June 24, 2024 Daily Dose of Discernment

In his forbearance, He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished. (Romans 3:25)

Divine justice should not be anthropomorphized. That is, it is wrong to attribute human traits to God when trying to understand how His justice works. Saint Paul continues his statement above and explains that God forgives so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness. He puts it another way in another epistle, saying that He does not count men's sins against them. Saint John expresses the same by saying that God is faithful and just in fogiving our sins. That mercy is not opposed to justice; it is justice.

If we genuinely understand and experience this, we will not abuse it. Instead we will respond in a voluntary, not obligatory, way and finally learn to live as partakers of God's divine nature.