In 1994 international attention was brought to the case of Michael Fay. The 18 year old United States citizen was found guilty of theft and vandalism in Singapore. The sentence was public caning in which he was to receive 6 strokes of the cane (similar to getting whipped). The United States officials requested leniency and the punishment was reduced to 4 strokes. Though our nation was in uproar, every nation has the right to judge those in their borders according to their own standards and laws. As an aside, due to the harshness of the punishment for theft, Singapore's crime rate is so low that many shops don't even lock up their stores at night, as opposed to our nation where our prison system is literally busting at the seams. If Singapore has the right to judge its citizens, and the United States has the right to judge its citizens, doesn't God have the right to judge His creation? So many prefer to emphasize one characteristic of God at the exclusion of another. God is 100% or infinitely a God of love, but He is also 100% just and has the authority to mete out justice. In fact, since God is 100% just, He can never give a wink and overlook any sin, or He would not be 100% just. So, if we are honest and admit that not only are we sinners, but we sin on a daily basis, based on the law, what hope do we have?

We read in Deuteronomy 21:18-21, the law of punishment for the rebellious son, "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. And they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.' Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear." As an American citizen I imagine the public uproar would even be greater if this was the punishment meted out rather than public caning, but doesn't God have this right? This was the Old Testament punishment for the prodigal son. In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells another example of the Prodigal Son with an entirely different ending. The rebellious son in Jesus' parable squanders his father's money in raucous living and total rebellion. The punishment when found should be as dictated in Deuteronomy 21:18-21. But the difference is this prodigal repents, stating in Luke 15:18-19, "I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." We read in 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." As a result of the confession and repentance of the prodigal son in Jesus' parable, he was judged no longer by the law, but by grace. We read of the reunion in Luke 15:20, "And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him."

Each of us have a decision to make. We will all one day kneel before our Perfect and Righteous Judge. That judgement will fall into only one of two camps. Either we will be judged according to the law, in which case each and every one of us, the rebellious sons and daughters that we are, will stand guilty before our Perfect God. Or, after repentance and accepting payment of our sins based on what Jesus accomplished on the cross, we will be judged according to grace. The choice really is ours. God is infinitely just and offers no other options. Since most people apart from Christ choose to follow the religion of good works, basing their standing and ultimately their judgement based on all the "good" they have done, many will be surprised and astonished, as Michael Fay was, when justice was meted out. Back in 1 John 1:8,10, we read about those who choose not to fall under God's grace, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us...If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us." God will never override our free will, He lovingly allows us to decide our own fate. We all can choose to be judged under the law which guarantees just punishment, or grace and mercy will be the result if we humble ourselves, get rid of our ridiculous pride, and seek the mercy and grace which comes to those who come to our Lord Jesus Christ in repentance.