The purpose of this lesson: to deepen awareness that the only means we have for receiving mercy's forgiveness rather than accountability's justice is Jesus. God's accomplishments in Jesus' death are essential for us to receive forgiveness.
We Americans are quite familiar with the "responsibility" concept in the sense of "someone has to pay!" In America, most people are profoundly impressed with the concept of responsibility as applied to the concept of others should be held accountable for their mistakes. The illustrations are numerous. If divorce occurs, a specific person should be found guilty of causing that marriage to fail and pay! Someone is at fault! If child neglect or abuse occurs, a specific person should be found guilty of that neglect or abuse! The guilty person is at fault! If any crime occurs, a specific person should be found guilty of causing the crime! The guilty person who is at fault should pay!
Let the students illustrate the common American commitment to the demands of justice: "the guilty must pay for their mistakes!"
We sue. We try. We place in prison. We form registers for offenders. We change laws. We form local watch groups and organizations devoted to reporting the guilty. We form national watch groups and organizations devoted to creating awareness of guilt. We have lobbyists who plead with law makers to champion causes. While perspectives on moral situations are varied [and often contradictory], the cry from each group is the same, "Justice! Make those we declare to be guilty pay!"
Perhaps the teacher might note that typically we want justice for those who made mistakes unless we personally or someone we love made a punishable mistake. We typically want justice for the stranger and mercy for someone we love.
A part of God's nature is justice. God must be true to His nature just as we must be true to ours. Just as human nature often places us in conflict, God's divine nature often places Him in conflict. For example, love for our children often conflicts with our sense of justice when our children violate laws or moral standards. The same is true for God. Love [part of the divine nature] conflicted with justice [part of the divine nature] regarding human rebellion. The loving part of God's nature said, "Yield to mercy; forgive them." The just part of God's nature said, "Yield to accountability; eternally punish them." The problem confronting God confronts every parent. The problem: how do you be true to your nature in your actions? God could not cease to be "Who He is." At issue: how could divine justice be satisfied in a manner that freed divine love to function through divine mercy?
The rightful concerns of love and of justice create a major conflict in both our human nature and God's divine nature. The struggle is created by the dilemma of how to be just and to be loving in the same situation/circumstance. The objectives of accountability and mercy are in opposition to each other.
The issue was not, "can divine justice be satisfied?" If each person is held accountable for his or her own failures, if in true accountability each person is eternally punished for his or her failures, justice is met. The issue was [and is] this: "how can divine justice be satisfied in a manner that frees divine love to express itself in mercy?" Forgiveness is an expression of mercy, not justice. Forgiveness is releasing the forgiven from accountability for his or her failures.
Make certain the students understand what the problem/crisis (1) is and (2) is not. The problem is not that people cannot satisfy divine justice. Eternal condemnation allows a person to be responsibly accountable for his or her human failures [guilt]. Each of us has the ability to satisfy justice by enduring the eternal consequences of our failures. The problem is this: how can God forgive a person for his or her mistakes and still be just? How can God mercifully forgive a mistake and continue to be a just God? The means that God used to be forgiving [mercifully loving] and just [requiring payment for guilt] was justification through God's offering of Jesus.
For us, God's resolution of this conflict within His divine nature was enormous! How could divine grace within divine mercy show divine love through divine forgiveness without violating divine justice? If, as a human, you wish to relate to God's dilemma, consider this human issue: "if my child allows addiction [to anything from sex to drugs] to control his or her behavior, how do I love him or her in a manner that does not encourage/support his or her addictive behavior?
This was not [is not] a minor problem, an insignificant conflict! It was and is essential that God be true to Himself--it cannot be otherwise and God remain God! God could not ignore justice and arbitrarily extend forgiveness merely because He wanted to! To understand the severity of this conflict, examine the conflicts between love and justice in parents when they must respond to their child's mistakes [guilt]. Also note the disasters that result when a parent ignores love or ignores justice when dealing with his or her child's failure. Human rebellion produced a conflict between divine love and divine justice. When there was no human rebellion, there was no conflict between divine love and justice. This conflict graphically illustrates that Jesus' death was [is] essential to create the divine means that allows a person to be reconciled to God.
The divine nature making human forgiveness possible was through justification. In the act of justification, God yielded to justice and to love. A Christian is righteous before the righteous God because God justifies him or her.
Justification permits (1) God to be true to His nature; (2) God to be forgiving; and (3) God to be just [see Romans 3:26].
Justification Makes Our Forgiveness Possible
The following thoughts are challenging. Do not let the concepts intimidate you. Think from God's perspective.
Do not be deceived by a concept of "the simplicity of salvation." While it is simple for a person to reconciled to God through confidence or trust in Jesus Christ, it was quite complex for God to create our simple response to Him. The means of coming to God are simple. For God, what was necessary to create those simple means was complex.
A human can do nothing to make himself or herself righteous before God. No human deed or set of human deeds has the power to make a person righteous. One cannot "go to church" enough, help the needy enough, do enough good deeds, sacrifice enough, pray enough, privately worship enough, or be such an ethical person who lives by biblical morality to become righteous before God. Human thoughts cannot make us righteous! Human feelings cannot make us righteous! Human deeds cannot make us righteous!
