IS JUSTICE AN ESSENTIAL PART OF GODS NATURE? by Richard Murray Here is a strange fact. The word justice appears nowhere in the King James New Testament, despite the fact that the word is used many times in the Old Testament. While other translations occasionally translate the Greek word dikaisyne as justice, the standard translation of dikaisyne is righteousness. Today, many demand justice from the hands of God. They want their enemies to pay for the wrong they have done. They somehow deny that what they really want is vengeance. They instead claim they want simple justice, as if that cleans up their motive. Rather than technically taking their own revenge, they just pray for God to lower the proverbial boom and destroy their enemies. God can do this either through natural or supernatural means. It matters not to those seeking so called justice. They crave GODS WRATH to execute GODS JUSTICE (at least what they consider to be the justice of God). The problem with justice is that it endlessly slides up and down the scale of deserve. Somebody claims somebody DESERVES something. My enemies DESERVE to be punished. They DESERVE justices penalty. I DESERVE justices reward. I DESERVE to be compensated because of a wrong done to me. I DESERVE this. They DESERVE that. The troubling part is that deserve doesnt appear to be a legitimate word in Gods New Testament Kingdom of Grace. In Gods economy, all is freely given without regard to merit. The deserving dynamic that justice appears to require is nowhere to be seen in the New Testament. This may be why the word justice is prevalent in the Old Testament, but appears nowhere in the New Testament, at least the King James version. So, if the English word justice is conspicuously ABSENT from the entire New Testaments most popular Bible translation, shouldnt we then question the role of justice in the New Covenant? Is the Greek word translated righteous ever to be considered synonymous in the New Testament with justice? At the outset, it should be said that defining justice in a way all can agree on is extremely problematic. One mans justice is another mans injustice. In Platos Dialogues, the wise Socrates punches holes in all the following proposed definitions of justice: speaking the truth and repaying what one has borrowed” (331d). “to render to each his due” (331e). “treating friends well and enemies badly” (332d). “to treat well a friend who is good and to harm an enemy who is bad” (335a). “justice is rendering to each what befits him” (332b). Justice is nothing else than the interest of the stronger” (338c). Socrates deconstructed theses definitions one-by-one to show how unsatisfactory they all were. These definitions simply cannot withstand the challenge of new times and the power of critical thinking. Socrates refuted them all by presenting counterexamples. For instance, if we tacitly agree that justice is related to goodness, to return a weapon that was borrowed from someone who, although once sane, has turned into a madman does not seem to be just but involves a danger of harm to both sides. Moreover, all the proposed definitions ultimately involve harming someone who acts unjustly, to which Socrates replies: it cannot be just to harm anyone, because justice cannot produce injustice (335a). In World War II, Hitler was the first to bomb civilian cities on a limited basis, but then Churchill retaliated by bombing civilian cities on a widespread and continual basis. Eventually, the United States dropped atomic bombs on two different cities----- thereby killing, maiming, deforming and/or irradiating hundreds of thousand of women and children. Was this justice? It seems that, sooner or later, all proposed definitions of justice stand on the eye for an eye concept, a concept Jesus definitely trumped as obsolete and no longer viable under the New Covenant. Matthew 5:38-39. Now, back to Jesus. If His life tells us anything, it reveals Jesus as a victim of INJUSTICE. What He suffered He did not deserve. He was innocent by ANY reckoning of justice. And yet, at His most abused and victimized moment, He declares the following: Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do! That is not justice. That is mercy. That is grace. That is love. Matthew 5:48, and the preceding ten verses establish that God the Fathers perfection lies in this: He always overcomes evil one way and one way only--- with goodness. He always blesses His enemies to overcome their evil. He endlessly turns the other cheek, walks the extra mile, gives the extra cloak, etc. And Jesus tells us to always do the same, to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. Now, what Jesus modeled for us and commanded to us is NOT justice by any human definition. Rather, it appears quite unjust on its face. Jesus commands grace, not justice. THE GRACE OF GOD OFFENDS THE JUSTICE OF MAN. We must believe that Gods way of disallowing evil is SOLELY through the Cross. Jesus did not return evil for evil. He did not become evil to stop evil. He did not dispense justice by becoming unjust Himself. Rather, He absorbed ALL our evil upon Himself, without judging us, without revenge or retaliation toward us, and without wrath returned to us. What justice is their in that? We end up NOT getting what we so richly