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 An online correspondence course A farmer once wrote a newspaper editor, "Sir, I plowed my field on Sunday, planted it on Sunday, I dressed it on Sunday, reaped it on Sunday, I carted the crop home on Sunday. My neighbors went to church on Sunday. And now, Mr. Editor, what is the results? I have more bushels to the acre than any of my neighbors have this September." The editor printed the letter and then added this comment -- "God does not settle everything in September." The writer of the letter had no conception of the justice of God. No man can truly know God until he comprehends this divine characteristic. An understanding here will help remove many of our problems regarding God's dealings with man. JUSTICE DEFINED. "By the justice of God we understand that universal rectitude of his nature, whereby, in his government of the world, he does all things with perfect righteousness, giving to everyone his due." (Burder.) Justice may be either remunerative or punitive. In the first case God rewards obedience. In the second case he inflicts punishment for sin and disobedience. But regardless of the nature of his dealings with us, what he does is always right. WHY GOD IS JUST. Previously we have learned that God is all-knowing and all-wise, that he is completely holy, and that he is all-powerful. These attributes make him absolutely just. His knowledge and wisdom assure us that he always knows what is right; his holiness guarantees his desire to do what is right; and his power insures his ability to perform what is right. God's justice is taught throughout the Bible. Jehovah assers through Isaiah, "There is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me." (Isaiah 45:21.) Moses declares that he is "a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." (Deut. 32:4.) Zephaniah states, "The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment (justice) to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame." (Zeph. 3:5.) UNDERSTANDING GOD'S JUSTICE. Often people ask such questions as, "Why did God create man so that he could sin?," or "Would a just God condemn a person to an eternal hell?" Sometimes those who have been afflicted with great personal tragedy blame God for their misfortune and may be heard to say, "I can't see the justice in it all." There are many things about the Bible and God's ways that we cannot completely understna.d Moses exhorted Israel saying, "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever." (Deut. 29:29.) But our failure to understand is not God's fault. The difficulty is that man is so limited in his knowledge and wisdom that he can no more comprehend all of God's ways than a five year old child can understand the theory of calculus. The Lord declares, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8, 9.) Paul states, "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord or who hath been his counsellour?" (Romans 11:33, 34.) The complete supremacy of the mind of God over that of man is further expressed, "The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men." (1 Cor. 1:25.) This being true, it is not our place as fallible, finite human beings to question the wisdom and justice of an omniscient God. If we cannot understand the workings of God let us reqlize that our lack of knowledge and wisdom, not his lack of justice, is responsible. A case in point is that of Paul who three times asked God to remove from him an afflication which he calls a "thorn in the flesh." No doubt Paul felt he would be more effective as a worker for God if this were done. The answer of God was, "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9.) Paul might have argued that God was unjust to allow him to heal others when he could not heal himself. Yet, when he learned that his thorn in the flesh would remain, he accepted the will of God and was able to understand the reason for his afflication, namely, that it was given him lest he "should be exalted above measure." (2 Cor. 12:7.) We can understand much of God's justice if we will first submit ourselves to his will, but if after so doing we still are at a loss for an explanation, let us realize that God is just, even though at the moment we may not be able to see how or why. DOES MERCY NULLIFY JUSTICE. The scriptures teach that God is merciful. They affitm that he is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9.) Some have difficulty, therefore in reconciling his mercy in saving man with the scriptural teaching of hell. They ask, "How could a God of mercy consign his children to an eternal, burning hell?" The fact that the Bible teaches that there is a hell should be enough for us and we should accept it as true even though we cannot completely understand it. However, we must realize that while God is a God of mercy, his grace does not contradict his justice. The mercy of God, as well as his love, is shown in the giving of his son to die for man. But the sacrifice of Christ also shows the justice of God. Mercy required that man be saved. Justice required that payment be made for his sins. Since man could not atone for his own sins it became necessary that another pay the price. Therefore, we read, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16.) When Christ died on the cross he demonstrated the mercy of God in making salvation possible for all men, but he also showed the justice of God in paying the price required by our sinfulness. Therefore, we must conclude that God's mercy is summed up in his giving Jesus Christ to atone