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The justice of God is commonly understood as the execution of His judicial sentences with regard to the conduct of mankind.  The basis of this justice is God’s Word (the Truth) which proceeds from His divine nature and will (John 12:48).  The justice of God relates to His righteousness.  The word justice (dikē) means, “what is right.” The only objective “right” is “truth.”  Without truth, there can be no justice.
Truth is not relative.  Truth by its very nature is objective.  The postmodern concept of truth as relative and so “fluid” is a false concept and must be rejected.  Truth is not a social construct.  Truth is not subject to change based merely upon a change in the definition of terms or a change in circumstances.  You cannot make a word mean anything that you desire for it to mean.  This is what is referred to as the Humpty Dumpty hermeneutic.  In the book, Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll, Alice meets Humpty Dumpty while he is sitting on the famous wall.  Humpty Dumpty said, “When I choose a word, it means what I choose it to mean; nothing more or less.”  This famous quote illustrates how some people use language.  They manipulate it so that they can deconstruct old meanings and reconstruct new meanings by changing the fundamental definitions of words to mean what they desire them to mean.  It is a form of manipulating what one affirms is the truth.  It readily lends itself to deception and equivocation. Truth is that which conforms to reality as God defines reality!
The Nature of God
Righteousness and so justice is a chief perfection of the nature of God.  Righteousness is a mandatory aspect of holiness.  God is holy (I Pet. 1:15-16).  Holiness is absolute purity.  God’s nature is free from the admixture of any evil.  God is sinless, virtuous, and righteous.  His holiness extends to all of His perfections which leads to all of His words and actions.  Consequently, the words that God speaks are holy (II Tim. 3:15).  The word of God reflects the very nature of God.  God always speaks and acts in harmony with His holy nature.  God is consistent in His nature.  He does not vary (is not changeable) James 1:17.  This is set in contrast to the fluidity of relative ethics or morality that is commonly advanced today and supported by those who affirm social justice instead of God’s justice.  God demands righteousness from His moral creature–man–which involves conformity to His holiness (I Pet. 1:15-16, “Be ye holy for I am holy”). God has a right to demand righteousness from us because He created us for His glory.  All unrighteousness dishonors God and mars the image of God that we bear as His creatures (Gen. 1:27).
The Retributive Justice of God
God hates sin (Psa. 11:4-5; Proverbs 6:16-19).  Sin is the antithesis of His holiness.  God visits non-conformity to His perfection (holiness) with penal loss or punishment.  “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, ad from the glory of his power” (II Thess. 1:7-9).  The word punished is from the Greek word dikē which means “what is right.”  It refers to justice.  God’s retributive justice will be executed on the ungodly and disobedient.  The disobedient are those who transgress His holy Will.  God will punish the evil doer.  The same Greek word is found in Jude 7. “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire” (the word vengeance is a translation of the Greek word dikē). This sets God’s justice in strong contrast to social justice which attempts to validate and exonerate sinful conduct as is manifested by LGBTQ individuals.  Jude 7 defines the sin of Sodom and Gomorrha as fornication and specifically as “going after strange flesh” a phrase that defines sexual activity between individuals of the same sex or homosexuality (see Rom. 1:26-27).  The just verdict of God against homosexuality is eternal punishment.