deserve. Praise God, mercy triumphs over justice and judgment. For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoices AGAINST judgment. James 2:13. The Greek word translated as rejoices against in the above passage is κατακαυχάομαi and means to exult against (i.e. over):--boast (against), glory, rejoice against, to glory against, to exult over, to boast ones self to the injury (of a person or thing). What a great verse! Mercy boasts AGAINST judgment. Mercy glories AGAINST judgement. Mercy exults OVER judgment. Mercy boasts itself to the INJURY of judgment. MERCY AND JUDGMENT ARE MORTAL ENEMIES, BUT GUESS WHAT: MERCY CRIPPLES JUSTICE AND JUDGMENT! The bottom line is that we all need to drop our human notions and demands for justice outside the door of our hearts. What we call justice is usually just a veiled motive of eye for an eye revenge. Am I saying God does NOT want us living uprightly? Of course not. Am I saying God doesnt rejoice when He sees us treat each other fairly and honorably? Of course not. Am I saying that evil sowing doesnt beget evil Satanic reaping of oppressions and destructions galore? No, of course not. Am I saying that the governments rules of justice never provide a useful function to society? Certainly not. But, what I am saying is that God does not operate a tic-for-tac system of justice based on any human notion of just desserts. There IS a crooked cosmic cop looking to bust us for every single transgression, but its not Christ. Its Satan, the ACCUSER of the brethren, who prosecutes us day and night. Revelation 12:10. What does he use to prosecute us? Our carnal notions of justice and revenge--- the Dead Letter of the Law in other words. This is why the letter of the law kills (2 Corinthians 3:6), because it forbids and excludes mercy. Satan is behind every earthly condemnation and accusation. He is also behind our every merciless impulse and response. God, on the other hand, is behind our every impulse to forgive and turn the other cheek, to bless our enemies rather than to curse them, and to help rather than than to hinder them. So, what does the word righteousness mean if it doesnt mean earthly justice? Paul tells us in Romans 4:3 and 5, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness... Faith is counted for righteousness. Do you see? It is not what we DO that defines justice in Gods eyes, but rather on whom we BELIEVE. The former is living under the Law, while the later is living under Grace. Simply put, faith in Christ is the only justice we perform. Whatever is not from faith is sin, and thereby unjust. Romans 14:23. So, what about Gods nature? Is justice an essential part of His nature? The New Testament does NOT say God IS justice, but it does say God IS love. 1 John 4:8. Love, then, is the essential ground of His being. He certainly IS just, but that justness serves His love. Justice in the service of love restores victims WITHOUT avenging them. God is certainly fair, but He is much more than just fair. By all human standards, He INFINITELY MORE THAN FAIR. His over-fairness (by our standards of justice) should indicate to us that His justice is very different than ours. It is grounded on grace, faith, love, mercy, patience and restoration. These are the qualities that, as John Cougar Mellencamp sings,Help a man grow tall! Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord I will repay. So many quote this passage in cruel, hard and woeful tones, but ALWAYS omit the next verse so that the full contextual flavor of the passage is never conveyed. THEREFORE if thine enemy hunger , feed him ; if he thirst , give him drink : for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head . Be not overcome of evil , but overcome evil with good. Romans 12:19-21. Do you see? The purpose of the passage is NOT about threatening ourselves and others with destructive wrath, which is the way the first verse quoted above is mainly used today. Rather, the passage exhorts us to forsake destructive wrath in favor of the Fathers restorative wrath. The Lords way of vengeance and wrath is to overcome ALL evil with ALL good-- feeding hungry enemies, giving drink to thirsty enemies, blessing them, praying for them, and forgiving them freely. This dynamic overcomes evil with good by heaping coals of conviction on the enemies heads so THAT they will thereby repent and enter the kingdom of Gods restorative love. I propose that Gods restorative wrath and His restorative love are one in the same. The DAY OF JUBILEE and the DAY OF VENGEANCE are the same thing. Gods day of vengeance IS His day of restoration. Isaiah 61 describes the Lords restorative wrath. Where is the widespread and worldwide melting and mauling of the wicked millions here? Rather, does not this day of vengeance sound exactly like the restorative love of Jubilee? The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek ; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives , and the opening of the prison to them that are bound ; To PROCLAIM the acceptable year of the LORD , and the DAY OF VENGEANCE of our God ; to comfort all that mourn ; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion , to give unto them beauty for ashes , the oil of joy for mourning , the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness ; that they might be called trees of righteousness , the planting of the LORD , that he might be glorified . Isaiah 61:1-3. There is no violence described above, only full restoration. Loving well IS the best revenge! When Jesus declared that He Himself was the fulfillment Isaiah 61, He actually omitted the words day of vengeance from His recitation. Perhaps He knew how that word can be twisted by wrath-mongers and didnt want it corrupting His mission statement. