Apr 26 2010
Should God be impeached?
If a judge in your county let guilty criminals off the hook because he wanted to be a nice guy, he would be kicked off the bench.
So then, how can God be both fair and forgive sinners? We are all sinners and yet those who trust Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord are forgiven of their sins. How can the Judge declare guilty people innocent? Should God be impeached?
The answer to this question is at the heart of the message of Christianity. It is summed up most clearly in Romans 3:25-26:
“ [The Father presented the Son as a propitiation] to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished–he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”
God had previously left the sins of his people unpunished. He had forgiven people like King David when he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband Uriah. This raises a question about His justice. How can God be a just God if He lets murderers and adulterers like David off the hook? Should God be impeached?
The answer is that God sent His Son to be a propitiation. That’s a big word, but it’s not hard to understand. God’s wrath burns against sin. He is holy and just. Something or someone had to appease that wrath. Something or someone had to avert that wrath. If it weren’t for Jesus Christ on the cross, we would all bear the full force of the fury of the wrath of God against our sin when we are judged by Him. But instead, He spent His wrath on His Son so that those who trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation will be forgiven and reconciled to God. Rather than being an enemy of God, God calls those people His friends. He adopts those who trust in Jesus Christ into His family and they become His sons and daughters.
So the love of God satisfied the justice of God. He loved the world enough to send His Son to take the place of punishment for those who would trust in Him. He upheld His justice in that He punished sin. But He Himself was also the justifier of those who have faith in Jesus because His Son bore His wrath rather than them.