A Simple, Straightforward Guide to the Justice of God
**Part of The Nature of God: A Quick and Dirty Guide series.**
In short, God’s justice means He will correct the abuses of the oppressors and meet the needs of the oppressed.
Let’s see how we got to this point.
What Is Justice?
The idea of justice is twofold.
1. Justice is giving to society and the needy the basic rights and benefits they require to survive.
2. Justice is punishing those who exploit, oppress and withhold basic rights and benefits from society and the needy.
Who are the needy?
The Bible explains the needy as widows, orphans, resident aliens, wage earners, the poor, prisoners, slaves and the sick.
What are the basic rights and benefits? Land, food, shelter and clothing.
God’s Justice Restores People to Community
Events like the Jubilee Year are symbolic notions of justice–it demonstrates God’s desire for people to be in community.
In the Jubilee Year, which occurred every 50 years on the Hebrew calendar, slaves were to be released from their masters…debts were to be canceled…and property taken due to foreclosures was supposed to be returned.
The point: everyone and everything that’d been separated could now return to their families.
God’s Justice Restores the Oppressed
and Punishes the Oppressor
The prohibition against interest on loaned money was another notion of God’s justice. He didn’t want people to get buried by debt growing out of control through interest.
In addition, those devastated by natural disaster, the economy, old age or disease were also looked upon by God with compassion. Restoring them was part of his justice.
And finally, the part of justice that we commonly understand is the punishment handed out to exploiters. The book of Job decries the injustice of depriving people of economic and material needs–or taking advantage of them.
God’s Justice Is Seen in the Due Process of Law
In America law, due process is a concept of fundamental fairness.
Due process ensures someone isn’t deprived of life, liberty or property without fair opportunity to defend themselves. It also demands equal protection to all persons–no matter race, religion or sex.
The basic concept of due process–and it’s connection to righteous judgment–can be seen in Deuteronomy 16:18-20 where perversion of justice, partiality or bribes are prohibited.
Any of these things subverts the cause of justice.
God’s Justice Makes Him the Defender of the Oppressed
As the independent and sovereign creator of the universe, God is just. Psalm 99:4 says:
“The strength of the King loves justice; You have established equity; You have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob.”
God becomes the defender of the oppressed, savior of the humble and the hero of orphans and widows. Thus, justice is universal and becomes the source of all human justice.
The Human Agent of Justice
The most prominent human agent of justice is the ruler. Whether king or president, he receives God’s justice…and is a channel for it.
Furthermore, God demands from the ruler–Christian or pagan–that he care for the needy groups of society.
In fact, this is true for anyone who bears the name of God–we must show justice through such acts like obedience to the commandments.
Your Turn
So, tell me, are you being just? Are you reflecting the nature of your God? In a nutshell, are you obeying God’s commandments?
Hard questions, for sure. But worthy of examination. Especially since non-Christians tend to reject Christianity because of hypocrisy. Let me know what you think.
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14 Comments to A Simple, Straightforward Guide to the Justice of God
Desiring to treat others justly is a byproduct of the new birth. My difficulty is with implementation of that desire. To paraphrase Paul’s stated dilemma (Rom.7:15-24), I find myself feeling a desire to be numbered among the needy and wanting to demand justice towards me from others, instead of rejoicing in the fact of my eternal justification in Christ (Rom.5:1-5) and myself treating others justly. Wretched man that I am!
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It is a daily, hourly, moment by moment exercise to recount the scriptural realities of my redemption at infinite cost, and its enduring fruits, and to apply these truths to whatever situation is at hand. As I am bombarded with the input of all my senses, and as society and satan apply their spin to that unceasing barrage [can you spell "spiritual warfare?" (2Cor.10:3-5)], I must call upon the living God to refresh my knowledge of the Truth as it is in Jesus through the words of the holy Scriptures (2Cor.4:18). If I don’t KNOW what God has done, I can’t remember and recite and act in light of what He has done, and I won’t be able to ask God to forgive my debts to Him and others as I forgive others’ debts toward me (Matt.6:12).
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Thank God this implementation of Scriptural spiritual reality is not dependent upon my strength or skills, else I would be doomed. But it is the action of faith (2Cor.5:7, Gal.2:20), which is the gift of God through grace and is performed in me [every believer] by Christ Jesus himself (Eph.2:8-10), that all the glory may be His (1Cor.1:29-31; 2Cor.4:7, 10:17)!
alApril 2, 2009
Uh… yeah– so, to answer your question, I try to be just, fail often, am often convicted of same by the faithful Holy Spirit, and (sooner or later) repent of my self-centeredness and straighten things out if possible.
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Sorry for rambling…:(
So if you take Deuteronomy 16 seriously, do you also take Deuteronomy 13 seriously? How do you square that with modern morals?
This discussion reminds me of this chart I stumbled on the Intarwebz:
http://image037.mylivepage.ru/chunk37/353128/350/x_3131c119.jpg
All I can say is, if God wants me to kill someone for justice, I have to think twice about it.
