Real Hope: Paradoxes of GodSample

Judgment And Forgiveness

We live in an increasingly either-or world. A world that says you can either be happy or sad, a leader or a follower, good or bad. This ‘either-or’ fallacy is a way of constructing an argument to reduce the number of options to two and then assume that these two options are mutually exclusive. It can be quite easy to fall into the trap of creating an either-or scenario in our minds because that’s what we’re so used to seeing in so many areas of our world. However, if we replace each one of those examples above with the word ‘and’ we begin to change the way we perceive things. You can be happy and sad, you can lead and follow, things can be good and bad.

The same is true when exploring God’s judgment and forgiveness. God is both a God of judgment and a God of forgiveness. They are not, as some argue, mutually exclusive. In fact, they are so inextricably linked that you cannot have one without the other.

God’s judgment upheld against the standard of His law, a standard no one could meet, highlighted the need for a Saviour. Without it, there would be no framework for the beautiful, redemptive, and restorative story of the Gospel to be told. If there was no judgment, there would be no need for forgiveness. If no need for forgiveness, then Christ need not have died. Without judgment that paved the way for forgiveness, we could never understand just how far we’ve wandered and the lengths Christ took to bring us back home into the loving arms of our Father. I will forever be grateful for both.

Written by LUCY WEIL