THE JUSTICE OF GOD
© Paul Brydson Sept 21, 1998
The Church of God in Williamstown
WEB SITE: http://www.alphalink.com.au/~sanhub/index.htm

ROOTS OF OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM
The general public often has a general dissatisfaction with the way justice is meted out, or usually not meted out. We have a legal system in place that is built upon certain ideas of men. These ideas are largely hidden, but we see their practical application in the law's sentence every day. These ideas, I dare say, can also affect our sense of how justice should be executed.

Near the end of the last century, in response to what was seen as an unbalanced and unjust legal system, a major revolution was occurring in the area of criminology. A leading figure in this revolution was the professor of psychiatry and anthropology at the University of Turin, Cesare Lombroso. He left, as I understand it, two legacies, one of which, it is claimed, has largely been disregarded, while the other has been wholeheartedly embraced by our legal system.

The first is the idea of "the criminal man": the theory that some people are innately criminals. This notion, which was developed as an offshoot of the theory of evolution, claimed that criminals were actually biological throwbacks to primitive stages of human evolution. As such, Lombroso maintained that such people bore physical signs, which he called stigmata, that identified them. Some of the characteristics he listed included: greater skull thickness, large jaws, pre-eminence of the face over the cranium, longer arms, a low narrow forehead, large ears, absence of baldness and darker skin.

The other legacy he and his colleagues left, which flows on from the notion of the criminal man, is what many describe as a more humane approach to criminology. Instead of assuming a moralstance that focussed on measuring the offender's guilt and responsibility, his followers (called "Positivists") attempted what the Encyclopaedia Britannica describes as "a morally neutral and social interpretation of crime and its treatment"-that is, society must allow for the differential treatment of someone who is identified as a "born criminal", as opposed to someone who on occasion has committed a crime. The goal is to make the personality of the individual the primary object of the rules of the penal justice, in place of the reality of the crime. So a person's "risk to society" had to be judged rather than just the consideration of the crime he had committed. Thus entered into the legal landscape the ideas of probation, suspended sentence, parole and character witnesses.

This is part of the origin of our criminal justice system today. This is how men in our age have worked out how others should be judged. What do you think about it? Is it reasonably fair and humane to take into account a person's character when judging some crime he may have committed? I'd like today to consider how this stacks up with what the Bible says about how justice is to be determined.

JUSTICE REFLECTS THE NATURE OF GOD
Let us notice how the God of justice is described:

God's throne is established for judgement, and He judges the world: So much of God is hidden and unknowable to us, and yet we are reassured that at the core of His motivations and governance is fairness and a determination to do what is right.
We all like to think that we are just. Almost everyone believes that being just is meritorious. But what does justice mean? How is one just? How would you define justice, or being just? How is God just?

I have described above some of the principles upon which man's judgments and justice system are based. I would like now to cover some of the principles upon which God's justice is based.

ALL JUDGED IN LIKE MANNER
There is no partiality with God. He judges all by the same rules (Rom 2:11; Gal 2:6; Eze 18). We are to do likewise.
We must not favour the rich:

We are not to favour the poor: Nor are we to discriminate against the vulnerable: Justice must be pre-eminent. HOW GOD JUDGES US
We are judged by what we love-whether we love light or darkness (Jn 3:19). We are judged according to our secrets of our heart (Rom 2:16). For some like Bill Clinton that day comes sooner rather than later. But we too will one day have exposed all the skeletons in our closets of which we have not repented. We are judged according to our every word (Mat 12:36). We are judged on how we use our talents, according to the abilities that we have been given. These are all things that we can also utilize to judge ourselves. But what is the fundamental criterion upon which God's judgment is based? How is He just?

God's justice is expressed in His desire to see every man receive what he is due.

This is one of the primary meanings of justice, if not the primary meaning, and it is something about which God is passionate. Consider the following verses (from the many scriptures on this subject) that reinforce this point: THE LAW OF GOD
From what has been shown above it is apparent that we are judged by how we treat others. As we have done will be done to us. This is not a license for vengeance, but rather a guarantee of justice. Christ tells us how we are to fulfil this law: How does this fulfil the law?
The law tells the judge to repay a man according to what he did or intended to do to his brother, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Christ, as the Judge appointed by God, therefore tells us, if we are wise, to be one step ahead. Justice demands that each person be repaid according to his deeds. Treat others well so that you may be well judged by God. It is all part of the same principle. The purpose of the law is love that issues from a pure heart, a good conscience and pure faith. And justice, the belief that each should be repaid according to his works, guides us towards this purpose of the law-do unto others, because you will be repaid for your works.

THE ROLE OF REPENTANCE
Those who repent of their sins are not judged according to their evil deeds:

God does not punish us as much as our sins deserve. So if we repent of evil and sin, Christ's sacrifice blots out that transgression against God's law, and it can no longer be held against us-unless we refuse to be merciful to others.

EXAMPLES OF GODLY JUSTICE
Let's now consider a number of varied examples from the Bible that illustrate this principle of justice.

Let's consider an example pertaining to Gideon: Note what Jotham speaking to the men of Shechem, who had just killed the sons of Gideon, stated: Gideon had made sacrifices to serve his community. It was therefore just that his family be treated kindly. The man who does well for his community deserves to have his family cared for (Judg 8:33-35; 9:16).

I find quite touching the example of the people of the town of Jabesh Gilead. In 1Sam 11 the story is told of how this town was in grave danger from an Ammonite king. He was threatening a massacre of the town. Saul heard about it and came to their assistance in their time of desperate need. Many years later, Saul was killed in battle by the Philistines. When the men of Jabesh Gilead heard what had happened, they travelled all night, searched out and found the bodies of Saul and his sons mutilated and hanging on a town wall. They brought them back to their home and gave them a decent burial, and grieved over Saul for seven days (1Sam 31:8-13). Notice David's response to their action:

In this, Hezekiah was a poor example: CONCLUSION
God is just. He will repay each of us according to our deeds. You and I cannot escape that fact, and this Day of Trumpets in part pictures the judgment of God. Faced with the reality of God's justice, we would do well to treat others as we want to be treated. We wait and groan for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Go back to our Home Page