Demian FarnworthApril 2, 2009
Eshu, you sly devil. You’re beginning to make me think you’re Bible only has one book in it: Deuteronomy. 
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Anyway, who’s saying I’m taking 16 literal? I certainly wouldn’t take 13’s commandments literal either. The same way I’d say we don’t take the OT dietary laws literal. Or OT ceremonial laws literal. Or the NT custom of women wearing headdresses literal.
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You have to understand that when dealing with these texts you walk away with the applications, the principles. In 16, the principle of due process. In 13, protect and preserve yourself from apostasy.
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Eshu, you have this weakness for wanting to make literal interpretations of every page of the Bible. This can be cured with a good book or two on hermeneutics. That is if you’re serious.
Demian FarnworthApril 2, 2009
Rudy: Geesh, man…who’s side you own?
alApril 2, 2009
Rudy, thanks for sharing that chart– I love it! What do you deduce from it? Tell me yours & I’ll tell you mine… 
@Demian: I’m on Christ’s side. Of course!
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@al: The chart is just another Christian-haters’ way of taking the bible out of context. I always find arguments about the Bible revolves around the old Testament, where it’s all fire & brimstone. Conveniently ignoring the New Testament where Jesus came to this earth to save our lives because of God’s love.
alApril 2, 2009
Thanks Rudy. The reason I love the chart is because it’s true, regardless of what unregenerate minds seek to make of it. Hannah’s prayer includes, “The LORD kills and makes alive” (1Sam.2:6), reflecting Dt.32:39’s “See now that I, I am He, and there is no God besides Me; it is I who put to death and give life…”
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Satan is but a tool in the hand of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will. Who that knows God would deny that He kills, and does so with intricate discrimination? Didn’t Jesus warn us of the same (Mt.10:28, Lk.12:5)?
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The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and of knowledge.
If I really look at it, I am not being just. The truth is, I have supported World Vision and the International Justice Mission. I have given clothes and food to the needy. I have shared the Gospel in Mexico City. I did these things out of love for God. I do things out of love for God.
However.
I often ignore and neglect my neighbor. Not my international neighbor, not the neighbors I will never see again, but the ones who live right next door to me. The Jehovah Witness and his wife, or the gossipy old lady and her husband. I ignore them. I am the pastor of a church and I have never invited them.
In this case, I am not loving my neighbor.
I am afraid of them.
Demian FarnworthApril 3, 2009
Don: You’re not alone. I’m afraid of my neighbors , too. Each year I vow to nurture and get close to them. Each year I hardly know them again. Same with my family. Keep this in mind: Jesus’ own family rejected him. We’re in good company.
alApril 3, 2009
Careful to not oversimplify, Demian. Jesus’ family didn’t reject Him because He covertly feared them, but because He overtly lived entirely for God in their presence. They must have felt shamed (and probably confused) by His holy and utterly just and righteous behavior.
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Don and you and I fear our neighbors, acuaintances, and family members for very different reasons: We know we are sinners, and we fear that they view any overt testimony to Christ on our part as being hypocritical. We are afraid they see through us, and that makes us feel ashamed.
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The question is: Are we hypocrites?
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Key to our answer is the realization that hypocrisy is not merely toward others, but simultaneously toward God and self as well. I can only promise to be as honest with you as I am with myself in God’s presence. If I can deceive myself into justifying my thoughts, behavior and words, I will act out those deceptions before God’s face toward you and anyone else.
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True Christianity is discipleship to Jesus Christ, and not a scripted performance. As long as we try to behave as we think we are “supposed to,” our testimony is a sham. I can’t write an article on this here, but consistent, effective, fervent prayer about applying the Scriptures to our daily living for Christ’s glory and for others’ sakes is the springboard. And remember, Jesus defines our neighbors not as those who live nearby or treat us nicely, but as those toward whom WE behave neighborly, after the Samaritan’s example!
Demian,
“This can be cured with a good book or two on hermeneutics. That is if you’re serious.
Aww, more classes? C’mon sir, I’ve read heaps of theology! Then again, if the alternative is hours of study, maybe I should reconsider my recalcitrant atheist ways after all!
Seriously, though. I presume you’ve been serious enough to conduct a hermeneutical exegesis scriptural interpretation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Vedas and the Qur’an? You didn’t just dismiss them out of hand?
More importantly, what kind of book is so poorly written that, if you don’t spend hours consulting other books to interpret it properly, you could come away with the impression that killing people who hold a different religion is acceptable, necessary even? Isn’t that a slightly irresponsible way to write a book?
Is the Bible only safe in the hands of experienced theologians? I’m not making it up, this stuff is really in the Bible and not just the OT, in the NT Jesus says,
Luke 14:26 “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”
Matt. 10:34 “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.”
Demian FarnworthApril 4, 2009
Eshu, I’m curious: What does Luke 14:26 and Matthew 10:34 say to you?
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April 2, 2009