Part VII - The Justice of God

God is Just: A God of Perfect Justice

Those who fail to achieve the standard of perfect holiness that God has demanded of us will be left to face the perfect justice of God. Without exception, the Scriptures demand that all sin must be punished, because our God is absolutely just. Scripture tells us that “the Lord is righteous” and “he loves justice” (Psalm 11:7). On the day of judgment, we are told that “the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience…” (Col 3:6).

One nationwide poll found that only 59 percent of Americans now believe in hell.[i] The Christian cannot deny the existence of hell. Jesus spoke more about hell than Heaven. He described it as an “eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41) — a place where the “worm never dies” and the “fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48). In describing the judgment of wicked men, Jesus spoke about the terrible sounds of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 13:50).

In the book of Revelation, John’s vision of the Apocalypse revealed that “if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15).

The idea of judgment does not sit well in today’s culture. Many people wrongly ascribe blind forgiveness to God — as if He will simply ignore the wickedness of our sinful past and nullify the requirements of His perfect justice. However, this is absolutely wrong! The Lord cannot leave the scales of His justice unbalanced. Otherwise, He would cease to be just. It would make a mockery of God’s Law if He habitually acquitted the guilty. If God is to be just, He must uphold the Law.

The Bible assures us that “He does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Exod 34:7). He cannot, because “righteousness and justice are the foundation of [His] throne” (Psalm 89:14).

The thought of God’s wrath and perfect justice is terrifying. Even Jesus quaked with fearful anguish at the prospect of drinking the cup of God’s wrath (Luke 22:42). But unlike Jesus, there are none who can claim to have lived a life of moral perfection. The Lord Almighty, who knows every evil word, thought, and deed of man, will pour forth His furious displeasure upon those who have rejected His Word and mocked His counsel.

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life (Gal 6:7-8).

As we have seen in previous chapters, we all fail to respect the moral absolutes of God in some way. All too often, we attempt to bring God’s holy standards down to a human level, so that we can justify ourselves. When we are measured against the corruptions of our fellow human beings, many of us would indeed seem “good.” However, man is not our standard. The God of absolute moral perfection is our standard, and we are called to “be holy as God is holy."

When men stand before the throne of God, they will not be entitled to challenge God’s holy standards of justice. When a person casts aside the moral law of God as archaic or extreme, they are challenging the very holiness of God Himself — as if God has erred in His judgment. The Lord once rebuked Job: “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him? ... Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?” (Job 40:2, 8).

God is perfectly just and will not leave sin unpunished, yet He earnestly desires the salvation of His people. This creates a great dilemma, for which Jesus Christ is the only solution.

The prophet Isaiah wrote about a Messiah who would satisfy God’s justice for the sake of men.

He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa 53:5-6).

The Bible tells us that the “wages of sin in death,” and the good news of the gospel pronounces that Jesus Christ has taken our wages upon Himself. Jesus Christ endured this fierce justice of God and clothed us in His own perfect righteousness, so that we can stand holy before the Lord.

This is the measurement of God’s love for His people, but it was not cheap. The satisfaction of God’s perfect justice came at the ultimate cost — the agonizing death of His only begotten Son. He came to pay a debt that He did not owe, because we had a debt that we could not pay.

God’s forgiveness is never free; our sins are always punished. As He has promised, God will pour out His wrath in the punishment of every sin. Only one question remains: who will pay the penalties of your sin? Your sins were either paid for on the Cross, or they remain to be punished.

The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him. (John 3:35-36). 

Faith alone in Christ alone is the only source of hope for a desperately fallen mankind. No man is perfect, nor can we restore our own holiness. Christ alone clothes men with the holiness necessary to stand in the presence of our holy God.