God’s Righteous Verses God’s Love

Sin is a reality we all must face. Despite our best efforts, we all make mistakes and fall short of the glory of God. Thankfully, God is a just and righteous God and a loving and merciful God. He has provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. In His justice, God requires payment for sin. But instead of demanding payment from us, He provided it Himself through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. In His love, God sent Jesus, who was fully God and fully man, to make the ultimate payment for our sins. Through Jesus, we can be forgiven and receive eternal life.

for we all have sinned and are in need of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23

God’s Righteousness Requires Payment for Sin

Sin is rebellion against God. It is a choice to disobey God and His commands. God is holy, meaning He is completely and perfectly righteous, without any flaw or imperfection. So sin is an affront to His holiness and an insult against His goodness. This is because His standards are perfect, and we fall far short of His standard in our sins. As a just God, God must punish our sins, or His justice will be compromised. Sin is also a real break in the relationship between God and us. It is a fundamental mistrust of God. Since we distrust His love and care, we choose to disobey Him. We act as if we don’t trust Him or believe He has our best interest in mind. This is a serious matter because God is our Creator and Sustainer. He is the one who gives us life, and He is the one who can take it away. He is the Giver of every good gift, and He is the one who provides for our every need. God is the one who guides us and gives us direction in life, protects us from harm and danger, and gives us abundant and overflowing life in Christ. Sin prevents us from enjoying all of the benefits of this relationship with God. It leaves us feeling lonely, afraid, and empty.

For sin’s meager wages is death, but God’s lavish gift is life eternal, found in your union with our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One.
Romans 6:23

How God Provided the Payment for Sin

God paid our sins through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. God requires payment for sin in His justice, but instead of demanding payment from us, He provided it Himself. As a result, the person who committed no sin, Jesus, paid the debt for the sins of all humanity. In His love, God sent Jesus, who was fully God and fully man, to make the ultimate payment for our sins. Though He was sinless, Jesus took the punishment for our sins. He was falsely accused, wrongly convicted, and cruelly executed. He bore the penalty for our sins and died on the cross, taking the punishment we deserve. This payment is called redemption because God redeemed us from the punishment of sin by paying the price for our sin Himself. By dying on the cross, Jesus received the punishment we deserve, dying in our place. This payment is also called atonement, which means to make things right again between God and us.

For in the Son, all our sins are canceled, and we have the release of redemption through his very blood.
Colossians 1:14

The Person of Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ is the only person who has ever lived a completely sinless life. He lived as a human being, but He also existed as God in human flesh. This means that Jesus is literally God in human form. He is fully God and fully man, and He never sinned. But Jesus willingly set aside His divine powers and privileges, taking on the identity and nature of a human being. He lived a perfect, sinless life, and He never failed to obey God. Jesus was the promised Son of God, promised to Adam and Eve, Abraham, and Moses long before He was born as a human being. He was their promised Messiah or Savior, who would come one day to redeem God’s people from their sins. This was a promise God made long before the people of Israel existed as a nation.

He never sinned, and he never spoke deceitfully.
1 Peter 2:22

The Work of Jesus Christ

Jesus came to Earth, living as a perfect human being. He served others, showing them God’s love in tangible ways. Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, and raised the dead. He taught with authority and wisdom, and He showed His love for God and His willingness to obey God in everything He did. Later, Jesus was betrayed, falsely accused, and wrongfully convicted by a corrupt and unjust system. He was cruelly executed through a shameful and painful death. He was beaten and brutally scourged, forced to drag a heavy wooden cross through the streets. He was nailed to the cross, enduring the painful process of having His hands and feet pierced as He hung between two criminals. He suffered and died, taking the punishment we deserve. He died a gruesome and painful death, shedding His blood as a sacrifice to God, who poured out His wrath against sin upon His Son.

It’s true that there are some who preach Christ out of competition and controversy, for they are jealous of the way God has used me. Many others have purer motives—they preach with grace and love filling their hearts because they know I’ve been destined to defend God’s revelation.
Philippians 1:15–16

The Result of Jesus’ Work

Through Jesus’ work, we can be forgiven and receive eternal life. First, we must be willing to accept this forgiveness. We must be willing to acknowledge that we are sinners who have offended God and deserve His wrath. We must recognize that we cannot save ourselves and need God’s help. We must be willing to repent of our sins and turn away from them, and we must be willing to trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior. When we turn away from sin and trust in Jesus, God forgives us. He wipes away our sins and sets us on eternal life. Eternal life is the promise that God gives us a new life and identity. It is a life without sin, a life where we are freed from the guilt of sin and can enjoy God’s presence and fellowship with Him. It is a life where we receive God’s abundant and overflowing grace and love, a love that never fails and never ends.

But if we freely admit our sins when his light uncovers them, he will be faithful to forgive us every time. God is just to forgive us our sins because of Christ, and he will continue to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9.

The Need for Repentance and Faith

We must be willing to repent, which means to turn away from our sins. We must be ready to say, “God, I’m sorry for my sin. I have turned away from it and will not return to it.” We must be willing to trust in Jesus as our Savior. We must trust in Jesus Christ alone as our only hope of salvation. We must put our faith in Jesus and His work alone as the payment for our sins. We must trust Him alone, believing He can save us from our sins and receive us into His kingdom. We must receive Jesus Christ and the forgiveness He offers us as our Savior and Lord.

God designed us to feel remorse over sin in order to produce repentance that leads to victory. This leaves us with no regrets. But the sorrow of the world works death.
2 Corinthians 7:10

The Promise of Eternal Life

When we put our faith in Jesus and receive His forgiveness, He promises us eternal life. Eternal life is the promise that we will be raised from the dead when we die. We will be given new, incorruptible bodies that will never decay or die. They will live eternally, never growing old or sick, never dying again. Eternal life promises we will be welcomed into God’s kingdom. We will live with God in a perfect and sinless world where there will be no more pain or suffering. There will be no more death or disease, decay or corruption. God promises that one day He will make all things new. He will restore the entire creation and make it new and perfect, making it a paradise where we can live with Him in joy and peace.

 And he himself has promised us the never-ending life of the ages to come!
1 John 2:25.

Conclusion: The Relevance of Jesus’ Work Today

Through Jesus, we can be forgiven and receive eternal life. We must be willing to accept this forgiveness, though. We must put our faith in Jesus and His work alone as the payment for our sins. We must be willing to repent of our sins and turn away from them. Sin is a reality we all must face. It is an absolute affront to God’s justice and a real break in the relationship between God and us. But God has provided a way for us to be reconciled to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. In His justice, God requires payment for sin. But instead of demanding payment from us, He provided it Himself through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. In His love, God sent Jesus, who was fully God and fully man, to make the ultimate payment for our sins.

For this is how much God loved the world—he gave his one and only, unique Son as a gift. So now everyone who believes in him will never perish but experience everlasting life.
“God did not send his Son into the world to judge and condemn the world, but to be its Savior and rescue it! So now there is no longer any condemnation for those who believe in him, but the unbeliever already lives under condemnation because they do not believe in the name of God’s beloved Son.
John 3:16–18

Bruce Mitchell is a speaker, writer, and Bible teacher who loves to share God’s Word in everyday life. He has studied at Biola University and Dallas Theological Seminary. His blog (Allelon.us) is all about the principles of Agapao Allelon (Loving One Another) and God’s Mercy, Grace, Love, and Forgiveness and how it applies to our daily lives as Christ-Followers. (1 Peter 4:8)