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We often emphasize either God’s love or His justice, focusing on one at the expense of the other. Yet Scripture presents God not as loving or just, but as fully both. His love and grace are not in conflict with His wrath and justice—they work together. And in Jesus, they come together perfectly.

A Sacrificial Death

God is just, and justice requires that sin be punished. Throughout the Old Testament, this is pictured in the sacrificial system, where the death of a spotless animal symbolized the payment required for sin. In our sinful and rebellious state, we cannot stand before a holy God without a perfect sacrifice; otherwise, we would be destroyed.

The New Testament reveals that Jesus is the true and final Lamb of God. His sinless life and sacrificial death fully satisfy God’s justice. God knew we would rebel against Him, yet He created us anyway—and before we were born, the three Persons of the Trinity prepared a plan of redemption. To meet the righteous requirement that sin be punished, God the Father sent His Son to live a perfect life. On the cross, God poured out His wrath for all of humanity’s sin on Jesus, and in exchange, placed Christ’s righteousness on all who put their faith in Him.

God’s Wrath

D.A. Carson, in Love in Hard Places, notes that in the minds of the Old Testament prophets and writers, God’s forgiveness was not taken for granted. It was an astonishing, almost unbelievable gift. The people of Israel understood that their sin placed them directly in the path of God’s righteous anger.

Carson writes, “In the Old Testament God’s forgiveness is not something that should be taken for granted. When forgiveness is granted, it is a mark of God’s mercy—and very commonly it is explicitly or implicitly connected with sacrifices, sacrifices that God himself has prescribed and promised to accept… Never is God’s forgiveness something to be presumed upon: ‘If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared.’ (Ps. 130:3–4)”

God’s Love

Timothy Keller observes in Prayer that many people today do not grasp the seriousness of sin, and therefore see divine forgiveness as ordinary rather than extraordinary. This stems from viewing God only as loving, without acknowledging His holiness and justice.

But Scripture holds these attributes together. In Exodus 34:6–7, God reveals Himself as the One who “maintains love to thousands, and forgives wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished.” God does not simply overlook sin. Because He is perfect, sin must be removed if we are to have a relationship with Him.

So why does God show us love and grace at all? John 3:16 gives the answer: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection are the perfect fulfillment of both God’s justice and God’s love. Only through Jesus can both be fully satisfied—and He accomplished this once and for all on the cross.

The Wonder of God’s Justice and Love

We must never take lightly the incredible union of God’s justice and love. God knew that we would rebel against Him, yet He made us anyway. Before time began, He planned that Jesus would come as a human, live a sinless life, and willingly go to the cross on our behalf. There He would endure God’s wrath and give us His righteousness in return.

God’s love and grace inseparably belong with His wrath and justice. And in Jesus, both are fulfilled completely.

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
    to my cry for mercy.

If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
    Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
   so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
   and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
   more than watchmen wait for the morning,
   more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
   for with the Lord is unfailing love
   and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
   from all their sins.         

                                                        Psalm 130