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me , because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor ; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives , and recovering of sight to the blind , to set at liberty them that are bruised , To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4:18-19 Sounds good to me! But could this be true? Is this dynamic elsewhere stated clearly by Jesus? Oh yes! This was Jesus central message in the sermon on the mount. Ye have heard that it hath been said , An eye for an eye , and a tooth for a tooth : But I say unto you , That ye resist not evil : but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek , turn to him the other also . And if any man will sue thee at the law , and take away thy coat , let him have thy cloak also . And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile , go with him twain . Give to him that asketh thee , and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away . Ye have heard that it hath been said , Thou shalt love thy neighbour , and hate thine enemy . But I say unto you , Love your enemies , bless them that curse you , do good to them that hate you , and pray for them which despitefully use you , and persecute you ; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven : for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good , and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust . For if ye love them which love you , what reward have ye ? do not even the publicans the same ? And if ye salute your brethren only , what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so ? Be ye THEREFORE perfect , even AS your Father which is in heaven is perfect . ~~Matthew 5:38-48. The last verse is key. It instructs us to THEREFORE be PERFECT, even AS the Father is perfect. The therefore refers to the previous ten verses in which the Fathers perfection is explained. His perfection lies in this-- He loves, blesses, forgives and restores His enemies! Am I saying that the coals of conviction heaped on the enemies heads isnt painful? No, coals on the head hurt and I think nothing is more painful than seeing the gravity of our own self-centered evil. Am I saying that Gods purging flames dont singe, sting, sear and scorch? No, Gods fire is white hot and white holy. But, what I am saying though is that His fire ultimately saves us by overcoming all of our evil with all of His good. The church father Origen called Gods judging flames wise fire because they ultimately heal rather than harm. 1 Corinthians 3:13-15. The only word in the Gospels for punishment with regard to God punishing evildoers is kolasis, which according to Aristotle, who knew Greek word meanings better than anybody who ever walked the planet, said that kolasis is the kind of punishment which is inflicted in the interest of the sufferer, which means it is for the betterment or improvement of the person being punished. This is contrasted with timoria, which Aristotle said is the kind of punishment which is inflicted in the interest of him who inflicts it, that he may obtain satisfaction. (Rhet. 1369b13). The Gospels reveal a God who never punishes to gratify Himself, but rather punishes to heal and help the evildoers improve and be restored. William Barclay, who was professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at Glasgow University and the author of many Christian commentaries and books, including a translation of the New Testament and the very popular Daily Study Bible Series, traces the word kolasis back, through Plato, to an original term used to describe the pruning of trees back to allow fuller and healthier growth. Revenge motives are timoria, and only gratify the lust for an eye for an eye payback. But kolasis motives are always looking for a way to restore and repair that which is lost and broken. In his Commentary on Matthew 10.2, Origen, my favorite early church father, explained the the weeping and gnashing of teeth of those in fiery judgment as a form of repentance and sort of anger of the sinners against themselves, while in the furnace they are being purified. The Lord is the great physician with His motive for His surgical punishments always being restorative kolasis. Gods modus operandi is always to overcome evil with good. Loving well is the best revenge! Even the Lords punishments are healing. His vengeance is His virtue. Halleleujah! THE NUCLEAR POWER OF FORGIVENESS! Do you know why its best to turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, give the additional coat? Do you know why its better to pray for your enemies and bless those who curse and despitefully use you? Why are all these things better than eye-for-an-eye revenge, tooth-for-a-tooth retaliation and hate-for-hate cursing toward those who offend us? See Matthew 