The New Testament does not cancel the justice of God revealed in the Old; it completes and perfects it. Jesus’ teaching unfolds the heart behind divine law — justice refined by mercy and obedience expressed through love.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared, “You have heard that it was said… but I say to you” (Matthew 5:21–44). He was not rewriting Moses; He was revealing the spirit within the law — the divine intention that human legalism had concealed. Where the Old Testament restrained violence, the New Testament transforms the heart that breeds it.

God’s justice and love are not opposites, but dimensions of one truth. The law revealed God’s holiness; Christ revealed His heart. The cross remains the meeting point of both: sin judged, yet the sinner invited to grace. Justice without love produces religion without compassion; love without justice produces sentiment without conviction.

In Christ, both converge — perfect justice executed through perfect love.

Paul summarises this beautifully: “Love does no harm to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law,” (Romans 13:10). The believer is no longer motivated by external enforcement, but by inward transformation. God’s commands are now written on hearts, not tablets of stone.

This understanding also exposes the error of those who claim divine sanction for violence. True obedience to God cannot contradict His revealed nature. Any act that diminishes mercy, devalues life or distorts love cannot carry His approval.

The church must, therefore, teach discernment — helping believers interpret scripture through the lens of Christ’s redemptive love. Justice remains essential, but it must now flow from transformed hearts.

The arc of divine revelation moves from external conformity to internal conviction, from legal obedience to love-driven transformation. The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New are one: unchanging in holiness, unfolding in revelation.

The call of the modern church is to embody this synthesis — to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8). When justice and love walk together, the world sees the true face of God.

• Sunday Ogidigbo, Senior Pastor, Holyhill Church, Abuja. Twitter/Instagram/Facebook: @SOgidigbo. Email: [email protected]