The Justice of God and Man’s Justification
In Rom. 3:23-26, Paul declares by the Holy Spirit, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation though faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.”  Justify is a legal term that indicates a person has been set free from sin, its penalty and practice.  To justify is to pronounce “not guilty.”  How can God give such a verdict and still be just?  The answer to this question lies in the atonement for sin.  The atonement for sin is a function of God’s love, mercy and grace.  It represents the distributive justice of God.  The atonement for sin was secured by Jesus Christ when He shed His blood on the cross (John 19:34).  Atonement means a covering for sin and sin is remitted or forgiven based upon the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross.  Forgiveness means that the debt incurred due to sin is completely eliminated.  The only verdict to follow those who are forgiven is “not guilty.”  Not only did the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross provide for atonement, but it also provided for appeasement of the wrath of God.  God’s wrath is appeased on account of the death of Jesus in the place of every sinner.  This is called substitutionary atonement and is part of the meaning of the word propitiation.  Propitiation involves remission of sins and appeasement of God’s wrath.  Paul writes, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Rom. 5:8-9).  Jesus took our place and dies in our stead. We are saved from the retributive justice of God through the distributive justice of God.  Those who are justified become the just (Rom. 1:16-17).  The just shall live by faith!   When are sins forgiven?  Peter answers this important question in his sermon that is recorded in Acts 2.  In Acts 2:38, he declares, “…Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”  Ananias told Saul (Paul), “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord” (Acts 22:16).  Peter declares, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (I Pet. 3:21).  When we obey the gospel of Christ, and are baptized into Christ, our sins are washed away (forgiven) and we become a child of God (John 3:3-5).  We wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14).  We are forgiven, redeemed, and justified (I Cor. 6:9-11).  What about the unforgiven?  All unbelievers are unforgiven.  If they die in their sins (John 8:24), they will face the wrath of God (II Thess. 1:7-9).  If they do not believe on Jesus Christ and obey His commands, they will be damned (Mark 16:16).  “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned.” “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time, his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:23-26).

Would you be willing to give your soul (be lost eternally) if it meant that your friends would be saved?  Only twice in the Scriptures do we have examples of men that said that they would be willing to be accursed from God in behalf of their brethren.
The First Example Is Moses
In Exodus 32:32, Moses is speaking to God and says, “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin–; And if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.”  Moses expresses a desire for God to be merciful to His people.  Moses had compassion for the people of Israel even though they had committed a great sin–idolatry–against God.  Why intercede for them?  Why agonize over their sinful condition?  Why seek God’s mercy in their behalf instead of God’s judgment?  Moses was merciful.  Moses was in fact reflecting the heart of God.  God reveals Himself to Moses as a merciful God.  In Exodus 34:6-7, the Bible says, “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, and forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the four generation.”  With this revelation, God imparts a new understanding of His heart to His people.  The lovingkindness of God is a golden thread that runs throughout the Old Testament and culminates in the sacrifice of Jesus for the sin of the world (John 1:29; John 3:16).  While God will punish the evildoer, He first extends mercy that leads to transformation of life.  If the people will repent of their sins, God will forgive them.  God plagued the people (Ex. 32:35) and three thousand died (Ex. 32:28).  God would not blot Moses out of His book of life in order to preserve the people.  He declares, “Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book” (Ex. 32:33). Moses’ intercession for the people was successful.  However, even Moses’ soul was not sufficient to redeem Israel.
The Second Example Is Paul
In Romans 9:3, Paul declares, “For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh.”  Paul expresses his love for his people.  His love for them produces an anguish in his heart for their salvation.  If Paul was accursed from Christ, would that save his people?  No.  Every person is individually accountable to God for his/her sin.  Paul’s love was not more potent than Christ’s.  Paul invokes a wish or desire.  He speaks a hyperbole to make a point.  His love for his people is real.  If one could sacrifice himself for the saving of his people Paul seems willing to do so, but even Paul knows that his sacrifice would not secure their salvation.  The exaggeration Paul made points to an even greater love already demonstrated.
