Justice and Mercy Kiss

God's anger is the anger of grace. It is not the violent anger of unbridled fury. God's anger always works to right what is wrong. That is what grace does. This gracious anger has two sides to it: justice and mercy.

In the gracious anger of justice, God works to punish wrong, but he does even more… He will not rest until evil is no more and justice and righteousness reign forever and ever!

There is also another side to his gracious anger. It is the anger of mercy. In mercy he works to convict… he works to forgive… he works to empower… he works to deliver… until every microbe of sin is completely eradicated from every cell of the heart of every one of his children.

Where do we see both sides of God's anger coming together in one moment? On that hill outside the city gate where Jesus hung. That is where we see justice and mercy kiss. As he hung there, Jesus bore the full weight of the justice of God's anger. He paid the penalty our sin required. And on the cross Jesus became the instrument of the mercy of God's anger that every sinner needs. He purchased our forgiveness…

For God's children, his anger is a place of bright hope. Because he is righteously angry with sin every day, we can rest assured that everything sin has broken will be restored. Everything sin has twisted will be straightened. Everything that has gone wrong will be made right again. God's anger assures us that all things will be made new.

Broken-Down House, Paul David Tripp, Shepherd Press, 2009, pp. 131-132.