Justice is Fundamental

God has strong words for Israel from the prophet Isaiah. The people, including the leaders, have failed miserably. God is disgusted with their pharisaical, self-righteous sacrifices. He says a complete change is needed.

“Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.” Isaiah 1:16-17

When the Bible talks about justice it is talking about what God will do to make certain that all wrongs are made right. Justice means there is a penalty and punishment for the unjust. Thankfully, Jesus died, the just for the unjust, to make it possible for us to have a restored relationship with a holy God. This also means we will now seek justice, but not for ourselves. We will seek justice for others and correct oppression.

Other Helpful Reminders…

The following quotes are from John Blanchard’s, The Complete Gathered Gold: A Treasury of Quotations for Christians (Webster, New York; Darlington, England: Evangelical Press, 2006.)

“The world is a ring, and justice is the diamond in that ring; the world is a body, and justice is the soul in that body.” – Thomas Brooks

“The Bible insists that God is entirely just, and that therefore ultimately justice will be done, and will be seen to be done.” – D. A. Carson

“Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just.” – Thomas Jefferson

“When we speak of justice in the biblical sense we … are talking about meeting need wherever it exists and particularly where it exists most helplessly.” – Jay Poppinga

“Justice is the greatest interest of man on earth.” – Daniel Webster

Source: John Blanchard, The Complete Gathered Gold: A Treasury of Quotations for Christians (Webster, New York; Darlington, England: Evangelical Press, 2006), 362–363.

All scripture passages are from the English Standard Version except as otherwise noted.