The concept of "works salvation" is a popular concept in some religious groups and some religious individuals. It is not a biblical concept associated with salvation in Jesus Christ. A person is committed to obedient, righteous deeds [behaviors] after he or she is reconciled to God. Righteous, obedient deeds do not produce reconciliation, but follow reconciliation as a response to being reunited with God. Read Paul's declaration to Titus in Titus 2:11-14. Note (1) salvation is the expression of God's grace, not the product of human deeds of righteousness. (2) Those who respond to [commit to] God's initiative (a) deny ungodliness and (b) live righteously. Also note (1) living righteously [godly deeds] comes after responding to God's salvation and (2) being zealous for good deeds comes after redemption. Christian trust must be placed in God's divine accomplishments in Jesus' death, not in human accomplishments in obedience. Will the Christian live an obedient life? Absolutely! He or she will reject ungodly behavior and will dedicate himself or herself to righteous behavior because he or she is redeemed in Jesus Christ.
Why? Human acts cannot address a person's past evils. Even if a man or woman could be 100% godly in his or her "now" [which is impossible!], that godliness only would declare the person's "now" condition with no affect on past failures. However, our situation is worse. Even with best behavior and efforts, no one is 100% godly "now"! None even come close! None is even aware of how much evil exists in thoughts, emotions, and behavior! On any day, divine justice could eternally condemn any of us for that day's mistakes!
Help students understand that human deeds are inadequate to merit [deserve] mercy, forgiveness, reconciliation, or atonement for guilt. Even if it were possible [it is not!] to be flawlessly ideal in the moment of "right now," the person is only doing what he or she should do "right now." That "right now" responsible behavior could not atone for past flawed, irresponsible behavior. For the concept, see Luke 17:10.
When a person realizes what God did and does for him or her in Jesus Christ, he or she becomes a changed person. He or she wants to move closer to God. A basic understanding: the closer a human moves toward God, the more righteous his or her thoughts, emotions, and behavior become. Conversely, the further from God a person moves, the more unrighteous his or her thoughts, emotions, and behavior become.
When conversion occurs, the person begins to change [be transformed] in thought (Romans 12:1, 2), emotions (Ephesians 4:31, 32), and behavior (Titus 2:12). Emphasize growth toward God results in righteous thought, emotions, and behavior, and growth away from God results in ungodly thought, emotions, and behavior. The more we understand what God did for us in Jesus' death, the more God becomes the focus, center, and purpose for our existence. The result of deep appreciation for Jesus and profound gratitude for God is a godly existence. Collectively and individually, we want to be the temple of the Holy Spirit.
Yet, God does not regard a person as righteous because he or she has exceptional behavior. While the person ruled by God becomes a man or woman of exceptional behavior, good deeds [or good thoughts or good emotions] are not the basis of his or her righteousness. Paul was specific about this matter. The means of being righteous before God is now known. It is not based on deeds [law keeping whether prophet guided or scripture guided]. It is based on faith. Trust in what? Confidence in what? Human deeds? It is based on trust or confidence in what God did in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-26).
We are not righteous because of our goodness. We are righteous because of God's goodness expressed in Jesus Christ.
Is this faith actionless? No. It is actively obedient. This obedient existence is in response to God making the person righteous. Faith in what God did for him or her in Jesus' death forever changes him or her. Confidence in what God did for him or her in Jesus' death motivates his or her commitment to obedience. So that God can recognize him or her as being righteous? No! So that he or she can seek to think, feel, and behave consistently with the righteousness God gave him or her in Christ Jesus. The trust is not in what he or she does, but in God's justification for him or her in Jesus' death.
Make certain students understand this point: this is not an attempt to minimize the importance of obedience, but an attempt to maximize the importance of the correct motive for obedience. We must obey God, but we must place our confidence in Jesus Christ, not in our righteous deeds.
How is this possible? God did not ignore divine justice when He gave forgiveness to humans. By allowing Jesus to substitute his pure life for our sinful life, God paid the penalty for the injustice of every human evil. By that means God is the justifier of all men and women who come to Him by placing their trust/confidence in Jesus.
Combine the realization of human confidence in Jesus' death with the fact that God paid for human failures with Jesus' death. We trust what God did in Jesus' death in order to live as a forgiven people. God satisfied justice by paying for our mistakes. Though He was not guilty, though Jesus was not guilty, God paid for our guilt by allowing His son to die for our sins (remember Hebrews 2:14-18 and 4:14-16).
By that means, a just God can extend the mercy of forgiveness universally to all who place trusting, confident faith in Jesus Christ. Universally, all are not capable of knowing the deeds produced by Jewish law and Jewish prophecy. Universally [regardless of culture and circumstances] all can place trust in what God did in Jesus' death.
God was just because He allowed the guiltless Jesus to pay for all human failures. God is loving because, having satisfied the accountability of justice, He extended eternal forgiveness to people.
Discussion question: why do people prefer to trust their deeds instead of Jesus' death?
A core thought: the American people by their nature rather place confidence in "what I deserve" rather than being totally dependent on mercy. Though Americans can be quite compassionate, we tend to value justice over mercy. Many who quickly will give to a charitable need will not accept charity when in need.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 9