The Lord is a God of Justice and he desires for His people to be just people. If you are a believer, being a just person is not optional; It is our calling and mandate from the Lord!
In Hebrews, many times the same word is used for “justice” as it is for “righteousness”.
Justice defined in Hebrew (H6664 & H6666): what is right or just or normal, rightness, justness (of weights and measures), of judges, rulers, kings, of God’s attribute, righteousness, justice (in case or cause), rightness (in speech), righteousness (as ethically right).
That tells us that we can’t be righteous apart from being just. Jesus ultimately fulfilled and completed the righteousness and the justice of God on the cross. As His followers, we are called to pursue righteousness and justice and set His standard on the earth.
To be a just person requires the following:
Accept what God calls true and just
We have to be rightly aligned with God and His truth. We need to see Him as the ultimate judge of the earth. He declares what is right and wrong in His word, and we need to be willing to lay down our values, fears, and preferences to accept His judgment on everything.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face. Psalm 89:14
The above scripture clearly tells us that His authority is established on justice and righteousness. God is a God of justice. He abhors injustice and false scales. Since God is patient, we may not necessarily see His justice exercised right away because He is also a redeeming God. His mercy balances His justice in that He gives man the opportunity to change His ways, to repent, and to accept His son as atonement for his condition.
We see in the case of Jesus, while he was brutally crucified, God did not judge those who put Him on the cross at that moment. To this day, many question Jesus’ authority and Him being the savior of the world. Someday, it will become clear to humanity that He was, [the way, the truth, and the life], [no one comes to the Father except through Him], and [every knee shall bow before Him]. In the meantime, God is giving opportunity for each person to make that decision before the Day of Judgment comes.
Rightly relate to people
To do righteousness and justice. Is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Proverbs 21:3
The Lord cares very much about being a just person. We may love Him and do very many things for Him, but He is looking for those who are living and operating in justice and fairness towards others.
One of the most challenging things about being a just person is that we can develop opinions about someone for the better or for worse based on our perception or limited experience with them. If they are our friends/family, we can quickly jump to defend them. If they are someone that we don’t like or feel close to, we may assume that they are in the wrong. As people of God to be just people and to evaluate a situation justly, we have to lay aside our prejudices and preferences, so can relate to people as Jesus did and represent Him accurately to people!
I was on jury duty a couple of months ago. It was my first time, and I was really impressed by the painstaking process that they went through to pick the jury.
They were looking for people who
- Didn’t know either party involved
- Didn’t have a prejudice towards their ethnicity or them not being able to speak English
- Had not heard about this case through other sources such as online or newspaper
- Since the case involved property management, tenant, and ownership, they made sure none of us had any negative feelings towards bad tenants or bad property management.
- In the case of jurists with spouses in law enforcement, they asked if they had heard of any rental incidents that their spouse might have told them to skew their perception of the situation.
They actually dismissed quite a few people before they finalized the twelve jurists. While it was about a day process to pick the jury, I really appreciated the process. I understood that they were trying to create an environment that gives each person a fair chance for their side to be heard. They were trying to pick a jury to be impartial enough to ensure they are evaluating the case based on its merit and not their knowledge of the person/situation.
According to Wikipedia, “Since the 15th century, Lady Justice has often been depicted wearing a blindfold. The blindfold represents objectivity, in that justice is or should be meted out objectively, without fear or favor, regardless of identity, money, power, or weakness; blind justice and impartiality.”
All of the above descriptions should be even truer about the people of God. However, I’m sorry to say that as believers we have a lot of room to grow in this area. We can be very sloppy with our judgment of a situation or a person. People have a tendency to show favoritism to those they know and become partial in their actions or words. On the other hand, out of the fear of reprisal some don’t say or do anything to stand for righteousness when they need to speak, especially when justice is not meted out for the underdog.
Does the Lord consider you a just person?
When people think of you, do they see you as a fair and objective person, or do they think of you as a partial person who takes the sides with those you know/like?
How does one reconcile Joseph being just (ie what God said about one in fornication) yet wanting to put Mary away quietly?
In Matthew 1:24-25 states:”Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, 25 and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.”
Joseph did not commit fornication as they were celibate until Jesus was born.
The process of marriage in those days was different and the couple were betroth to each other, which was close to engagement in the modern term. They were not married and they did not have sexual relations with each other. Joseph was just as he did not want to defame Mary’s name.