What God provides in grace must not compromise His perfect essence. Love is the motivation of grace, but justice is the function of grace. Love is not a mechanic of grace. Therefore, God’s justice must be free to give blessing to sinful man without violating divine integrity. Whatever you receive in blessing, divine justice must first accept. Justice must approve everything that comes to us from God. God’s motivation is love, and His decision is sovereignty, but neither love nor sovereignty can go any further than justice will take them. In other words, justice has the final say in whether you will be blessed or cursed in this life.

How can God avoid compromising His perfect righteousness and still have a relationship with us? The missing link is our adjustment to the justice of God. You can not adjust to any of the other characteristics of God. You can only adjust to the justice of God. Once you adjust to the justice of God, everything else in your life will fall into place. Remember that after salvation the object of faith changes. Before salvation the object of faith is the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. After salvation the object of faith is the written Word, Bible doctrine. In both cases the justice of God gives the stamp of approval because the object of faith is perfectly righteous! Before salvation, the object of faith is the Lord Jesus Christ, and Bible doctrine, the mind of Christ, is also perfectly right, or perfectly righteous. Therefore, in both cases, the justice of God gives the approval, and the essence of God comes through for the believer without compromising the integrity of God.