JUSTICE
When justice is divorced
from morality, when rights of individuals are separated from right and wrong,
the only definition you have left for justice is the right for every individual
to do as he pleases. And the end of
that road is anarchy and barbarism.
Can we pray for justice, and
yet love our enemy at the same time?
The answer is yes…We will magnify the mercy of God by praying for our enemies
to be saved and reconciled to God. At
the personal level we will be willing to suffer for their everlasting good, and
we will give them food and drink. We
will put away malicious hatred and private vengeance. But at the public level we will also magnify the justice of God
by praying and working for justice to be done on earth, if necessary through
wise and measured force from God-ordained authority.
John Piper
World Magazine, September 22, 2001.
Forgiving costs us our sense
of justice. We all have this innate
sense deep within our souls, but it has been perverted by our selfish sinful
natures. We want to see “justice” done,
but the justice we envision satisfies our own interests. We must realize that justice has been
done. God is the only rightful
administrator of justice in all of creation, and His justice has been
satisfied. In order to forgive our
brother, we must be satisfied with God’s justice and forego the satisfaction of
our own.
Jerry Bridges
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 207-208. Used
by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com,
All rights reserved.