Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne. (Ps 89:14)
O God Most High, You are just and justly angry at the sin you see in my heart. Teach me, as I love You, not to forget Your righteous judgments and, thus, not attempt to exploit Your kindness.
There once was a judge who presided over a county court. One day, the court tried a man for breaking into a mansion and stealing jewels worth a million dollars. Many witnesses testified against the man. Videotape showed him inside the house collecting the jewels and putting them into a bag. Fingerprints, DNA evidence, and a piece of clothing all pointed to the man’s guilt. The evidence was overwhelming, and the jury found the man guilty. However, the judge liked the man and felt that the crime wasn’t so bad after all — that this man was a good man despite his mistake — so when it came time to pronounce sentence, he let the man go.
What do you think of that judge?
I agree. I don’t see how anyone could defend the judge’s actions. The job of a judge is to administer justice. A judge who fails to do so is corrupt.
Now, I mention that story because it is a parable for how most people think of God. We like to think that we are not such bad folks. Yeah, we struggle with greed or lust or selfishness, but doesn’t everybody? I mean, we’re not any worse than the next guy. And, Oh yes, there were those times when we stretched the truth, but we had good reasons. And I almost forgot about the times when we slandered God in our minds and with our words, but He understands. And our worship of self, and our talking about our boss behind his back, and our angry outbursts, and our unwillingness to stand for the truth because our culture would laugh at us, and our desire for the praise of men instead of the praise of God, and our sharp tongue, and our bitterness for what mom did, and our failure to help the needy. We do all these things and more and justify ourselves in them. We rewrite what Scripture means to suit our desires. You know. The Bible doesn’t really condemn that behavior. It condemns only a particular expression of that behavior within a narrow context, and, of course, we do not fit that context or that expression. We are different. All of this is the human race. And when we think of God dealing with the human race, we often picture Him as a kind grandfather in the sky, someone who is there just to take us fishing or buy us donuts on Saturday mornings. God is a nice man who exists for me. And when we do admit that He is a judge, we often believe that He is the sort of judge who is quick to overlook an offense (especially our offenses, for our offenses are minor). Consequently, we too often believe that God will let us off no matter what we do. After all, He is loving, and isn’t that what love means?
Now this view of God we must absolutely throw in the trash. This view of God rips all of His justice away but still thinks it has God. This view of God is idolatry. It creates a god to suit our desires, as if the purpose of God was nothing more than to stroke our comfort. Let’s get this straight. God. Is. Just.
I don’t think anyone has problems with that statement. What people have problems with is how to interpret it. Of course, God wants us to interpret His justice in accordance with the Scriptures, not in accordance with our personal desires. We don’t get to pick and choose what justice is or does. When we reach the point where we acknowledge that our view of justice must come from Scripture, then we are on the right path. Therefore, the next step in this discussion of God’s justice is to explain what Scripture says about it. And since I have no more time for this week, we will have to put that off till next week.
