School of the Foundations of Christian Faith “The Creator and His Creation.” Lesson 5. God’s Justice. The school consists of 22 lessons. The school’s founder is the Christian Bible Institute.
To understand God’s justice, it is necessary to understand that only God can determine what is true. Therefore, every person must submit to God and His truth.
God Is Truth
God is truth. He is the source of truth. He Himself determines what is true. Truth cannot be understood as something existing separately from God. He Himself is truth. Therefore, we can comprehend truth only through knowing God.
Many people think that a person determines truth for themselves. Such “truth” cannot be called absolute because it depends on a person’s mood, desires, and feelings. God Himself determines what is true. He is the standard of truth. He knows and understands everything.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”
God created the universe and established the laws by which it operates. And as we live in the universe created by God, we must obey His laws. Throughout the ages, people have continually argued with God. And almost always, they have disagreed with His truth, thinking that they have the right to self-determination.
For example: God clearly told Adam and Eve
Gen. 2:16–17 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may eat freely from every tree in the garden; 17 but you shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.”
But the devil offers them completely different information and convinces them that this is what the truth is.
Gen. 3:4–5 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that on the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.”
Adam and Eve’s problem was that they began to doubt whether God had told them the truth.
Many religious people agree that God is truth, but they do not want to acknowledge that this truth should guide their lives. As a result, such people only say that they believe in God, but in reality they live by the lie the devil has convinced them of.
The Bible says that the devil is a deceiver, and he persuades people to believe lies.
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
The devil and his servants are always busy spreading lies. They have achieved great success in deceiving people. Many people believe his lies because they have no absolute standard of truth.
Many people read the Bible and know what God requires of them, but they do not want to live that way, because it requires denying themselves and living for others. They do not live by God’s truth; they only pretend to be believers.
There are many issues in every person’s life in which they trust the devil’s lies when making decisions. Look at your life, and you will certainly find a situation in which you accept a lie as truth and, unfortunately, do not want to part with that lie.
But above all, the devil tries to deceive people regarding the most important issues. Knowing that people are very self-centered, he has convinced them that they themselves can determine what is truth and justice.
The devil tries to convince people that:
- God Himself does not possess the truth,
- God possesses the truth, but we cannot know it,
- God possesses the truth only on the most important matters, while on secondary matters we can decide for ourselves what is right and what is not,
- God possesses the truth and has revealed it in the Bible, but the Bible is written unclearly and can therefore be interpreted in different ways. Therefore, a person should live as he himself considers right, or as respected people advise him.
Thus, by believing the devil’s lies and using various excuses, a person puts himself in the position of one who knows what is true and what is not. As a result, people live in lies. Many of these people attend church, listen to sermons, and carry Bibles with them, yet stubbornly continue to live in lies.
Thus, they allow themselves to treat God with contempt as the only source of truth, and His Word as the only channel through which God reveals truth to people.
We truly cannot know all of God’s truth, but God has revealed in the Bible as much truth as we need for our salvation and righteousness in God. That is why Jesus Christ asked the Heavenly Father to sanctify His disciples by the truth of His Word.
John 17:17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.
Only God has the right to determine what is just and what is not.
People often say that God has no right to govern people’s lives. For example, they ask: Why are some born into wealthy and prosperous families, while others are born into families of drug addicts? Why do some have good health, while others suffer from illnesses throughout their lives? Why did this or that misfortune happen specifically to you? Why are some people saved, while others go to hell?
All these questions contain complaints against God and express a direct or indirect accusation that He is unjust. In reality, the problem is that when we ask such questions, we have a completely wrong understanding of justice.
Imagine a crowd of people deliberately running toward the edge of a cliff, from which they fall one after another to their destruction. Now imagine someone supernaturally taking individuals from this running crowd and turning them to run in the opposite direction, away from the dangerous cliff. Would he be unjust toward the others? Absolutely not!
Each of them personally, of their own will and desire, is running with all their might toward their destruction!
The Book of Revelation says that at the end of the age, every person will acknowledge the absolute truth of God.
Rev. 15:2 “And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who had conquered the beast, his image, his mark, and the number of his name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. 3 And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: ‘Great and amazing are Your deeds, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, King of the saints! 4 Who will not fear You, Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been revealed.’”
2. God—the Lawgiver of the Universe
Every law has a lawgiver. To become a lawgiver, one must receive the right to do so from a higher authority. God is the highest and absolute authority; therefore, He Himself has the right to establish any laws.
Look at what the Bible says about this:
Isa. 33:22 “For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us.”
Jas. 4:12 “There is one Lawgiver and Judge who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you to judge your neighbor?”
3. God—the Only Standard of Justice
The almighty and perfect God, by His very nature, is the only standard of justice. God is always just and cannot be unjust. Sometimes we cannot understand certain actions of God, but this is not because God is unjust; it is because we simply do not know many things. It is also because we are sinners, and our understanding of justice has been corrupted by our sinful nature.
The Bible says:
Exod. 18:19 These are the words addressed to Moses: “Now listen to me; I will give you counsel, and God will be with you: You be the mediator for the people before God and bring their cases before God; teach them the statutes [of God] and the laws [of His], show them the way [of His] in which they must walk, and the work they must do.”
Ps. 19:7 “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether, more to be desired than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”
Rom. 1:28 “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done,”
Rom. 9:18 “So then He has mercy on whomever He wills, and He hardens whomever He wills. You will say to me then, ‘Why does He still find fault? For who can resist His will?’ 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?’ 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?”
4. God’s laws are perfect, and God will fulfill them precisely
God is not only the lawgiver but also the one who fulfills His laws. Since God is perfect, His laws cannot fail to be fulfilled. The Bible clearly testifies to the unchanging nature of God’s laws.
Matthew 5:18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota or one tittle will pass from the law until everything is fulfilled.”
Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”
Jeremiah 1:12 “The Lord said to me: You have seen well, for I am watching over My word to fulfill it.”
Review questions:
- Why is God truth?
- Can people invent truth themselves?
- Why are there people who attend church but do not live a Christian life?
- How does God reveal truth to people?
- Why does God have the right to establish laws?
- Why is God the standard of justice?
Source: Christian Bible Institute
