Justice among Sinners

Everyone has a sense of justice. Its what allows them to do whatever they do when they say something is or isn't right. Thus, people can riot and steal in England because they are out of work with no unemployment benefits. The media puts these stories up so that people can see that these "looters" were just trying to feed their families.

But where is the justice for the shop owner whose store was destroyed while being looted? Oh, I hear that the big bad insurance company will now have to pay. Where is my justice then when the insurance company raises my insurance because of the looting?

There can be no justice without establishing right and wrong. Stealing is wrong all the time. You simply can't say that it is justified under certain conditions.

Punishment is another matter. The same punishment does not need to be administered at the same level for everyone. This is where mercy should be shown.  A genuinely repentant person who sees what he has done as wrong should be shown mercy.

But justice cannot be balanced with mercy in a fallen world which neither knows right from wrong nor when or how to show mercy. Thus, we have a conviction without a "reasonable" doubt. Please, could someone define "reasonable" for me!

We will continue to see ever increasing injustice as we get farther and farther from God's Law and His presence in our society. We will never have true justice and proper mercy in a fallen world. The only justice that can be administered must have a clear right and wrong which is always being blurred in a fallen society. There must be a standard which cannot be moved which firmly holds this line.

So, our tax system has more and more injustices because it comes from a fallen people who do not understand justice. Our courts are full of people who are convicted because they could not afford the expensive lawyer. Guilty others are released because their lawyers could produce reasonable doubt. Doctors are sued because everything didn't turn out perfectly rather than because of true malpractice.

We shake our heads and wonder where it will lead us. These injustices will invade our lives to bring chaos to our society until we return to God and establish His word as a standard for living.

Pluralism sounds wonderful until you try to make it work. You can't have a society who believes that all things are right and wrong at the same time. This guarantees injustice.

And, of course, that's what we have much of the time.

The Bible has a lot to say about justice. God wants us to be just.


Exodus 23:2-3 (NIV)
2 "Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, 3 and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.


Deuteronomy 16:19-20 (NIV)
19 Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.  20 Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.


Psalm 106:3 (NIV)
3 Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right.