What Is Justice? The Perfect Balance Of His Love And His Justice
Our God has a perfect character - a character which perfectly balances his love and his justice. Much is spoken on God's love - and it should be as it is an attribute of his that we crave to experience in our lives. However, just as important and perfectly balanced with his love is his justice. When we begin to fully comprehend his justice - we can begin to truly and more fully appreciate the absolute depths of his love for us - a love that manifests itself in many ways* - one of which is the fact that he seeks every opportunity available to restore those not in a right relationship with him into a right relationship with him - said in another way - he gives us every chance to avoid a judgment (or "a decision") by him that would leave us out of a right relationship with him both on earth and throughout eternity. With the perfect balance of love and justice in mind, what exactly is "justice" for us?
What is the definition of Justice?
Justice is rendering to every one that which is his due. It has been distinguished from equity in this respect, that while justice means merely the doing what positive law demands, equity means the doing of what is fair and right in every separate case.
What is the difference between Justice and Non-Justice?
There is justice and there is non-justice. Non-Justice includes everything outside of the category of justice. In the category of non-justice we find two sub-concepts, injustice and mercy. Mercy is a good form of non-justice while injustice is a bad form of non-justice. Through our understanding of God's character we know that God does nothing bad. He never commits injustice. Some people get justice - which is what they deserve, while others get mercy. Again, the fact that one gets mercy does not demand that the others get it as well. God reserves the right of executive clemency.
As human beings, we might prefer that God give his mercy to everyone equally, but we may not demand it. If God is not pleased to dispense his mercy to all men, then we must submit to his holy and righteous decision. God is never obligated to be merciful to sinners. That is the point we must stress if we are to grasp the full measure of grace and begin to truly understand the depths of his love toward us.
How does this apply to us?
With this concept of justice in mind, when viewed through the lens of God's Word, I would suggest the following for our consideration:
1) All Of Us Are Sinners (For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23).
2) The Result Of Our Sin Is Death (For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23).
3) As We Are Sinners, And As God's Established Punishment For Sin Is Death - Justice For Us As Sinners - Apart From Jesus Christ - Is Death (Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23)
4) God Loved Us Enough To Provide Us An Opportunity To Be Reconciled To Him In Spite Of Our Sin
- But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
- For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. 1 Peter 3:18
5) This Opportunity For Us To Be Reconciled With God Demonstrates His Mercy And Love - Provided Through The Gift Of His Son - And This Mercy Is Congruent With His Character Of Being Perfectly Just
- For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
If God is just - and if he has a stated penalty for sin - he cannot maintain his perfect justice if he does not require the penalty for sin to be paid. However, in his mercy, he did provide for that penalty of sin to be paid - through the death of his Son - so that all who believe (acknowledge and follow with their whole heart, mind, soul) in Jesus Christ - do no have to pay the penalty with their life - but can receive the gift his Son provided - that being of Jesus Christ paying the penalty for them. Also, if one did not accept God's mercy - the payment for sin must still occur - and God in his justice - would then have no option but to require the penalty of death to be imposed on that person - if he (God) was to remain just.
How should we respond?
Stated excellently by Paul in his Letter to the Church at Rome, we should: "...in view of God's mercy, to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is our spiritual act of worship. We need to not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. Then we will be able to test and approve what God's will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2.
References:
Definition Taken From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary.
Portions Taken From Chosen By God, RC Sproul.
Portions Taken From Eternal Judgment, Steven Gregg.
*Examples of ways in which he has sought to help us to avoid justice include his sending his Son (to pay the penalty for our sin), sending his Holy Spirit (to bring an awareness of our sinful states and to prompt us into seeking God), and his sending out of the Body of Christ (to share the hope of the possibility of a restored relationship with God provided through his Son and Holy Spirit). These "sendings" were not an obligation of God, but an outpouring of his love for us and a demonstration of his desire that we be in right relationship with him.
2:52:19 PM 
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