Living a Holy Life Marked by Justice and Truth

Introduction

In most churches today, when asked the purpose of the Law given in God’s Word, people are likely to respond with a statement along the lines of “so that we know we cannot keep the law, that we are guilty of sin and in need of a savior”. While this is an accurate statement, it is not a complete statement. If the entirety of the purpose of the law was so that we would recognize that we were incapable of keeping the law, then we can justify statements that are aimed at separating the Old and New Testaments, decrying the relevance of the Old Testament, and even emphatically stating that the God of the Old Testament is not the God of the New Testament, however, this is not the only purpose of the Law. Not only does the law point to the fact that we truly cannot live a life wholly pleasing to God and desperately in need of a Savior, but it also sets in place Biblical principles that teach us how to live rightly in light of becoming a new creation in Christ. Recently we have seen principles that are designed to protect people and property, that show us that our lives are transformed by the power of the Gospel and the Spirit working within us. That as a result of this transformation we will live holy lives before the Holy God and this morning we will see that those lives are marked with justice, truth and mercy. In Matthew 23:23 Jesus says

Matthew 23:23 LSB

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

In this account, Jesus is pronouncing woes on the Pharisees, in fact he pronounces 8 total, all dealing with the reality that, while they may be diligently in obeying the letter of the law, they are neglecting the deeper truths of the Law, in this woe, justice, mercy and faithfulness. In Micah 6:8

Micah 6:8 LSB

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does Yahweh require of you But to do justice, to love lovingkindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

we are reminded that we are called to a life marked by Justice, but what exactly is justice.

Justice is the the quality of being in accordance with standards or requirements, or to put it differently to be righteous, that is characterized by -uprightness; to be morally right. However, we have a problem, as I mentioned a few moments ago, one of the purposes of the Law is to prove that we are incapable of keeping the Law, and, in most cases, this is where we are told that it is ok we are human, but a careful study of God’s Word shows us that we are called, not just to recognize our failings when it comes to the law, but to seek to be obedient to the deeper truths or Biblical principles of the Law. In John 14:15 Jesus says “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” and He follows that with John 14:21-26

John 14:21–26 LSB

“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him. “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

through the Holy Spirit we are enable to keep the commands of God (Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” )

One of the great themes we see throughout scripture is that of justice. God is declared and shown to be just in all His ways (Deuteronomy 32:4 ““The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.” ), His Law provided standards of justice for the people of Isreal and ultimately God will justly punish those who do not believe (John 3:18 ““He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” ).

Thankfully, since we have been called by God to be just or righteous, been justified by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in obedience to the commands of God, let us turn to our text and examine how we are to live a life that is marked by justice and truth.

Text

Please stand for the reading of the complete, authoritative Word of God.

Exodus 23:1–9 LSB

“You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. “You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a case so as to turn aside after the masses in order to cause justice to be turned aside; nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his case. “If you meet your enemy’s ox or his donkey wandering away, you shall surely return it to him. “If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him. “You shall not cause the justice due to your needy brother to be turned aside in his case. “Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not justify the guilty. “And you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just. “And you shall not oppress a sojourner, since you yourselves know the soul of a sojourner, for you also were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Father,

We thank you for the gift of Your Word. We thank you that it serves as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Father as we gather around your Word this morning, we pray that your Spirit testifies with our spirit, commending your word to our hearts and lives in all that we say and do. We ask this is the blessed and holy name of your Son, Jesus Christ, amen.

You may be seated.

Justice and Truth

In Isaiah 59:14, Isaiah prophesying to the people of God regarding direct and intentional disobedience to God describes Justice and Truth with these words; “Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And rightness cannot enter.” When Isaiah speaks these words he is describing the condition of people before He moves in their hearts and lives and they are transformed. As the Spirit regenerates the individual, causing the old creation to become a new creation, a new paradigm is forming, one that results in a desire to live in obedience to His word. In verses 1-3 we see how inextricably linked justice and truth really are Exodus 23:1-3

Exodus 23:1–3 LSB

“You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. “You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a case so as to turn aside after the masses in order to cause justice to be turned aside; nor shall you be partial to a poor man in his case.

