Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity…for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness. (Psa 96:10,13 ESV)
The following is my effort to try to work out what true justice is from the counsel of Scripture, spurred on by the questioning of my brother Royce. My purpose is to first establish that God is just and as such defines what it means to be just. I see the justice of God in three manifestations: Jesus death that justifies us sinners, God’s promise to call every deed to account and to reward and punish accordingly, and finally the justice with which God deals with nations. Given that foundation I will move on to consider its implications for the justice that we are to display towards others as well as the justice we ought to expect from a government.
Before considering the justice of God it is necessary to understand our own sinfulness lest we deceive ourselves and find the truth is not in us. This understanding entails more than agreement that we are not perfect; it involves the realization that on our merits alone we have no business standing before the living God. The Bible takes for granted the sinfulness of man and I have no delusions that I will convince those who think themselves sinless. If we agree that we are sinful we recognize that we need mercy also, not merely justice. True justice, at its core, is characterized by equity: impartiality and fairness. But I would add that the equity God metes out goes deeper than mere outward acts; God looks on the heart and the attitude (1 Sam. 16:7; Matt. 5:27-28; Luke 16:10-15). His word is sharp, penetrating the soul and spirit and nothing in all creation is hidden from His sight, to whom we must give account (Heb. 4:12-13). Of course if we received equity apart from Jesus’ sacrifice we are in dire straits, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), there are none who seek Him (Ps. 14:2-3), and by works of the law no flesh will be justified (Rom. 3:20). For us, as human beings, justice slays us at life’s starting gate (Ps. 51:5). We were dead in our sins but God who is rich in mercy made us alive in Jesus Christ, being saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:1-9). Put simply, in the absence of an atoning sacrifice we stand before God as sinful and worthy of his wrath (
How then is God still just in justifying sinners? Why is it just for God to accept the suffering and death of the innocent, namely Jesus Christ, so that sinners might come confidently before the throne of God to ask for mercy and help in time of need? In response to this I forcefully state a part of the doctrine of the Trinity: Jesus is God. The Old Testament looks forward to the day when God, not man, will justify the people by atoning for them (Ps. 65:3, 79:8-9; Duet. 32:43; Isa. 43:25, 44:22-23, 48:20, 53:1-12); He does this in the person of Jesus. It is instructive to note that Jesus in fact means “God saves” (see Matt. 1:21). Since much has been written regarding this doctrine I’ll simply refer to John 1:1-14. Coupling the fact of Jesus deity with the understanding that our sin is first and foremost sin against God gives us the answer to the above question. David knew this very well when, after committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering Uriah her husband, he rightly cries out, “Against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.” (Ps. 51:4) The question is then answered: God is just in His mercy because He bears our sin; sin that is ultimately against Him. Thus He is uniquely able to uphold justice and show mercy by unjustly bearing our iniquities in the person of Jesus on the cross. In other words, the One whom we have sinned against chose to display His mercy by dying in our stead. It is crucial that we see that it was the offended party, God, who extended mercy; Jesus was not a random innocent man that God picked to die for the people, rather he was God himself.
