Book Review: The God and the Gospel of Righteousness (Part 1)

 


Part 1 – The God of Righteousness

In The God and the Gospel of Righteousness, David Pawson invites us to reconsider some of the assumptions we often carry about God—especially the tendency to define Him primarily, and sometimes exclusively, by His love. This is not a rejection of God’s love, but an invitation to recover a fuller, more biblical understanding of His character.

Pawson begins with a simple but searching question: What kind of God do you believe in?

Is God kind or distant? Just or indifferent? Personally involved, or removed from the world He created? While many people would quickly respond, “God is love,” Pawson suggests that this answer—though true—can sometimes become incomplete when it stands alone. When love becomes the only lens through which we understand God, our view can gradually shift from being shaped by Scripture to being shaped by preference or sentiment.

In many contexts today, the message of God’s love is often emphasized as the starting point—and sometimes the entirety—of how we describe Him. Passages like John 3:16 are central and precious: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” But as Pawson points out, this verse speaks not only of God’s love in general terms, but of a specific, decisive act—God giving His Son for the world. It is a declaration rooted in the cross.

When this is overlooked, it can become easy to assume that God’s love primarily exists to affirm us, protect us, or ensure our well-being. But Scripture presents a deeper and more complex picture. God’s love is not detached from His holiness, His justice, or His righteousness—it is expressed through them.

Pawson draws attention to the biblical language of love, particularly the word agape. In the New Testament, this kind of love is not defined primarily as a feeling, but as an action. It is demonstrated, not merely declared. As Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

This love is inseparable from the cross. It is a love that confronts sin, provides forgiveness, and calls for a response. Throughout Scripture, we see that God’s love is experienced most fully within a relationship of trust, repentance, and faith. Passages such as Psalm 33:18 and Psalm 146:8 highlight God’s care for those who fear Him and walk in His ways—not because His love is limited, but because it is relational and covenantal in nature.

At the same time, Scripture consistently emphasizes another defining aspect of God’s character: His righteousness.

God is righteous—He always does what is right. He cannot act unjustly or ignore evil. This is not an abstract theological idea; it has real implications. A righteous God must take sin seriously. He must judge evil. And He will one day set all things right.

This aspect of God’s character is not always emphasized in modern conversations, but it is central in Scripture. Jesus and the apostles spoke openly about judgment, accountability, and the coming restoration of all things. The promise of the future is not just that God will comfort, but that He will renew the world—a world where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13), where everything is made right.

Pawson’s concern is not that we speak too much about God’s love, but that we may, at times, speak of it in a way that becomes disconnected from His righteousness. When that happens, it can subtly reshape how we see God—not as the One we are called to worship and obey, but as one who exists primarily to serve our needs.

But the biblical vision is far greater.

God’s love and God’s righteousness are not in tension—they meet perfectly in the cross of Christ. It is there that God’s justice is upheld and His mercy is extended. It is there that sin is judged and sinners are invited into grace.

Recovering this fuller picture of God does not diminish His love—it deepens it. It leads us beyond a sentimental understanding into a more grounded, awe-filled response. We begin to see not only that God loves, but how He loves—and what that love has cost.

And as we begin to see God more clearly, we are drawn not just to receive from Him, but to respond—to trust Him, to turn from sin, and to live under His good and righteous rule.

This is the God Scripture reveals: not less loving than we imagined, but far greater than we often realize.


Rooted in Jesus Grace,

Mara Wellspring 

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