For much of my life, when I heard that God judges with righteousness, I understood it to mean that God gives people what they deserve. If He punished evil, that was righteous. If He judged sin, that was righteous. If He struck down the wicked, that was righteous. Certainly, God is just. Scripture never portrays Him as indifferent toward evil. Yet the more I read, the more I found myself wrestling with a question: If righteousness is primarily punitive, how do we reconcile it with the God who describes Himself as gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness? At times, those ideas seem to pull against each other. Then Jesus arrives. And suddenly everything starts making sense. The righteousness of God doesn't compete with His mercy. The righteousness of God expresses His mercy. The righteousness of God doesn't oppose His love. The righteousness of God fulfills His love. The righteousness of God doesn't contradict His faithfulness. The righte...