GlobalChristians

Eternity 74 - God Is Just

Job 8:20 LITV Behold, God will not cast away the innocent, and He will not help the evildoers,

God is just! He does not reject the righteous - and neither does He assist the wicked with their schemes. This basic truth is of enormous import in world affairs and even in daily matters of justice.

Firstly those who are in Christ, who are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and stand in the righteousness of Christ - not of their own doing, but of grace - these will never be cast away by God! We will never be rejected because God is just - and he will never reject the innocent - and we have become innocent, righteous and justified through trusting in Jesus Christ for our righteousness. God will not cast away truly born-again, God-trusting, believers. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, firstly because God is faithful in His love, but even more than that - because God is just toward the innocent.

Secondly God never assists the wicked. God is not behind Al-Qaeda, and God was not with the people who bombed the nightclubs in Bali. Neither is God is with the financial scoundrels, and he is not the source of their prosperity. God does not assist wicked schemes - ever. Even if someone was to say "Dear God, if you help me with this bank robbery I will give the money to missions" - God is not fooled and would not help the robber at all. God uproots the wicked forever. At some point the Washington area sniper and the Bali terrorists will be caught - and punished and executed, and that will be the work of God and the work of the justice of God. God's justice actively works to ensure a safe and moral world.

But how does this justice generally operate? Through two sources - through His people the church and through governments. They are not mutually exclusive but deeply intertwined. Justice should lodge in the heart of Christians who subsequently become community leaders and enact justice both nationally and internationally. Church should be a place where we learn to practice the justice and mercy of God. Church should not be just about singing hymns and learning doctrines - but about learning just practices and ways of living and understanding how to be Christ in our family, our neighborhood, our schools and our workplace and how to carry mercy, justice and truth into all our lives.

If we, His people are also to be just, then we should also learn to never cast away the righteous - or assist the schemes of the wicked. That seems basic - and who would cast away the innocent or assist the wicked? Well sometimes the righteous are less "cool" than the wicked. I have seen poor missionaries rejected and rich wicked people preferred in some church circles. The cool, good-looking but immoral and sensual person is often preferred to the nerdy, uncool, unsexy but honest and God-fearing person. Tom Cruise would be more favored in many churches than most pastors. The righteous are routinely put aside and cast away in favour of the glamorous. And sometimes Christians even assist the schemes of the wicked - tax evasion, dubious multi-level marketing scams, and alliances with corrupt politicians are just some ways this happens. Covering up for pedophiles and "assisting the wicked" by just moving them around is costing some sections of the church very dearly. The church badly needs to become just and to practice justice. Justice needs to be part of Christian life and practice and to be thought through in systematic, deep and profound ways. It needs to reach down to our recruiting decisions, our budgets, our social life and practices, our alliances and our every action. Being a Christian involves being just. It's foundational.

Blessings,

John Edmiston