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
person who thinks he has enough pull in heaven to sin without being
judged, and woe to the Christian who thinks being a child of God will
make it easier on him if he follows the path of injustice. The Christian
ought to be the greatest example in the world of impartial justice, which is
free from all prejudice.
Prov. 18:5 says, "To respect the person of the wicked and be partial,
so as to deprive the righteous of justice is not good." It is not mercy to let
the wicked off if in so doing the innocent are deprived of justice. This is
not mercy, but injustice. In Prov. 18:13 we get another basic proverb to
guide in doing justice. "He who answers a matter before he hears the
facts, it is folly and shame to him." This is the biblical equivalent to our
American standard of justice, which says that a person is innocent until
proven guilty. It is always an act of injustice to make a decision without
the facts. Seneca, the pagan, even had this standard: "He who decides a
matter without hearing the other side, though he decides justly, cannot be
considered just." In other words, if you are right by chance and not by
facts you are still unjust. Cicero said, "Let us remember that justice must
be observed even to the lowest." Impartiality in justice is a standard of the
natural man.
This leads me to the conclusion that whatever is not just is not only
non-Christian, but anti-Christian, for it falls below the level reached even
by the unregenerate pagan. Doing justice and being just is a necessary
requirement to claim the promise of the security and protection of God.
An unjust Christian is a contradiction in terms. The question, of course, is
this: How can we be sure even after an impartial review of both sides of
an issue that we are choosing the right and just course? Verse 9 tells us
that this comes as a result of a diligent search for God's wisdom. All goes
back to the original requirements that Solomon laid down. Those basic
requirements are those of being receptive, retentive, responsive, and
aggressive in our search for wisdom. All is built on this same foundation.
The more solid the foundation the higher we build, and the stronger we
grow in all godly virtues.
Verse 9 says, "Then you will understand what is right and just and
fair-every good path." Notice that there is more than one good path.
Psalm 23 refers to being led the paths of righteousness. God's will and
way is manifold and various. There are a number of ways to follow in
being righteous and just, and the more we walk the better and broader will
be our experience in fellowship with God and other saints. This is saying
to me that the believer ought to be involved in many areas of life that
provide paths for doing what is just. Wherever justice is done there
should be believers involved. The very security of nations depends on the
reign of justice, and to leave it to the unbeliever is not only poor
stewardship before God, it is poor patriotism, for it surrenders the future
of the nation to the control of those who can be easily led to bring the
wrath of God upon the nation.
It is only because justice is a natural virtue, and capable of being
practiced by the unbeliever, that we have any hope at all in being rightly
governed by any except Christians. The pagan Romans built up a
wonderful system of justice that even served the cause of Christ, and saved
the Apostle Paul, but it did not last because of the corruption and
depravity of the men who administered it. The same thing happened to the
Jews before they were carried away captive due to the judgment of God.
In justice spell certain doom for any nation, and so those who preserve and
promote justice are the greatest of patriots.
Because these things are understood only after one has diligently
sought and persistently pursued the wisdom of God, it follows that we
must often look to those who are more mature in the Lord for guidance in
areas of which we have little or no knowledge. Young Christians must
learn to determine the reliability of authority. It is important to know the
man and his experience with Christ and his subject before you accept his
authority. John Boyle O'Reilly wrote,
What man would be wise, let him drink of the river
That bears on his bosom the record of time;
A message to him every wave can deliver
To teach him to crept till he knows how to climb.
Solomon did not expect his son to be wise by receiving his teaching,
but only after he had obeyed it. Nor will any of you arrive at this goal of
understanding until you begin to creep along the paths of righteousness,
gaining strength and wisdom until you can climb to the heights of the
mountain of righteousness and justice.
