God’s righteous love never violates righteousness and justice.
Imagine a father-and-sons building company. Jason Smith, the father, is a master carpenter who employs his three sons building houses. Jason dearly loves his three sons, but he has a soft spot in particular for the middle son Allen. When Allen was a child, he nearly died in a car accident, and ever since then his father has had a difficult time saying no to him.
Jason does not toss up houses overnight. He refuses to work for any developer who wants to construct inferior buildings. He is a stickler for using quality materials and for following city building codes to the letter.
And therefore a home built by Jason Smith and sons is a masterpiece. No crooked walls or corners, no plumbing that breaks six months after moving in, no surprising leaks in the roof during an extraordinary rainfall, no cheap light fixtures that blink and develop shorts, no seepage in the basement, no cracks in the cement, no cold rooms in winter. When Jason Smith builds a house, a homeowner gets a perfect home, a dream home to be proud of and safe in. An investment for a lifetime and an inheritance for one’s family.
Trouble
Over the course of time, Allen befriends some other builders in town who are his age. They hang out more and more. Surprisingly, given Allen’s upbringing, his new friends are not master builders. In fact, they are greedy builders whose top priority is making fast money, not quality homes. They bend rules. They break building codes. They bribe building inspectors. They make big money, and eventually bitter enemies.
Then an economic downturn comes to town, and the construction business is hit hard. Developers are building few homes. Contracts are tough to come by, even for Jason Smith and Sons.
A quick fix
One day Allen surprises his father with a suggestion. “Dad, I think we can get more business if we cut a few corners.”
“What kind of corners do you mean, Son?”
“Well, Dad, let’s face it. Our bids can’t compete with other builders.”
“That’s true. We can’t beat the bids of builders who are breaking the rules and getting away with it. But that’s only true for the short term.”
“I know that, Dad, but we have to deal with reality in the short term too. These are hard times. Until this economic recession ends, I think we need to save money by using lower quality materials and turning out homes on a faster schedule. You’re secure financially and can weather this downturn; I can’t. I need the steady income.”
“I’ll lend you money.”
“No, I’m not going to take handouts.”
“Allen, you know how I feel about this. But let me think it over for a few days.”
For three days, Jason Smith agonizes over what to do. He barely sleeps. His every instinct says to stay the course and do what’s right. But he can’t find the will to say no to Allen. He can’t bear to see him and his wife and children going through a hard time.
Finally he calls Allen. With a sick feeling in his stomach, he says, “All right, Son. Only until this recession ends, we’ll do it your way.”
Righteous love
In this example, we see a father who does what he feels is wrong for the sake of someone he loves. God never does that. God never compromises on righteousness and justice for the sake of love.
Scripture says, “Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 9:24, ESV).
This Scripture is one of many showing that God’s love, righteousness, and justice are inseparably woven together, like a handmade rug with horizontal and vertical threads.
Scripture says of the Messiah, “A throne will be established in steadfast love, and on it will sit in faithfulness in the tent of David one who judges and seeks justice and is swift to do righteousness” (Isaiah 16:5).
God’s love never violates righteousness. His love is always a righteous love.
What does it mean to love righteously, to love in righteousness, with righteousness, for righteousness?
Wicked love
Consider the opposite: wicked love. For an extreme example, think of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. They had a worldly love that cooperated in doing wrong. Together they fostered idolatry in Israel. Together they murdered, stole, and oppressed the poor, as when they murdered a neighbor who would not sell his field to them and then claimed the land.
When love is evil and worldly, relationships are built on sinning together, with two or more people bonded by their mutual enjoyment of and pursuit of evil. One of the most commonplace forms of wicked love is two people bonded together in a relationship of sexual sin. Even more common are friendships built on sins of the tongue such as gossip and slander.
God only does what is right
Righteous love means God’s love always does what is right, not wrong, follows what is right, not wrong, pursues what is right, not wrong. When love is righteous, it is concerned about right and wrong, not primarily about feelings. Feelings follow righteousness, rather than righteousness following feelings. Feelings guide at times—feelings such as compassion, pity, affection, passion—but only when they align with righteousness.
That’s because feelings can lead a person astray.
If Jesus had followed feelings, he would not have submitted to the Father and gone to the Cross.
If the Father had followed his feelings, he would not have sent his Son to the Cross to suffer and die for his enemies.
Justice and salvation
The preeminent example of the righteousness of God’s love is the means he chose to save sinners. He did not simply forgive sinners on the basis of his love and mercy. If he had done so, justice would not have been served. The unrighteous deeds of men would have simply been overlooked. Murderers, rapists, liars, and thieves would not be penalized for their crimes. God would have acted as though all the blasphemies and perversions of mankind had never happened. God’s love would have somehow covered over the entire, vile mess of human history.
But God’s righteousness would not allow it. His justice must be served. And so he found a way to wed justice and love. He sent his holy Son to suffer and die on the cross as a substitute for us. Jesus took the just penalty that we deserved.
“It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).
Our way and God’s way
Our way: Fallen people want God to love and accept them as they are.
God’s way: Because God’s love is always a righteous love, all who want a relationship with him must change their unrighteous ways.
“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him” (Deuteronomy 10:12).
Life principle: We can’t have a relationship with God without repentance.
And in our relationships with other people, true love always is righteous: “[Love] does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6).
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)