God is Just
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We are now in our third week of our series “Who is God?”
So who is God?
The Bible, God’s Word, tells us what God is like and what He is not like.
Without the authority of the Bible, any attempt to explain God’s attributes (inherent qualities) would be no better than an opinion, which by itself is often incorrect, especially in understanding God (Job 42:7).
7 And so it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.
To say that it is important for us to try to understand who God is like is a huge understatement.
Failure to do so can cause us to set up, chase after, and worship false gods contrary to His will (Exodus 20:3-5)
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
So it is very very very important to know who God truly is.
So far we have seen God of the Bible as being.
Personal
Holy
Today we are going to see Him as a righteous and just God.
God is Just
God is Just
Let us continue in Ps. 37 where Mike left off at v.6
6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday.
7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret—it only causes harm.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the Lord, They shall inherit the earth.
10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more.
11 But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
12 The wicked plots against the just, And gnashes at him with his teeth.
13 The Lord laughs at him, For He sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn the sword And have bent their bow, To cast down the poor and needy, To slay those who are of upright conduct.
15 Their sword shall enter their own heart, And their bows shall be broken.
16 A little that a righteous man has Is better than the riches of many wicked.
17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, But the Lord upholds the righteous.
18 The Lord knows the days of the upright, And their inheritance shall be forever.
19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.
20 But the wicked shall perish; And the enemies of the Lord, Like the splendor of the meadows, shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away.
21 The wicked borrows and does not repay, But the righteous shows mercy and gives.
22 For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, But those cursed by Him shall be cut off.
23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand.
25 I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.
26 He is ever merciful, and lends; And his descendants are blessed.
27 Depart from evil, and do good; And dwell forevermore.
28 For the Lord loves justice, And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
29 The righteous shall inherit the land, And dwell in it forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, And his tongue talks of justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart; None of his steps shall slide.
32 The wicked watches the righteous, And seeks to slay him.
33 The Lord will not leave him in his hand, Nor condemn him when he is judged.
34 Wait on the Lord, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
35 I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a native green tree.
36 Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more; Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.
37 Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace.
38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in the time of trouble.
40 And the Lord shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, And save them, Because they trust in Him.
When justice is spoken of in biblical categories, it is never as an abstract concept that exists above and beyond God, and to which God Himself is bound to conform. Rather, in the Scriptures, the concept of justice is linked with the idea of righteousness, and it is based on the internal character of God. The fact that God is just means that He always acts according to righteousness.
Theologians make a distinction between the internal righteousness or justice of God and the external righteousness or justice of God. When God acts, He always does what is right. In other words, He always does that which is in conformity with justness.
In the Bible, justice is distinguished from mercy and grace. You should never to ask God for justice, because they might get it. If we were to be treated by God according to His justice, we would all perish. That is why, when we stand before God, we plead that He would treat us according to His mercy and grace.
Justice is important to us.
Imagine that Adolph Hitler had been found alive, hiding in Germany, and was brought before a judge. His crimes took nine hours to read, but, at the end, the judge said, “I see what you’ve done. Millions murdered. But I think you’ve learned your lesson so I’m gonna let you go.” He banged the gavel and cried, “Not guilty!”
What rises in your heart when you consider such a scenario?
That emotion is outrage at injustice. We know the verdict is not just, and it feels intolerable to us. Evil requires an equivalent punishment. We inherited that sense of justice from our Creator, because He is just.
People get confused, when considering this alongside of God’s mercy and grace, because grace is not justice. Grace and mercy are outside the category of justice, but they are not inside the category of injustice.
There is nothing wrong with God’s being merciful; there is nothing evil in His being gracious. In fact, in one sense, we have to extend this. Even though justice and mercy are not the same thing, justice is linked to righteousness, and righteousness may at times include mercy and grace.
The reason we need to distinguish between them is that justice is necessary to righteousness, but mercy and grace are actions God takes freely.
God is never required to be merciful or gracious. The moment we think that God owes us grace or mercy, we are no longer thinking about grace or mercy.
Our minds tend to trip there so that we confuse mercy and grace with justice. Justice may be owed, but mercy and grace are always voluntary.
That is why God voluntarily became flesh, to live out His righteousness through flesh in order that righteous flesh would pay the debt owed in the flesh sin came by flesh “wages of sin is death”, justice was satisfied once and Jesus became our substitute. 2 Corinthians 5:21
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Because justice has been satisfied, God pronounces “not guilty” upon all those who are in Christ (Romans 3:24),
24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
and to all who will call on His name
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
Justice now insists that, once a sin has been paid for, it cannot be brought up again. When our sins are under the blood of His sacrifice, God holds them against us no more (Romans 8:1; Colossians 2:14; 1 Peter 2:24; Isaiah 43:25).
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
25 “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
God remains just; He is not violating His own code of justice by pardoning those who deserve its consequences. Salvation IS a just consequence because God has pronounced Jesus’ death and resurrection sufficient to satisfy His wrath.
The curse of the Law that we justly deserved has been taken by Jesus on the cross (Galatians 3:13).
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
God is just, and His justice is an indispensable part of His character in the same way that His love and mercy are indispensable.
Without His justice, sin would run unchecked. Evil would win. There would be no reward for obedience. We could not respect a god who was not just.
Micah 6:8 summarizes the top three qualities God wants to see reflected in us:
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?