God's Dilemma

But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at present His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:21-26, NKJV). 

Allow me to clarify the title of the article by saying that God has never put Himself in a dilemma. This is the only way I know how to explain what Romans 3:21-26 presents to us. The closing part of Romans 3:26 states, “so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” If we break down what Paul is saying, we can better understand God’s “dilemma.”  

We see in this Scripture that God must punish sin. He cannot, nor will He, ignore sin. God is holy, and because He is holy, He will punish sin as well as the unrepentant sinner. God’s holiness becomes God’s wrath. Never let us forget that while He is a God of love and forgiveness, He is also a God of wrath and judgment. 

The doctrine of God’s wrath is taught throughout Scripture. There is a minimum of 580 passages in the Old Testament alone that deal with God’s anger and wrath. For example: 

God is a righteous judge, a God who displays his wrath every day (Psalm 7:11, NIV). 

Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire. And the rocks are broken up by Him (Nahum 1:2-6, NASB). 

Fear Him who can destroy both soul and body into hell (Matthew 10:28, NAS). 

Our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29, NKJV). 

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31, NASB). 

We are all in line for God’s wrath. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. All the Scriptures that speak of God’s wrath are directed to us. Many are blinded to the destruction of God’s wrath that is bearing down on them. Again, as I said earlier, God’s holiness demands that He punish the sinner. 

Yet God’s love and mercy want to forgive us. Therein lies God’s “dilemma.” How can He be just and yet forgive? How can he be true to His requirement of punishment for sin and also be merciful? 

Psalms 86:5 says, “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, and abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You” (NASB). The Apostle Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:10 that God is the God of all grace. Any verse you read about forgiveness is a verse about God’s grace. That is also aimed at us. 

Remember too 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (NASB).  

How can He punish us and forgive us? The answer is in the death of Jesus Christ. Jesus died in our place. He was punished for our sins. The answer is found in the beautiful prophecy in Isaiah 53:5-6 (NASB): 

But He was pierced through for our iniquities, He was crushed for our transgressions, the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity (sins) of us all to fall on Him. 

Jesus was our propitiation. He was our atoning sacrifice. He, by His death for us on the cross, turned God’s wrath away from us. He saved us from God’s wrath.  

The apostle John in 1 John 2:2 and 4:10 tells us that Jesus was the propitiation (the wrath-removing sacrifice) for my sins and your sins. He paid a debt He did not owe for us. Jesus, the perfect lamb of God, died in our place. We owed a debt we could not pay, so He paid it. 

This is how God solved His “dilemma.” Through giving His only Son to die for us. This is what God’s love, mercy, and grace made possible. Christ died for us. Christ died because of us. Our sins put Him on the cross.  

What does Scripture say about this? It tells us in Isaiah 53:10, “But the Lord was pleased to crush Him.”  

When you get to heaven, if you were to go to God and say, “Father, thank you so much for loving me and being willing to sacrifice your son for me.” Then, if you were to turn to Jesus and say, “Thank you for the horror you were willing to do for a sinner like me.” I believe they would both say, “It was our pleasure.”