The Greatest Example Is Jesus
In John 15:13, Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”  The greatest love known to man is the sacrifice of self in behalf of others.  Jesus gave His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).  Jesus died for those who were His enemies as well as His friends.  “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him” (Rom. 5:8-9).  Divine love transcends human love and so attains to the greatest love that the world has ever known!  Christ’s love is superlative love! It is unsurpassable love!  It is incomprehensible love!  “And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Eph. 3:19).  Moses’ offer and Paul’s desire pale in significance to the act of selflessness and sacrifice that Jesus demonstrated on the cross.  Moses’ offer to God was refused by God because it was not sufficient.  Paul’s offer expresses his ardent desire for the salvation of his people, but it, too, would not secure salvation.  Jesus’ sacrificial act is the only means sufficient to save men and women from the wrath of God.  The reason for this is that He is the Son of God and His blood is the only means of redemption.  Whenever we proclaim “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” we declare the love of God to all people. If you are waiting for a greater love than what Jesus has already shown, I’m afraid you will be disappointed and lost eternally.  Awake, thou that sleepest and open your eyes to the greatest love of all.

The Scriptures declare, “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb. 13:5).  This is a sacred promise made to those who are the children of God.  This promise rests upon the faithfulness of God and brings peace to the soul.
The song, How Firm A Foundation, whose author is unknown, has a stanza that reads, “The soul that on Jesus leaned for repose I will not, I will not desert to its foes.  That soul, though all hell shall endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!”  It is obvious that the hymn mirrors the promise given in Heb. 13:5.
The Substance of the Promise
In the English language, two negatives nullify each other.  In the Greek, a double negative, intensifies.  In Heb. 13:5, there are two double negatives and one additional negative for a total of five negatives.  God will never, never, never, no, never forsake His children.  A double negative is the strongest form of negation in the Greek language. Two double negatives in the same passage increases the intensity of the expression.  That makes Heb. 13:5 one of the powerful passages of Scripture in the Bible!
The Basis For the Promise
The promise given in this passage of Scripture rests upon two important aspects of God’s nature.  The first is His veracity (truthfulness).  God cannot lie.  “And also the Strength of Israel will not lie n or repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent” (I Sam. 15:29).  “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2).  “That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us” (Heb. 6:18).  When God speaks, whether by precept or by promise, His word is true.  The second, is His fidelity.  God is faithful. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (I Cor. 10:13).  The covenant keeping God promises to continually provide for His people.  The mercies of the Lord endure forever. God has never failed to keep a promise.  Our confidence is tied to God’s veracity and fidelity.
The Results of the Promise
The promise of God’s providential care reassures us and results in the following spiritual blessings.  First, we have peace.  The tension between covetousness and contentment is resolved.  Covetousness is the insatiable desire for more and more.  Contentment is satisfaction with God’s sufficiency (His grace) for our lives.  God’s promises gives us peace or tranquility of the soul as we trust in Him rather than uncertain riches.  Second, we have help.  God’s promise assures us that we will never stand alone.  The Lord is my helper!  “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16).
Third, we are supplied with courage.  “I will not fear what men can do to me.”  Fearlessness grows out of the precious promise that God will never fail us.  We have courage to meet the foe, to face temptations and trials, and to face death because God will always be with us.
A Christian never stands alone.  God has promised that He will never, never, never, no, never forsake His people.

The knowledge of God is essential to peace and joy.  The knowledge of God produces fear of the Lord which is the equivalence to obedience to God’s commands.  Where there is no knowledge of God, there is no fear of the Lord.  The fear of the Lord gives hope.  “Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy. To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.  Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name. Let thy mercy, O LORD, be upon us, according as we hope in thee” (Psa. 33:18-22).  God’s mercy and our fear of the LORD produce hope.  Without the knowledge of God, there is no hope!
An Old Testament Precept
“They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy” (Jonah 2:8).  Lying vanities are idols.  When we give up our knowledge of God, we are subject to idolatry.  Idols are lifeless, powerless, vain, and ultimately nothing (I Cor. 8:4).  To trust in idols is to abandon God. God is merciful, good, slow to anger, and gracious. When we abandon God, we forsake our own mercy because mercy comes from God.
New Testament Application
In Rom. 1:28-32, Paul shows some of the consequences of abandoning God.  “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient.”
