The Justice and Righteousness of God
Day 22
by Gini Crawford, MSW
Justice and righteousness embraced love
Justice and righteousness are characteristics of God. He is always perfectly consistent with His character, so He cannot be unjust or unrighteous. God is the final standard of what is right so His justice is always righteous. Since God is just, He rewards righteousness but punishes unrighteousness which is sin. If He did not, He wouldn't be a just and righteous God. (Deuteronomy 32:4; John 17:25a).
If you have studied sociology, you will notice that societies have their own versions of justice and righteousness. They will structure their laws on what they perceive as right and wrong, and execute justice accordingly. However, justice in societies can be very unfair, full of prejudice and certainly not righteous. An example that comes to my mind is, the Communist Party in China is imprisoning the Uyghurs because they fear their religion. Sadly, I would guess some of you have experienced your society's unfair justice. Yet God's righteousness and justice are always right and fair - never unloving like human's can be.
To be frank, God would have been just and righteous if He chose to leave us in sin awaiting eternal punishment. God is sovereign so He can do what He wants. Remember, God didn't spare the angels when they sinned but cast them into hell (2 Peter 2:4). Yet, God didn’t create us for hell but for eternal life with Him. Just think of the first chapters of Genesis. There is no way God would have let the people He created and loved be punished eternally and separated from Him. All who go to eternal death and punishment have sadly chosen their own justice and righteousness, instead of God's righteousness and justice through believing in Jesus. (Acts 3:14-15).
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. John 3:16-18 ESV®
Whose righteousness and justice do you choose? Your own or God's through Jesus?
Jesus earned our righteousness
There are three very important aspects of Jesus earning our righteousness: First, since Jesus is God and a sinless man, He could pay the penalty due for our unrighteous acts, enabling Him to give us His righteousness. Second, Jesus as man did something we could never do, which is to be righteous all the time. He was born a Jew, which meant He lived under the Old Testament laws (good works) His entire life and never broke even one of them. He perfectly obeyed the will of God the Father as our representative, to earn righteousness for us. Third, righteousness had to come through faith in Jesus because of our sin. Human endeavor can never live up to God’s perfect standard of doing what is right. (Galatians 2:16). It makes loving sense that righteousness had to come through Jesus, doesn’t it?
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. / For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. / ... the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe ... / ... and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith ... 2 Corinthians 5:21; Romans 5:19, 3:22; Philippians 3:9 ESV®
You gained Jesus' righteousness through Him living and dying for you. How do you feel about that reality?
Life Application
Living righteously
As Christians, we have Jesus' righteousness living within, because His Spirit lives within us (Romans 8:9-10). When our loving God sees us, He doesn't see our unrighteousness but Jesus' perfect righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Yet, to be a growing mature Christian, and we all want that, we need to be growing in righteousness and not sin. (1 Peter 2:24). Are you growing in righteousness?
If you want to grow in righteousness you must be doing what God’s Word says. His Word lights our way like a flashlight does, showing us how to live righteously (Psalm 23:3, 119:105, 159-160; 2 Timothy 3:16-17). If God's Word is a part of your life, you will discern what is right, but then you must be proactive and follow that godly advice. In reality, His commandments were written for your wellbeing, so if you don't follow them, it will affect you negatively – not just with your relationship with God but in all your life. Read Matthew 6:25-33, 7:24-29; Romans 8:26-28; Ephesians 4:22-5:2. Describe how to live righteously.
We are told by God that the righteous will live by faith in Him (Hebrews 10:38). First for salvation and then every moment of every day we are to live by faith in God. You might be thinking, what does faith mean exactly? We will cover it at length in other days, but simply put, faith (n) or believe (v) are being sure and certain about someone or something which leads to trust (Hebrews 11:1). I have macular degeneration which can lead to blindness. If I let fear control me instead of faith in God, I am a worried wreck and not living rightly with God. Yet, the Spirit is always with me reminding me God loves me and that Romans 8:28 is true even if I go blind. So I must listen to His voice and put my trust in my loving God and not in the what ifs. (Isaiah 41:10).
Reflect on 2 Corinthians 5:21.