God Is Just

By Andy Tulenko

What is meant by the word, “Just”? In the case of the triune God of the Christian bible, it means that God delivers justice evenly and without favor to those that have earned it through their actions. Yet, not only actions will earn one justice, but belief also may be a factor. If you choose not to believe in the Christian God, then at your individual day of judgment, you will be subject to God’s justice, as will be all mankind, no matter their belief system. This, of course, assumes that the Christian God is the one and only God with the authority to deliver judgment on a universal scale. Let’s operate under the assumption that the triune Christian God is the one God with a truly universal authority to hand out judgment. Otherwise, what’s the point of this exercise?

God is just. Where would that idea come from? The only valid place to locate information on God is from the book that He Himself caused to be written for the specific purpose of informing us about Him. In the pages of the Christian Bible, God speaks about Himself, giving us knowledge that we can use to begin to understand Him and so to serve Him in a more correct manner. In Deuteronomy 32:4 it says, “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity just and upright is he.” (ESV) All His ways are justice, ‘just’ in the NASB. God is telling us here in this passage that He is just. He delivers justice. In other passages of scripture, God repeats Himself which assures us that not only is He just, but that it is an important characteristic of His, 2 Chronicles 12:6, Nehemiah 9:33, Psalms 106:3, Romans 3:21-26, Genesis 18:25 and other scriptures all speak of the justness, or the righteousness of God and His inability to be unjust, especially in Job 34:10-19.

Why would God want us to know that He is just? By way of analogy, let us look at a modern courtroom. Would it be acceptable for God to be capricious in His judgment? That would allow God to change the kind and amount of justice He delivers for a crime against His law. In the courtroom, I might be there for exceeding the speed limit by one mile an hour. The Judge might let me off with a warning for such a small infraction. The equipment in my vehicle may have been at fault and therefore a warning is given. But what happens if for that one mile per hour over the limit I receive 10 years in jail, right after another person only received a warning? That level of punishment would not be acceptable, especially considering the previous judgment. If God was not just, then He could impose different and more severe punishments, such as 10 years in jail, for a small nearly insignificant offense. Yet, God is just and as a result, we can count on the punishment to be the same every time for the same offense. For myself, knowing that God is just is a very reassuring bit of knowledge. I can fully expect Him to be fair and impartial in His assessment and judgment of my life and motivations. If I could not count on this, I would be very worried indeed as to my possible fate.

What does this mean for the Church? It means, of course, much the same as it does for an individual in that the Church may rely on God to deliver justice with a very even hand. There is another aspect of it that applies to the Church specifically, which is the ability to teach about God’s justness to the body of Christ. The purpose of the Church is to edify the body. People are not supposed to gather once a week to worship God, instead, the body of Christ is to worship constantly in their word and deeds and to receive instruction on how to better worship and serve God in their fellowship with one another. Learning about the righteousness of God is a more long term edification of the body in contrast to just feeding it perishable food. The body is to grow and mature in the knowledge of the triune God. Showing up one day a week to be entertained is not only wasting the time of those who come, but also God. Coming to learn about God in order to better the body as a whole is the purpose and goal of the Church.

How does this, or better yet, how should the purpose and goal of the Church affect the world that we live in? Can Christians reasonably expect to have any kind of lasting effect on society? Is it possible to alter the hearts and minds of mankind to the degree that the entire world becomes a better place? Is that a realistic and attainable goal, and how is it to be carried out? Even if the goal is attainable, is it possible to make sufficient change to make the effort worthwhile? Might it be so that the simple act of living and loving among the peoples of Earth is enough to change and affect them in a positive way towards God? I believe it is. I believe it because Jesus Himself told us this in the gospel of Matthew.
37  And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38  This is the great and first commandment.
39  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37-39 (ESV)