The first consequence that follows abandoning God is that evil abounds.  A reprobate mind is one that cannot stand the test of righteousness that comes from God.  Thus, it fails and is rejected by God.  But, such a mind produces all manner of evil.  The five verses that follow v. 28 contain 23 sins named by Paul.  When men abandon God, they abandon all restraint from sin.  Instead, they indulge in sin and take pleasure in them that commit sin (Rom. 1:32).  Hosea declares, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee…” (Hosea 4:1-6).  Sin is always destructive.  Here is the list of sins enumerated by Paul:  filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, and unmerciful.  While this list is not exhaustive of every sin, it is representative of all types of unrighteousness.  When we abandon God, evil abounds.
The second consequence of abandoning God is impenitence.  Paul states, “Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom. 2:4-5).  The human heart, hardened by sin, manifests unbelief.  Consider these words of inspiration, “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13).  Sin hardens the human heart against the goodness of God.  No wonder Jonah said, “They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.”  Unbelief produces impenitence.  The human heart will not turn away from sin.  Impenitence results in being unforgiven.  When we abandon God, we forsake mercy.
A third consequence of abandoning God is condemnation.  Paul writes, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom. 1:18).  To “hold the truth” is to suppress the truth.  When we abandon God, truth is suppressed and lies abound. When we abandon God, we abandon truth.  “And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (II Thess. 2:10-12).  When we abandon the truth, our unbelief will result in condemnation before God. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16).  Our unbelief is a self-inflicted wound that will lead to self-destruction.  When we abandon God, we are hopeless!
When we abandon God, evil abounds, we are unforgiven, and without hope.  “Those that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy!”

Some of the essential elements involved in sustaining physical, human life are:  food, fresh water, air, sunlight and soil.  Without these, we simply could not live.  Have you ever considered the spiritual essentials to life?  Hosea reveals three spiritual essentials to life (both physical and spiritual) in Hosea 4:1, “Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, no mercy, and no knowledge of God in the land.”  What would it mean to live in a world without truth, mercy, and the knowledge of God?  Consider the following questions.  Aren’t many attempting to create a world without truth, mercy and the knowledge of God?  When we abandon God, we are creating such a world.  Are we more concerned about the physical environment than we are about the spiritual environment that we are creating?
No Truth
Without the truth, we would be in darkness.  We would be ignorant.  In order for a belief to be considered knowledge, it has to be true.  If it is information that is not true, it is a lie and not worthy of belief.  Without truth, we would be living in the vanity of the mind.  Paul said, “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.  Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness” (Eph. 4:17-19).  Truth may be defined as that which conforms to reality as God defines reality.  God’s Word is truth (John 17:17).  Truth is the basis for morality.  Without truth, there would be no morality.  There would be no standard of righteousness whereby we could discern between truth and error or right and wrong.  The consequence would be that anything and everything would be permitted.  Truth is the basis for justice.  If there is no truth, there is no justice.  The word just refers to that which is right according to the righteous standard that God has given to us through His revealed word.  A world without justice means that no one would be guilty.  There would be no restraint against the lusts of the flesh.  Lawlessness would result. Truth is the basis for freedom.  If there weren’t any truth, there would be no freedom.  The alternative to freedom is slavery.  Slavery to sin is the worst form of slavery (John 8:31-34).  Wouldn’t the absence of truth result in self-destruction?
No Mercy
Mercy is compassion for the human predicament that is expressed by lovingkindness, empathy, and tenderheartedness.  If there were no mercy, there would be no love of neighbor.  There would be only hatred and violence.  There would not be any hospitals or people to work in them.  Judgment without mercy would mean that there would be no mercy from God.  We would be left to face the wrath of God.  The absence of mercy would corrupt the human heart and set it on fire with wicked imaginations that would reach new heights of cruelty to others.
