15) On God's Love and Justice

Many people outside (and even some inside) the church wonder how God can be both loving and just. Several point out that God punished most sins within the Old Testament with some form of eternal death. Others point out that “God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son...” Either way, very few will talk of a simultaneously loving and just God. However, God's immutability (unchangeingness) is perfect. Some have suggested that He is above justice, and his character is to love. I cannot really disagree with this, but the secular man will argue then the necessity of a hell. The point is a good one, forcing a return to God's sense of justice. Let us change our argument, by making Justice a character trait of God. If justice is a character trait of God, how can he love without violating this sense of justice? The answer is readily found in his son. C.S. Lewis brings up God's love in Mere Christianity as something that results from loving his son. Sacrifice one love for another, so that both may be loved... The how for this process is easily debatable within the church, but for now, an understanding that it does work is all that is necessary.