just loving and not just, He wouldn't really be powerful. He'd just be flimsy and corrupt. But God is not flimsy. He is the author of all might and glory and His name is above all names.
God is loving because He is just, and by His justice and wisdom, He made a way for us to be set free from the wages and consequence of sin, through the suffering of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 53:5 tells us, "But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed."
It is by Jesus Christ that we are healed and justified, not some flimsy decision to wake up one day and start erasing debts. God is extremely just that He cannot allow sin to go unpunished because He is God. But God is also extremely loving that He gave up His own Son's righteousness for our unrighteousness because He is God.