5:38-48. It is not JUST that turning the other cheek keeps us from sinning, although it does. It is not JUST that praying for our enemies is the noblest thing we can do, although it is. And it is not JUST that blessing those who hate, curse and despitefully use us makes us Christ-like, although it certainly does. No, the REASON loving our enemies is the best thing we can ever do is that it gives us the maximum POWER to ultimately overcome all their evil for THEIR sake. Let me put it another way. When somebody victimizes YOU with condemnation, hatred, cursing, lying, violence or betrayal, you know what you then become? You become the most powerful intercessor on earth for that PARTICULAR person. This is a Spiritual law imbedded by God in all creation. Whenever you are wronged, you are AUTOMATICALLY given EXTRA mojo, power, authority, anointing, and access to pray blessing and Holy Ghost conviction UPON the heads of the wrongdoers. The absolute best blessing you can pray for the enemy you have TRULY forgiven is to fervently and tenderly pray down conviction upon their souls, which Romans likens to hot coals searing their consciences with the urge and need to repent. I call these soul-coals. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Romans 12:20. An eye-for-an-eye spirit of condemnation, revenge and resentment against your enemies will HINDER and OBSTRUCT their conviction to repent. But, a turn-the-other- cheek Spirit of love and non-judgment will MAXIMIZE and OPTIMIZE the conditions for their Godly repentance to occur. Whereas an eye-for-an-eye spirit causes you to call down fire on your enemies, just as the misguided disciples did in Luke 9:51-56, the turn- the-other-cheek Spirit causes you to pity your enemies for they know not what they do. Luke 23:34. Talk about victims rights! We have the right and increased power to help save those who wrong us--- to save them to the uttermost from sin, Satan and themselves. God has weaved an invincible dynamic into creation that always gives those who are victimized the most powerful force in the universe to wield at their disposal--- forgiveness. But biblical forgiveness is not just mercy to graciously overlook the wrong. Biblical forgiveness in the original Greek language means complete deliverance for the sinner FROM the bondage to the sin itself. In other words, perfect forgiveness ULTIMATELY works COMPLETE deliverance. This power of good to ultimately overcome evil and thoroughly PURGE evildoers of all sin-bondages works absolutely and without exception. Sometimes it works quickly. Sometimes it works slowly. Sometimes it works in THIS age. Sometimes it will work in the age to COME. But it ALWAYS works. In our patience and faith in this Scripturally-promised dynamic, that of overcoming all evil with good, we will truly possess our souls as we count it all joy when we are victimized by persecutions. Luke 21:19; James 1:2-4. The reason we can rejoice is that IF and AS we truly forgive, bless and love our enemies, we are literally saving them from Satans clutches. But, on the other unfortunate hand, our toxic resentment and desire to retaliate against our enemies will only worsen the situation, both ours AND our enemies. It may well be that there is so little true deliverance FROM sin because there is so little true forgiveness OF sin by those who have been victimized. But, us learning to fully and actively forgive, JUST AS the Father and Jesus forgive, is the KEY thing we are now called to realize and walk in. Do you see? The strongest intercession FOR particular evildoers potentially comes from those who are victimized BY those same evildoers. This is why, Jesus liveth to make intercession for them. We are them. Jesus is our champion intercessor BECAUSE He became the champion victim. He turned His cosmic cheek the other way in love rather than retaliate against us in wrath. And because of this, He truly is all powerful in Heaven and earth. His mercy ransomed us from all evil. Jesus is easily the MOST victimized person to ever walk the earth. He was completely sinless, yet bore the full brunt of victimization for EVERY sin ever committed. He was victimized by all OUR misguided evildoing in thought, deed or word. Our mental, verbal, emotional and physical violence, all inflicted UPON Jesus at the Cross gave Him the the most powerful intercessory influence the world has ever seen. So, even if we fail to fully forgive, we still have a cosmic safety net---- Jesus! Jesus is the savior of the whole world, which in the Latin is expressed as Salvador Mundi. Jesus is the perfect intercessor, and His love shall not fail to eventually overcome and rescue all men trapped in sin. He shall overcome them with His flawless goodness, whether it be in this life or the next. But, lets dont just count on His safety net of mercy to make all things right in some FUTURE age. Lets join in the fray of forgiveness right HERE and NOW. As warriors of virtue, lets battle all wrath by learning to forgive with a vengeance! When we learn that Gods only vengeance is to wholly heal His enemies, then our hearts will be primed and ready to fight the good fight of faith.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 13:52:12 +0000
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