God's Grace is Righteous and Just

   A few years back, I had a conversation with a work colleague regarding faith in God.  When it comes to my witness, I have a habit of fostering an atmosphere wherein the other person does most of the talking so that I can develop a clear understanding of when and how they arrived at their current emotional, psychological, or spiritual place in life.  Once we establish the root of their perspective and the extent to which they do or do not believe, my hope is that the Holy Spirit begins to stoke our mental fires and we can enter a place of true seeking.  I do not recall how this conversation began or finished, but I clearly remember his reason for disbelief. 

   After engaging in vaguely informal chatter about powers greater than ourselves, he boldly said to me, “I cannot understand, or believe in, a God that could exonerate someone of an entire life of wickedness just because they asked for forgiveness on their deathbed.”  Not unlike, what probably represents, a prevalent societal principle, his superlative vision of perfect justice was one in which we get what we genuinely deserve based on our code of personal conduct.

   Secular wisdom administers “justice” as a means of balancing the social scales of humanity.  Fairness and equality of outcome are paramount, and due to the perceived nobility of such pursuits, questionable methods of achievement like revenge o ...