I've been gathering thoughts from a few friends around the topic of justice. Below is a paragraph from a friend who brings up the relationship of grace and justice. I love this thought. God didn't act justly toward me; he acted in grace to bring me to a place of justice and righteousness. Shouldn't this be what moves us then? The gratitude we have to God for not getting what we deserve, for receiving what we don't deserve? Truly, it's because of my deep brokenness and sin, and God's amazing grace poured over me, that I can even reach out to others with the love and compassion and grace that God has shown me.
What's interesting to me about Ephesians is that Paul makes it pretty clear that God acted anything but justly toward us, at least in terms of the way I typically think of justice. God blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing: he made us holy and blameless in his sight, he adopted us as sons and daughters, he redeems us, forgives us, and makes known to us his will - to bring everything under Christ. And God did all this while we were sinners. We were dead and He gave us new life. We were disobedient, selfish, sin-craving objects of wrath and now we live in peace with God. We were excluded from the family, far from God, foreigners and aliens and now we are members of God's household. Is this justice? If so, there's something incredibly unjust about justice. I think Paul calls it grace. What is the role of grace in justice?
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