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Psalm 11:7
“For the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.”
Righteousness and justice will be our focus today as we move on in our study of God’s attributes. Scripture abounds with descriptions of the righteousness of the Lord and His acts of justice to punish sin and reward good. For instance, Psalm 11:7 tells us that “the Lord is righteous; he loves righteous deeds.”
Like God’s truthfulness and faithfulness, the Lord’s righteousness and justice are closely related but can be distinguished for the sake of discussion. Dr. R.C. Sproul provides helpful guidance here in his book Everyone’s a Theologian: “In the Scriptures, the concept of justice is linked with the idea of righteousness; and it is based on the internal character of God. The fact that God is just means that He always acts according to righteousness.” God’s righteousness refers to the standard of right and wrong, and justice is God’s application of that righteousness to particular individuals and situations. Importantly, as we see in Dr. Sproul’s comments, all this is grounded in the character of God. There is no standard of right and wrong apart from and above the Lord to which He conforms. His own righteous nature is the perfect standard of righteousness.
Although we can make a distinction between justice and righteousness, Scripture often uses the concepts of justice and righteousness interchangeably. Biblically speaking, justice entails giving a person what he is due. That is the point of the “eye for an eye” standard (Ex. 21:23–25)—the punishment must fit the crime and must be no less or no more than what is deserved. We could apply that idea to rewards as well. So to understand divine righteousness and justice, we should remember, as Dr. Sproul tells us, that “justice defines God’s righteousness; He never punishes people more severely than the crimes they have committed deserve, and He never fails to reward those to whom a reward is due. He always operates justly; never does God do anything that is unjust.”
God is the perfect standard of righteousness, so He can never fail to administer justice. He will not compromise His justice even for the sake of showing grace and mercy. Grace and mercy are not injustice, but they are forms of nonjustice that the Lord shows to His elect, who do not suffer the wrath of God for their sins as the nonelect do. Even here, God’s just wrath against the sins of His people is still satisfied in Christ, who bore the judgment we deserve in order to reconcile us to God (Rom. 3:21–26).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
In this fallen world, justice is not always done by human authorities. That does not mean that God will let things slide, however. Only He can administer justice perfectly, and He will certainly do so at the last day. If you have suffered injustice in this world, take heart; all will be made right in the consummation of the kingdom of God because the Lord is perfectly righteous and just.
For further study
- Proverbs 29:26
- Isaiah 5:16
- Zephaniah 3:5
- Revelation 15:1–4
The bible in a year
- 2 Kings 11–13
- John 5:25–47