God’s Justice
May 4, 2021 God, justice, justification No CommentsThe 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).