Exodus 23:1-9 (NIV)
23:1 “Do not spread false reports. Do not help a guilty person by being a malicious witness.
2 “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd,
3 and do not show favoritism to a poor person in a lawsuit.
4 “If you come across your enemy’s ox or donkey wandering off, be sure to return it.
5 If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.
6 “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.
7 Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.
8 “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the innocent.
9 “Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt.”
A just person uses
righteously.
There is a strong
between what is right and what is just.
Righteousness is a word for what is
Justice is a word for applying a righteous standard to someone
- Justice is an
In the last message, I taught you that God is
because he is the standard for what is right and wrong and because he always does what is right.
In this message, we will look at how God—the Creator LORD and lawgiver to his creation—
the law to others.
Big Idea: God is just.
Remember our definition: “A just person is someone with power who uses that power righteously.”
God is just in his very
, his essential character.
“He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” —Deuteronomy 32:4
God can be just
he has the power, right, and responsibility to judge everyone.
“Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness.” —Psalm 96:13
“For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” —Acts 17:31
God is just because he
the law impartially and fairly to everyone.
“Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.” —1 Peter 1:17
- He commands people who have the power to judge not to be
- Lawmakers and judges must not show favoritism to those who they love or who have power or money or any other expression of privilege (vv. 6-7).
- Lawmakers and judges must to show favoritism to the underprivileged either (v. 3).
- When God himself judges humanity, he will practice justice perfectly
“For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” —Acts 17:31 - Lawmakers and judges must not show favoritism to those who they love or who have power or money or any other expression of privilege (vv. 6-7).
God will be just when we live in his
under our Lord Jesus Christ.
“5 ‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’” —Jeremiah 23:5-6
Because God is just, we must be
and
.
We must be righteous because God will
everyone based on his or her righteousness or unrighteousness.
“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” —Matthew 5:20
“As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one….’ Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.” —Romans 3:10, 20
Jesus died on the cross so that God could be just
declare sinners righteous.
“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this… to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” —Romans 3:25-26
Because we are justified by faith in Jesus, we must seek to be
in our decisions toward others.
“This is what the Lord says: ‘Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches, 24 but let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,’ declares the Lord.” —Jeremiah 9:23-25
- If you are a lawmaker, do your best to makelaws.
“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, 2 to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. 3 What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar?” —Isaiah 10:1-3
- If you are involved in the legal system in any way, do not let
- If you are a witness in a legal case, be just by telling the
- If you are a judge or serve a jury, be
- Do not
“‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.” —Leviticus 19:15 If a law is unjust, do not vote to
Isaiah 10:1-3: “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees….”If you are a Christian, do not
“If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? 5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? 6 But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers! 7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters.” —1 Corinthians 6:1-8
- Do not
- If you are a Christian, have
Christ suffered
“Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” —1 Peter 2:21b-23
-Trust God to punish wickedness in“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.” —Romans 12:19
“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, ‘How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?’” —Revelation 6:9-10
-Trust him to
“God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” —Hebrews 6:10
- If you are a Christian, do not act with
toward others.
-We are prejudiced toward others when we
others for sins that we also commit.
“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?” —Romans 2:1-3
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” —Matthew 7:1-5
-We are prejudiced toward others when we show.
“But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning. 21 I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.” —1 Timothy 5:20-21
“My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? […] 8 If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. 9 But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. 10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” —James 2:1-4, 8-10