God's righteousness/Justice

“I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,^[a] my kinsmen according to the flesh. ⁴ They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. ⁵ To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷ and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ⁸ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁰ And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— ¹² she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion,^[b] but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As indeed he says in Hosea,

“Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’
    and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’”
²⁶ “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
    there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel^[c] be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹ And as Isaiah predicted,

“If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring,
    we would have been like Sodom
    and become like Gomorrah.”

Israel's Unbelief

³⁰ What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness^[d] did not succeed in reaching that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
    and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’” (Romans 9).

I block quoted all of Romans chapter 9 because I wanted all to see it in the context of what is said as we discuss God’s righteousness/justice. Some of this will sound like circular reasoning. What you need to do is remember the other attributes we have already discussed in previous blogs, especially the omnipotence of God, the wisdom of God, and the grace of God.

Righteousness and justice have different meanings in English. In Hebrew and Greek, both words come from the same word groups. In Hebrew, they are from forms of the tsedek word group. In Greek, they are from the dikaios word group. I am no language expert, but I have to trust that my systematic theology book is telling me the truth. So, we will treat both attributes together for this discussion because righteousness and justice are so intertwined that, I feel, it would be splitting hairs to separate them. Because I want this to be very clear, I am relying heavily on my systematic theology book, so there will be lots of quoting.

Definition; God’s righteousness/justice means that God always acts in accordance with what is right and just and is Himself the final standard of what is right and just. (Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 204).

“Speaking of God, Moses says, “all His ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4). Abraham successfully appeals to God’s own character of righteousness when he says, “Shall not the judge of the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). God also speaks and commands what is right: “The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart” (Psalms 19:8). And God says of Himself, “I the LORD speak the truth, I declare what is right” (Isaiah 45:19).

Because of God’s righteousness/justice, God must, therefore, treat people in accordance with what they disserve. Now, if God only treated people with what they disserve, we would all be going to hell. Thank God that He has prepared a way for His people to go to heaven. Before the ultimate sacrifice of our Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, God it seems overlooked sin, but this is not true.

“²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory”  (Romans 9:22-23).

God put up with Patience and longsuffering the sins of past generations looking forward to the time of salvation through Jesus who is the Christ and the Son of God, and even now God puts up with the sin of unbelievers preparing for the day of wrath. So, just because it appears that we have gotten away with some secret sin rest assured that without repentance, a day is coming when the price for sin will be paid.

Some examples of God’s Righteousness/justice:

 ^10 “And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— ¹² she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” (Romans 9:10:13).

My example may sound trivial, but; I have a pack of gum, and I, being the owner of the gum, decide to share the gum with someone. There is more than one other person there, and I give the piece of gum not based on any other reason except I desire to share it. It would be fair if I gave a piece to everyone there. But it is just if I only give a piece to one undeserving individual. No one has a claim to the gum.  God is righteous/just, and He is perfectly righteous/just to choose Jacob over Esau, and no one can say to God you are unjust,

^19 “You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?” (Romans 9:19-21)

So, here is the deal; everyone wants humankind to have an absolute free will, especially when it comes to salvation. Why? Because humankind wants control over his life and his death. Well, we already know what happened when humankind had free will, our father and mother, Adam and Eve, chose the lie over the truth, and we, humankind, have been choosing the lie ever since. That is why I implore you at the end of almost every one of these blogs to seek Christ, especially if you are feeling that urge, that calling to seek, and not to give up until you have confidence, eternal security, to know that you belong to God through Jesus who is the Christ.

I will continue to pray that God uses this blog to reach those whom He will and that you are one of those whom He wills.