The Paths Of Righteousness Series

A study of God's nature as just and righteous leads to the conclusion

that one of our popular explanations of things is not true. We have all

heard the saying that God loves the sinner but hates the sin. It sounds

good and seems to be a helpful way of explaining God's attitude to man. It

is purely theoretical, however, and it has little practical value, for sin is

never distinct and separate from the sinner, and so when God's righteous

judgment falls it always falls on the sinner, and not on the sin. There is no

way to condemn abstract sin and separate it from the sinner. We only play

with words when we say God does not hate the sinner, for by His very

nature He must hate the sinner, for the sinner is the source of the sin. Psa.

5:5 says clearly, "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity."

Numerous are the text where God is said to hate, not abstract evil, but

the persons embodying that evil. The Jewish mind never cared to consider

the abstract, but always the concrete. The result is that the Old Testament

does not leave you guessing as to what God loves and hates. Justice and

righteousness are the practical manifestations of God's holiness in relation

to His creatures. Righteousness is more subjective, and it is what one is in

him self, while justice is more objective and is what one is in relation to

others. Psa. 97:2 says, "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of

His throne." They become absolute essentials in God's relationship to man

and in His revelation to man.

As justice, God is bound to punish the unjust. There can be no

arbitrary action on the part of God, and He cannot require less from men.

They must do justice or be themselves unjust and subject to His just

judgment. The mercy and grace of God do not change this at all, for His

mercy always works justly, and even in the great act of redemption

through Christ not a single sin escaped, but all were laid on Christ. God is

just and eternally so, and so this becomes a major aspect of our knowledge

of God. It is an absolute, for there is nothing optional about it. We

sometimes get the impression that Jesus did away with the strict

requirements of justice and righteousness, but this is not so. He said that

unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees we

could not enter the kingdom of God. The New Testament Gospel of

salvation by grace through faith does not in the least lower the

requirements for just and righteous living.

What Solomon says here to his son is as true and relevant to us as

New Testament believers. In verse 8 he writes, "For he guards the course

of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones." This is a

continuation of his showing his son what security there is in walking

uprightly. He gives a clear impression that God and man must be a team

or the game of life will never be won. God's canopy of protecting grace

does not cover the way of the world. It does not guard the path of iniquity

and injustice. If you walk in those paths you are subject to all the dangers

of Satan and other evil forces, and also the danger of God's just wrath.

God is no respecter of persons. If His own transgress, even though He

loves them, they must suffer judgment.

What this means for practical every day life is that the believer must

always be on the right side of justice. David Crockett said, "Be sure you

are right, then go ahead." Henry Clay said, "I would rather be right than

be president." This must be the attitude of every believer. Nothing less

than truth and justice is Christian. Any good pagan can be just, but the

believer must be just or he walks where God does not guarantee to protect

him. F. W. Faber wrote,

For right is right, since God is God,

And right the day must win.

To doubt would be disloyalty,

To falter would be sin.

In every issue of life the believer has only one question to answer to

determine the will of God, and that is, what is right and just? Not, what is

the majority for, or what is best for the majority, or what is best for me

and my group, but what is just? Justice takes precedence over all other

considerations. Addison said, "Justice discards party, friendship, kindred,

and is therefore always represented as blind." Objectivity is essential to

true justice, and this has its biblical base in the fact that God is

represented as being impartial and without respect of persons. Woe to the