When we look a little more closely we can break this passage down into four commands that are all related but show us what being just truly looks like. First, in order to seek justice, truth MUST be present. Without the presence of truth, justice cannot truly be obtained. Notice the command, you shall not bear false witness, false witness in this situation can also be translated as worthless or futile hearsay. Hearsay is a legal term that is defined simply as gossip but more precisely as unverified, unofficial information that is gained or acquired from another party of which you have no direct knowledge. This is a reminder, once again, that the civil law is a direct result of the moral law given to us in the Ten Commandments. When we look at this command our instinct is to read it in such a way that it only impacts us directly telling others lies, in fact, typically the 9th commandment is translated simply as thou shalt not lie and certainly we should not, but translating it in that manner basically eliminates the Hebrew meaning of the word translated in the English as bear. In the original language this meant not only to tell or share lies with others but also to exalt, maintain, have a longing for, raise, bring or take away…this should leave us with the understanding that the command here is not just that we should not tell lies, but that we should have no part in this process, from telling it, to longing for it, to simply being a party to someone else who is spreading and sharing these worthless and futile lies.

The purpose behind this command is to prevent this type of corruption from arising within the people of God and just as this was a true concern for the Israelites standing before God, so it is also true of believers today. Each of us in this room and millions of others have been directly impacted in the past in some way by gossip or futile hearsay. We should understand and expect that kind of behavior from unbelievers but the truth is that it is just as prevalent within the body and this is where it does it’s true damage for it is like a cancer that grows and devours from within. A good test for determining if a piece of information would constitute gossip or false witness is it this certainly true (do I have first hand, irrefutable knowledge of the information), is it being said out of a love for others (what is my or others motivation for sharing this information), and will it edify the body of Christ or advance the Kingdom of God.

The second clause we come to is an expounding of the first, but in a specific direction. It is still a situation of telling a lie, but in this case it is done with a very intentional purpose, to set someone free who is guilty. Literally the text says that we are not to join our side with a guilty person. The text indicates that this is a situation where the person involved is absolutely guilty of the crimes that they have been accused. The command here is not to perjure yourself so that a person who is guilty is set free. the term translated malicious here can also be translated as wrong. The command of God in situations regarding someone being accused of a crime was that it must have two people who witnessed it in order for a person to be found guilty (Deuteronomy 19:15 ““A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; at the mouth of two or three witnesses a matter shall be established.” ). The temptation here could have been that one would lie in order to curry favor or even out of threat against an individual. The prohibition here simply insures that justice is served. Deuteronomy 19:16-20

Deuteronomy 19:16–20 LSB

“If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. “And the judges shall inquire thoroughly, and behold, if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. “And the rest will hear and be afraid and will never again do such an evil thing among you.

goes on to give instructions of what to do if this type of witness arises against someone who is innocent. The stark contrast here is the description of the two individuals involed with the malicious witness. In Exodus the person is guilty, in Deuteronomy the person is innocent but in each situation the malicious witness has the same problem, they are lying and it is, in some way, for their own gain. What this teaches us today as believers is that our lives should be MARKED by truth. We should be easily identifiable in a world filled with lies as those who stand on the truth in all ways and in all situations, even when, as verse two will describe, the whole world is going in the opposite direction.

There are two specific statements here that give us direction and one that gives us purpose. Let’s being with the purpose. Justice, the cause of justice is our purpose in these situations. Too often we relegate the term justice to simply situations involving legal proceedings or basic disputes between individuals, however, as we saw earlier when we defined the term, justice truly is a way of life. We are to live uprightly in the eyes of God through the power of the Holy Spirit but that is not always as easy as it sounds. People can be in situation of immense peer pressure, typically we only talk about this as it relates to kids, teenagers, but let us be honest, this is a real life situation that we deal with because our flesh DESIRES to fit in with the world. The two commands here make it plain that this cannot be our response.

First the text says to not follow along with the multitude doing evil, in other words, do not let what the world is doing influence you to commit actions that you know to be wrong, but then in a more narrow focus, do not let the masses cause you to testify in a way that goes against justice. so here, just as in verse 1 we have a move from a general statement about our behavior to a specific statement dealing specific type of situation. The implication here being first, as we mentioned above, do not be carried along by the world. As a believer our call is to follow Christ. In 1 John 2:15 John writes “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” First we need to understand that the word world here refers to the, as one commentator describes it “God-hating system of human society”. Secondly we need to recognize the severity of this command. We are told repeatedly that our only responsibility as Christians is to love, however, we are commanded right here to NOT LOVE. We cannot go along with the world, we are separate, we are the “called out ones” the church, the Bride of Christ. In John 15:18-19

John 15:18–19 LSB

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.

and John 16:33

John 16:33 LSB

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

and John 17:14-16

John 17:14–16 LSB

“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Again, we cannot go along with this world for the sake of getting along with this world. We cannot adapt ourselves to this world and we must stand in opposition to it.