No Knowledge of God
Without the knowledge of God, we would be left with godlessness.  Evil would abound unchecked by anything good.  Every sexual perversion would be permissible.  Idolatry and Satanism would abound.  If there were no knowledge of God, then, there would be no good (Mark 10:18, God is Good).  There would be no life (John 1:1-5, God is Life).  There would be no Light (I John 1:5, God is light).  There would be no Love (I John 4:8,16, God is love).
The results of no truth, no mercy, and no knowledge of God would be:  chaos, self-destruction, corruption, violence, and every evil thing (the absolute control of the world by Satan without the possibility of redemption).  Such a spiritual state would result in the destruction of much of human life.  Would it be possible to live under such spiritual conditions?  If we abandon God, we will have no truth, no mercy and no knowledge of God producing the fear of the LORD which provides the restraint from the absolute indulgence of the flesh.  Without God, we would be miserable and hopeless.  Perhaps with this brief consideration of what life without God would be like, we can accept with complete gratitude what God has done for us through the revelation of His love in the unspeakable gift of His Son–Jesus Christ! “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). There is hope because there is a redeemer.  Jesus Christ is the hope of the world because He is the savior of the world (John 4:42, I John 4:14). There is hope for each of us because there is truth, mercy, and the knowledge of God!

Does God love everyone the same?  This question deserves some serious thought.  Is there any difference in God’s love for the world (John 3:16) and His love for His people (John 14:21-24)?  In John 3:16 and Rom. 5:8-9, the Scriptures teach God’s love for sinners.  But, God’s love for sinners does not save sinners if they do not love God and believe on His Son, Jesus Christ.
God’s Love For the World                                                                                                                                           God’s love for the world is manifested in that He:  (1) Sends the sunshine and the rain on the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:44-49).  (2) Sent Jesus into the world to die for the redemption of mankind (John 3:16).  Both reveal the general and unconditional aspect of God’s love.  God’s love is God seeking the highest good of each person by providing the essential things necessary to sustain physical life (creation) and to save man from the consequences of sin (redemption).  Just because God loves people in the world and has demonstrated His love in sending His Son to die in their behalf to obtain the means of atonement, does not mean that people love Him back.  Many do not love God.  Many do not believe in God nor heed His commandments.  In John 3:16, unbelievers will perish (eternal destruction, Matt. 25:46) even though God loved them, they will face His wrath.
God’s Love for His Children
God’s special love for His children is conditional.  Consider the words of Jesus in John 14:21-23, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.”
God loves those that love His Son, “he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father.”
We love Jesus by keeping His commandments (become His disciples or in other words a New Testament Christian).
Obedience to Jesus wins God’s love.
God fellowships those that love Him and His Son, Jesus Christ.  Notice, the world is not in fellowship with God because of unbelief.  Unbelief and disobedience are connected.  Lovelessness and disobedience are connected.  God does not fellowship unbelievers or the disobedient.
God has a special love, a covenantal love, for His people.  This is God’s lovingkindness toward those who love and obey His Son.
God is Father spiritually only to those in covenant relationship with Him.  Gal. 3:26-27; I John 3:1-2.  “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:26-27).
God’s promises and spiritual blessings belong to His people (Rom. 8:29; Eph. 1:3).  All spiritual blessings are in Christ and so, outside of Christ there are no spiritual blessings and no hope of eternal life (Rom. 6:23; Mark 16:16).
Summary
Those who love God win God’s special love (covenantal love).  Those who love Jesus Christ win God’s special love.  Those who are obedient to Christ win God’s special love.  God loves His people with a special love that He does not love the world with.  Consequently, God loves the world in a different way and in a different sense than He loves His children.  God is in intimate fellowship with His people whereas He is not in fellowship with the wicked of this world.

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28-29).
“Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do” (Heb. 4:13).
There are two reactions that we can make as we live in the presence of God.  The first is irreverence and the second is reverence and godly fear.
Leonard Pitts Jr. illustrates irreverence when he wrote exposing Jeffrey Darnell Paul who portrayed Martin Luther King Jr. as a “playa” holding up $100 dollar bills while a scantily clad women looked on.  Pitts wrote, “Irreverence is not the liberating of the American mind, but the calcifying of the American heart against anything sacred” (Jan. 16, 2012, Columbus Dispatch).