for our sins. If we reject Christ, we reject the mercy of God, and the Almighty has no alternative but to punish us for disobedience. Furthermore, since he has informed us that the unrighteous will be cast into hell, he would be unjust if he did not reward the faithful with an eternal home. The terrible nature of hell should cause man to turn to God and no doubt that is one reason God has made hell so terrifying. A man who had been taught that there is no eternal punishment was once heard to say, "Well, if there isn't a hell I might as well go on living a life of sin because the worst that can happen to me is that I will cease to exist." No doubt many would make no effort to serve God if they were not aware of the awful consequences promised for a life of willful sin. GOD'S JUSTICE AND THE WICKED. Many people wonder why a just God allows the wicked to prosper, and the righteous sometimes to suffer. This was the problem of Habakkuk. The prophet asked God why he allowed evil to go unpunished. Jehovah replied that he was raising the Chaldeans to punish the Jews. Then Habakkuk asked why God would allow a terrible, evil people like the Chaldeans to punish those more righteous than they. God's answer was that there would be a day or reckoning for all and that the Chaldeans would eventually be punished for their sins. As the editor expressed it, "God does not settle everything in September." David wrestled with the same problem. He counseled, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prespereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass...For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall not be." (Psalm 37:7, 9, 10.) Jesus shows us in the parable of the talents that God's retribution against evil will await the judgment (Matt. 13) and Peter assures us that ungodly men shall be brought to an accounting in that day. (2 Peter 3:7.) THE POTTER AND THE VESSEL. In Romans 9 Paul raises several questions relating to justice. He asks why God hardened Pharaoh's heart when Israel was led out of Egypt by Moses. In answering he compares the role of God in making man to that of a potter making a vessel. He shows that as the potter can make a vessel to suit himself, so God, as the creator, can use us as he sees fit. It is not our place to argue with our maker. He reasons that Pharaoh was a vessel fitted for destruction, that is, he was of bad character, and that God simply used him to demonstrate his divine power. We know that when Pharaoh was placed in a certain set of circumstances his evil nature came to the fore. God may bear patiently with an evil man to display his power, but he never will make a good man do evil. WHY DOES GOD ALLOW MAN TO SIN? God, in placing man in the Garden of Eden, could have kept him from sinning by removing all temptation. Since death and suffering entered the world by sin, why did he not do this? The answer is found in the nature of man. God created us as free moral agents capable of choosing our own course. We prize our liberty and the right to make our own decisions, even though they may not always be wise. Rather than make us robots, God, in his wisdom, saw fit to give us a choie that we might serve him willingly instead of by compulsion. We are made in the image of God, but if our power to choose and think for ourselves were removed, we would cease to be patterned after him. LEAVING THE JUDGMENT TO GOD. Sometimes one will say, "If I were baptized, I would be condemning my parents." Naturally, we are bound by ties of love to our dear ones, even after they have died. But we must realize that when a person has departed, we can do nothing to alter his destiny. We know that the dead are in the hands of a just and merciful God and our primary concern should be for the souls of the living, including our own. Those who fail to obey the gospel because of a desire to justify their loved ones do not possess the honesty of the departed who might have obeyed the gospel had they known the truth. God will not have mercy upon us if we willfully flout his will. Let us remember that "every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12), and let us leave the judgment of others to our heavenly Father. True or false: T F 1. The knowledge, wisdom, holiness and power of God insure his justice. TRUE T F 2. Man is capable of understanding all of God's thoughts. FALSE T F 3. Paul accepted God's will when the thorn in his flesh was not removed after he had prayed three times. TRUE T F 4. Mercy and justice are contradictory. FALSE T F 5. God's mercy is summed up in the sacrifice of Christ. TRUE T F 6. The nation which God used in the days of Habakkuk to punish Israel was Egypt. FALSE T F 7. God always punishes evildoers immediately. FALSE T F 8. Pharaoh was an evil man before God hardened his heart. TRUE T F 9. Man was created as a free moral agent. TRUE T F 10. One who obeys the gospel condemns his parents if they have died without becoming Christians. FALSE Read the parable of the tares in Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43. Place an X before each statement which expresses a truth taught in this parable. Do NOT check those statements which may be true, but which are not taught in the parable of the tares:
Each statement tells us something about the justice of God. Each scripture below expresses one of these thoughts. Match the scriptures with the statements by writing the scripture location before the statement which is most nearly expressed in that passage. Each statement is used once:
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