Secondly, the specific command here says that we do not go along with the world in such a way that justice is turned aside. One of the greatest courts that we face today is the court of public opinion. Step away from the courtroom drama for just a moment. In the high days of the Roman Empire one of the most popular events happened in the arena where slaves would battle each other. These gladiators were forced to do battle until one was subdued and then the fate of the person rested in the people and ultimately Caesar. At the point in the battle where it became clear that one was no longer going to be able to fight off the other Caesar would stand and hold up his thumb and then listen to the reaction of the crowd, then he would reverse his thumb, holding it down, and again listen to the reaction of the crowd. Ultimately he would choose, thumbs up (life) or thumbs down (death) but the crowd was typically the determining factor, and as you may imagine, they were a blood thirsty lot. In truth, however, how different is our society. Even without social media, I will let you draw your own inferences there regarding thumbs, the media itself, the conversations at work, in resturants, in line at the coffee shop, and everywhere else plague our mind.

Back in the courtroom the situation is no different. A person accused of a crime has committed crimes in the past and their history affects how we see them, the way in which the media portrays them affects how we see them, even the nature of the crime itself can often cause us to not truly look on the individual with bias and predilection towards finding them guilty.

Verse three is the conclusion of the sentence we began in verse two and reminds us that we are to not show favoritism to any one in regards to seeking justice. Remember, this again is being done so that justice will not be turned aside. Scripture calls us as believers to live a life marked by justice which implies that everything we do should be done equally regardless of race, gender, nationality, or socio-economic status. That we not be tempted to have pity on an individual and excuse his wrongs simply because he is poor, just as we do not give false testimony for the rich so that they would show us favor, but that we treat each person as a person deserving of the same impartial evaluation. Here again, the world is at work to fight against the truth of scripture. Without launching into a separate sermon on Social Justice let me make a couple of brief statements here because it is linked to this verse. Social Justice has become a hot button topic for many including politicians, the media, and various groups fighting for various causes. It has been used to defend the ideas of Marxism, to promote one group above another and distorted in ways that are completely different from the biblical principle. If we look to the dictonary today for a definition of Social Justice we read that it is “fair treatment of all people in a society, including respect for the rights of minorities and equitable distribution of resources among the members of society”. This is not the biblical definition of social justice which would simply be that we are to be free from bias, dishonesty or injustice towards any individual. True social justice is naturally produced by the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. Pastor Darrell B Harrison puts it like this “In coming to know Him, we love Him; and in loving Him, we obey Him; and in obeying Him, we become more like Him; and in becoming more like Him, we more consistently reflect to a world thirsting for justice the image of the One in whose image we were created. This is what true justice looks like.”

Further Justice

We are going to skip and come back to verses 4 & 5 so let us look at verses 6 - 9. In these verses Exodus 23:6-9

Exodus 23:6–9 LSB

“You shall not cause the justice due to your needy brother to be turned aside in his case. “Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not justify the guilty. “And you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just. “And you shall not oppress a sojourner, since you yourselves know the soul of a sojourner, for you also were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

We see a continued emphasis on the equality of justice, only here this is a message to the judges themselves. The judges were given the responsibility of interpreting the situations of the people in light of the laws of God, In Leviticus they are commanded Leviticus 19:15 “‘You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you shall judge your neighbor in righteousness.” These four situations shown here once again indicate that justice is to be distributed according to Gods’ law in an impartial manner.

In the first instance we see a command that the judge not turn aside the case of someone just because that person is less fortunate. Again a reminder that socio-economic status should have no bearing on justice.

Next we see a command intended to instruct the judge to ensure that the innocent is found innocent, seems simple enough but what a great weight that is to bear. This command means that regardless of the situation, the pressure, the views of anyone, it is the judges absolute duty to ensure that the person who is innocent or righteous is not falsely accused. Note that this does not say that they are found guilty but that the charges themselves should not be brought until the truth of the situation is clear and the person is obviously guilty. Our justice system borrows this concept they use the words innocent until proven guilty, but even our system allows for charges to be filed in cases when there is not absolute surety. God’s law charged the judge with absolutely certainty, and that this certainty must be truly just.

The third of these three statements is not just in the context of a courtroom but in all cases in life, brides, or money to turn a blind eye to justice. We see clearly contained here this truth, do not accept brides because bribes subvert justice. Finally we see the last command to the judges, not to mistreat or unfairly treat a sojourner in the land, a visitor, someone who is not just like you, a foreigner or stranger. Again this command goes to the impartiality of justice. god calls to remembrance the judges past condition, that they previously had been strangers in a strange land, who were seen contemptuously, as less than, held in bondage and captivity.

