[J]ustice is not necessarily “getting what you deserve.†This idea has crept perversely into our readings of Scripture, but it is Greco-Roman rather than biblical in origin.
Get-what-you-deserve justice includes two things: a goal of orderly equilibrium where everyone is in the place they deserve, and a strategy of maintaining balance by responding in kind. This Greco-Roman idea conflicts with the Christian conviction that our very existence is an undeserved gift from our creating God. And this strategy is incompatible with our Christian conviction that salvation is available because God refused to respond in kind (Romans 6:23). If creation and redemption are just acts of a just God, then the notion of justice as “just desserts†is incompatible with our faith.
From “Truth, Passion, and the Death Penalty.†by D. Brent Laytham in the March 2007 edition of Covenant Companion (via Tyler Watson).