What Is Justice?

Jesus talked about injustice in the legal system in Matthew 10 when he warned his disciples to beware of the people who would arrest them, put them on trial, and punish them. When Jesus spoke these words to his disciples he already knew that he would personally become a victim of the unjust legal system of his day and that they would crucify him as a result.

And who does the Bible say is the lead prosecuting attorney in the court of heaven? None other than Satan himself. So the fact that injustice abounds in our legal system on earth should not be a surprise to anyone who is familiar with the teachings of the Bible.

Who Writes The Laws?

The problem with believing that following the law is the same thing as doing justice is that we have sinful, imperfect people writing our laws. And so every set of laws that has been written by man is guaranteed to be unjust to one degree or another.

Most people in the United States would be completely unwilling to live under sharia law. We are horrified when we hear of people who are beaten with whips in public for having sex before marriage. We are scandalized when we hear of the victims of rape being stoned to death as though they had committed a crime. We can't imagine people having their hands cut off for stealing or their head cut off for converting to a new religion. But these things are all happening to people who live under sharia law. And approximately one person out of every six in the world are governed by that set of laws.

And what about the United States? We elect our lawmakers on the basis of a popularity contest. There are no requirements of any kind that our lawmakers be trained or qualified to make our laws. So what makes us think that our laws are fair and just?

God Is Judge Over The Whole Earth

When the United States was first formed we had just come through a thirty year spiritual awakening that historians have named the First Great Awakening. At that time there was a general consensus in this country that the God of the Bible was the ultimate judge over the whole world.

People understood that all verdicts rendered in our human courts could and would be reviewed by God and that He would correct any errors made in these lower courts here on the earth. People also understood that in some cases God would punish the human judges who rendered the unjust verdicts.

In the early days of this nation it was common for judges to hold this philosophy. It caused them to judge more righteously. And that commonly held philosophy effected our courts in a positive way for many years.

This philosophy was still common nearly 200 years later. Even popular songs often spoke of the need to prepare for the coming judgment of God. Schools openly taught this concept. And people generally believed that we should all behave righteously. Good behavior was expected and rewarded.

And these people were correct in their philosophy. God is the judge of the Supreme Court of Heaven. His laws are the ultimate laws that we will be judged by.

Since the God of the Bible is the ultimate judge, our laws and our concepts of right and wrong must be in agreement with the teachings of the Bible or they are not real justice.

What Is Justice?

So, then, what is justice from a Biblical point of view?

Justice is the balance between punishing lawbreakers and showing mercy to lawbreakers.
Justice is asking the question: What can we do that will bring the best outcome and restore peace and tranquility to our society and to the people involved in this case?
It is asking the question: What can we do that will bring redemption to the lawbreaker and transform him into a productive, healthy member of society?
And when needs be, justice is removing permanently from society the lawbreakers that cannot be redeemed.

Why Is Justice Important?

So why is justice important? It is important because when the justice system gets out of balance, it causes severe social problems for that society.

Judicial Balance

In order to have true justice there must be a balance between punishing the lawbreaker and showing mercy to the lawbreaker.

These two must be in proper balance. If we lean too heavily in one direction or the other it will cause serious problems in our society.

If we lean too far toward MERCY, … then criminals will think they can get away with anything and we will have anarchy.
If we lean too far toward PUNISHING the lawbreaker, … then the government will think they can get away with anything and we will have tyranny.

Both extremes are harmful to our society and must be avoided.

For some time we have leaned heavily toward punishing the minor lawbreaker severely to the exclusion of mercy and letting the serious offenders go free with little or no punishment at all. And we are reaping the rewards of this imbalance.

There is a huge anti-incumbent mood and there are serious divisions in our country. People are openly talking about using their Second Amendment rights to fight our government. And some state legislatures have passed sovereignty resolutions similar to what the southern states passed before the Civil War.

If we do not restore justice and get our society back in balance again we will see bloodshed in the streets of America. And no reasonable person wants that.

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