All four of these situation call for judgments, but they call for those judgments to be impartial and unbiased and accomplished according to one standard and one standard alone, the Word of Almighty God. we live, even now, in accordance with that same standard. A standard of truth designed to guide our lives in all things, a standard by which one day, the entire world will be judged. A standard that the world stands in DIRECT opposition against. Remember, the purpose of the Law is not only to show that we are failures but to direct our lives as believers. To teach and show us through and with the power of the Spirit how we are to live a life that is marked by justice and truth. If we live by the standard of the Word of God it means that we have a responsibility to share the gospel with all those we come into contact with. Often times in those conversations, when they are done correctly, there will be a visceral reaction on the part of the unbeliever that leads them to conclude that we are judging them and then we get that one line of scripture that they all seem to think that they know. “Judge Not, lest you be judged.” However, I would argue that in order to live a life marked with justice and truth it is necessary to hold people accountable to the standard of God’s word. Apart from this standard and their recognition they cannot truly understand their desperate need for a savior. In Matthew 7:1–2 Jesus teaches that we are not to judge based on our own desires and inclinations, but rather by the sure and perfect Word of God ““Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. “For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you.” This does not state that we are not to judge at all, but that we are not to judge unfairly, remember, God’s continued focus here is on justice and justice means that we are in accordance with the standards and requirements of God’s Word.

The Depths of the Mark of Justice and Truth

As we established earlier, truth and justice are linked, and we are called to live lives empowered by the Holy Spirit that are marked with Justice and truth. Now the obvious danger here is that there be an individual who can live a life that seems to be marked in this way. A life that seems to be in accordance with the Word of God and filled with the power of the Spirit, that falls short, way short, of the true command here. In the midst of these 9 verses god gives us two verses that almost seem out of place, but that in truth, serve as a measure or indicator.

Multiple times in the New Testament we are warned about those who appear to be believers, who appear to be living in accordance with God’s Word, who will ultimately falter and fall away. Jesus teaches about these people in the parable of the sower, the writer of Hebrews deal with them, John describes them in 1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they were of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be manifested that they all are not of us.” People who are affected by the effectual call of God on their lives are transformed, not just on the surface, but deeply and abidingly, and the Spirit continues this transforming work from the moment of indwelling to the moment of glorification. We call this transforming work sanctification. As any believer should be able to attest sanctification can be a very painful process. Here in verses 4 and 5 we are given two examples of indicators of just how deeply ones life is truly marked by justice and truth.

The first is a direction on handling a situation with your enemy. Now, obviously, there much smaller chances today that we will encounter our enemy’s ox or donkey wandering and lost, but this applies much more broadly. In that culture both of these animals were of great significance and worth and if we encounter our enemy’s ox or donkey we may be tempted to say, serves him/them right and turn and walk away feeling justified because, they are after all, your enemy. The command here is to do the counter intuitive thing but to actually help your enemy by seeing to it that the animal is returned.

The second of these two examples deals with a little different situation in that this is a person who has a great dislike for you. It is important to note that the text here does not define your thoughts towards them but their thoughts towards you, and their dislike is not secret. Again, the temptation may be to leave the person and his donkey in this horrible situation. Let me elaborate a little, donkey’s are great pack animals, they can pull with great strength and carry a tremendous load, but what they cannot do very well is get up when a load is strapped to their back and they have fallen over. So the imagery here is that this donkey is trapped under a load and the owner is unable to help the donkey up by himself and the call is that you are to ensure that you help this person get the load off, the donkey up and the load re-situated. The word translated as release here can also be translated as restore.

So let me sum up these two instances, love your enemy… A life that is truly marked by justice will be one marked with equitable treatment of ALL regardless of race, gender, nationality, socio-economic situation or their standing in your eyes. The reminder here for you and I is that justice, true justice, is not always easy, it is certainly not always simple, but that there is still a demand on us to pursue justice. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus teaches that loving our enemy is an indicator of being truly set apart, an indicator as a true son of “your Father in heaven; for he causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

Conclusion

There is coming a day, a day that is described for us in Revelation 19:11-15

Revelation 19:11–15 LSB

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sits on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; having a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself, and being clothed with a garment dipped in blood, His name is also called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the wrath of the rage of God, the Almighty.

On that day, true justice will be served. All who have not believed will face the second death in the lake of fire, while those who have received salvation by grace through faith will finally grasp the full magnitude of what was accomplished at Calvary. Until that day, we as believers are called to live lives empowered by the Holy Spirit—lives characterized by obedience, justice, and truth. Are you living that life today? Have you placed your faith in Christ, repented of your sins, and turned from unrighteousness and injustice to follow Him?