“When you hear the sentence ‘justice is only part of the gospel declaration,’ what comes to mind? Do you applaud the idea that justice is being put in perspective? Do you bristle that it’s put in the periphery?”

Rebekah Thompson asks these questions at the beginning of her recent article, “Social Justice and Biblical Justice Are Actually One and the Same.” Recognizing that the white Evangelical church tends to go the way of polarization these days, Thompson implores her readers to reject the notion that the gospel and justice are at odds with each other. Not only are they compatible, she argues, but you cannot have one without the other.

Thompson points to Micah 6:8, which reads, “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Christians are called to a way of living that understands God not as the exclusion of justice or mercy, but as the fullness of both attributes. As we consider how to respond to the results of injustice—such as 50,000 Afghan refugees entering the United States—let’s not forget that justice and the gospel have always belonged together.