-Irreverence leads to the death of civility.
-Irreverence produces a tyranny all its own.  A ban against holding up anything above the fray, or regarding anything as too sacred for too long.
-Irreverence violates the Golden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you).  When we mock and ridicule leaders that deserve our respect, then we lower the bar for everyone.
Cindy Brandt gives some examples of irreverence in Irreverence is the New Reverence (Huffington Post, 7/22/2014).  First, Nadia Bolz-Weber, minister of a Lutheran Church in Denver, CO, who is heavily tatted and foul-mouthed.  An obvious example of the “double-minded” (James 1:8) who mocks her own religion with her faulty character.  Second, Jamie the Very Worst Missionary (a female) whose voice contains crude humor and who quoted God as using profanity.  She mocks the holiness of God with such depictions.  Third, some Facebook pages: “Unvirtuous Abbey”; “Stuff Christian Cultures Like” which is a page that exists solely to brutally mock Christian culture.
-Irreverence manifests impiety towards God.
-Irreverence consists of disrespectful attitudes and actions.
-Irreverence toward God is blasphemy.
-Irreverence is disregard for the authority and character of a superior.  There is no higher authority than God.
Reverence is respect for the authority and character of those who are superior in rank or position.
Reverence for God combines the fear of God with the love of God.  Reverence for God involves an understanding of His power to punish the evil-doer, but, also, His great love and mercy toward them that love Him.
Reverence is indispensable to true religion.  Charles Simmons rightly observed that, “Reverence is the very first element of religion; it cannot but be felt by every one who has right views of the divine greatness and holiness, and of his own character in the sight of God” (Christianity Then and Now, Jan. 1, 2012).
There are several glimpses of reverence in God’s Word.  Each involves a deep sense of understanding that we live in the presence of God.
Moses’ call to the prophetic office is given in Exodus 3:1-6.  Moses sees the burning bush and is instructed to take off his shoes for the ground upon which he was standing was holy.  In the presence of a holy God, we have a keen sense of our own unworthiness.
In Exodus 32:19, Moses displayed reverence for God by his zeal for the Lord.  When Moses sees the sin of the people of Israel after receiving the Ten Commandments from God, he is filled with anger and breaks the tablets of stone.  Zeal for God is produced by reverence for God and His laws.
During the period of the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, Ezra was instrumental in guiding the people spiritually to return to the Lord.  In Nehemiah 8:5,9, he reads the Law of God.  When he reads the Law, all of the people stood up.  When he finished, they all wept.  Reverence for God produces respect for God’s Word.
Nehemiah helped Ezra in the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the 70 years of Babylonian captivity.  In Nehemiah 1, Nehemiah learns of the condition of the city of Jerusalem from his brother, Hanani.  He wept, fasted and prayed.  Reverence for God motivates us to intimacy with God.  In face of the task of the rebuilding Jerusalem, Nehemiah sought God first.
When David sinned in conceiving a child with Bathsheba, he received word from the prophet Nathan that the child would die.  David prayed and fasted until he learned that the child died.  Immediately, he washed himself and entered into the house of God to worship.  Reverence for God gives God the glory even in the face of God’s chastening.  The reverent heart seeks to glorify God at all times.
The Roman soldier at the foot of the cross experiences all of the miracles at the time of Jesus’ death.  He hears the seven sayings of Jesus while He was on the cross.  At the end, he says, “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39).  The persuasive power of God intervening in human history produces reverence for God that expresses itself in confession of God’s Son.
-Reverence for God is a feeling evoked by the Glory and Holiness of God.
-Reverence is the result of understanding in the fullest sense who God is.
-Reverence produces in us a strong feeling of unworthiness in God’s presence.  It produces respect, humility and submission to God.