THE JUSTICE OF GOD

GENESIS 18:16–33

“Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

(Gen. 18:25).

Anselm of Canterbury left us the legacy of three important works: two works in apologetics, and one called Why the God-Man? In that book, Anselm was asking why we need Christ and His incarnation and why is it integral to redemption? Why is the Cross of Christ so necessary? The answer Anselm came up with had to do with the justice of God. At the heart of Anselm’s thinking was God’s character, His unchangeable righteousness and holiness. This might take you by surprise because when we think of the Cross, we usually think first of God’s mercy. But when we speak of the necessity of an atonement, we must understand the internal righteousness of God, the justice of God, the character that defines everything that God does. God never violates justice, even when He is showing mercy. God is eternally and immutably committed to doing right because He is righteousness itself.

To understand this point better, let us look into the Old Testament at Genesis 18, the story of the intercession of Abraham for Sodom and Gomorrah. These were two corrupt and decadent cities. They were so evil they became literary symbols for corruption and wickedness. On account of that evil, God visited the cities of the plains with Abraham. God announced that He had heard of the corruption in these two cities, and He wanted to go down to inspect them for the purpose of judgment.

Abraham, knowing what God was intending by “judgment,” asked, “Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” He then proceeded to negotiate with God: Would He destroy the city if 50, 40, even 10 righteous men could be found? God assured Abraham that if 10 righteous men could be found, He would save the city. But what happened? Sodom was destroyed; ten could not be found. The city was wicked, it was evil, and God was just in destroying it. God will never compromise His justice. We need to understand this point, or the cross of Christ will be utterly meaningless to us.

God had declared that the penalty of sin is death. Justice needed to be met, and it was met on the cross. God’s righteousness is never compromised, but on the cross it was fully satisfied.

CORAM DEO

Jeremiah 43–45

Hebrews 3

Use your imagination. Suppose you lived in Sodom and God came to your city in search of a ten innocent people. Would you have been numbered among them? Would God have spared Sodom for you? Could you have merited God’s salvation? Think about why you need the Cross. Why is it necessary in your life?

For further study: Gen. 19:1–29 • Deut. 32:1–4 • Isa. 30:18

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november