Perfectly Trained, Loving Justice Like Jesus

David W Palmer

Today, in preparation for Jesus’s training in our lives to be complete, we look at an entirely different aspect of his character. This is because Jesus said that the perfectly trained disciple would be like his teacher (Luke 6:40). So we need to meditate on the fullness of who he is. Today, we focus on his love for perfect justice:

(Matthew 12:18 NKJV) “… He will declare justice to the Gentiles.”

You may have heard the term “social justice” used in Christian circles. We often think of it in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. This makes it seem political, or only for those whose call in God leads them to specialize in that area. However, Scripture teaches us another side to the “justice” that Jesus declares to the “Gentiles.” A passage that can help us see a more complete picture of this is found in Romans; this is what the Holy Spirit says through the apostle Paul:

(Romans 12:19 NKJV) Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

Paul is quoting from Deut. 32:35. Speaking of Israel’s enemies, and contrasting their eventual outcome with that of his people, God says:

(Deuteronomy 32:35–36 NLT) “I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will overtake them. {36} Indeed, the LORD will give justice to his people, …”

The Holy Spirit puts it into the New Testament again in Hebrews:

(Hebrews 10:30 NKJV) For we know Him who said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. And again, “The LORD will judge His people.”

This is very good news for us; we don’t have to “avenge” ourselves or take revenge on those who do us wrong.

Initially to our ears, “vengeance,” sounds like retaliation, payback, reprisals, punishment, and an angry getting even. When we are wanting to see those who have hurt, abused, or stolen from us punished, we love the last part of Rom. 12:19: “‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” We know that we are supposed to love our enemies; but if anger is in our heart, we feel good about the idea of God “getting them” and paying them back for what they did to us.

However, when we take all the emotion out of this, we need to ask why God says, “vengeance is mine.” We also need to discover what it means—especially for us.

God’s vengeance doesn’t come from an angry desire for revenge, or from an intemperate outburst of resentment. No, it comes from his love of justice. God created the universe, and in particular, the physical world in which we live. He created humans as individual, freewill beings. He commands us to use our freewill to love, to choose wisely, and to sow only what we want to reap. However, because of the fall of man and the takeover of Satan, man’s choices have been less than loving towards God and each other.

Two issues are now at play: First, because God created the world, everything in it, and everyone on it, he is responsible for it. So he has to step in and deal with the mess caused by sin. His first action in this area was to send Jesus; he paid the sin price, made forgiveness and reconciliation possible, and brought about the availability of a new birth—a fresh start with an untainted righteous nature. Thus, God has taken responsibility for one aspect of sin.

Second, God must step in to bring judgment and restitution, and to put a stop to sin. He does this because of his love of justice. God doesn’t punish or bring vengeance because of personal vindictiveness; he purely loves to administer perfect justice for all parties.

The Holy Spirit reminds us here of Jesus’s “log” and “speck” teaching; in nearly every injustice, there is some degree of wrong on both sides. As those who understand love, forgiveness, and reconciliation, we should be the first to admit wrong and unloving actions—even if our wrong contributes only a tiny fraction of the overall injustice. We literally need to “clean up our own back yard” first, before focusing on the sin and wrongs of others.

What does this mean for us? First, we look again to what the Holy Spirit said in Romans:

(Romans 12:19 NIV) 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.

We note that he says to “leave room for God’s wrath”—or, wait and allow God to deal with it. This means both stepping away completely from dealing with this yourself (unless in a position representing God’s authority, and he is telling you what to do); and it means giving God time to deal with it in his way. After all, from his vantage point and because he can see the heart, he may be seeing a glimmer of hope in the person—the possibility that under Holy Spirit conviction they may eventually repent of this, and be saved eternally. In other words, we have to leave it completely up to God to decide where, when, and how he dispenses justice to those who have wronged us.

Instead of allowing us to unwisely jump to wrong conclusions, or unadvisedly assume that we are right and the other person is wrong; instead of instructing us to declare any judgment, or exact any punishment or restitution, the Holy Spirit has this instruction for us:

(Romans 12:19–21 NIV) Do not take revenge, my dear friends, … On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” {21} Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

This is completely in line with Jesus’s classroom teaching:

(Matthew 5:44–45 NKJV) “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, {45} that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Because God loves perfect justice for all,

Because he will bring it to pass for everyone—eventually; and

Because he may see a glimmer of hope in the perpetrator; or

Because he sees that the actual culprit in our scenario is demonic …

He instructs us to do only “good” to the person on whom our flesh nature would love to exact revenge.

What do “burning coals” have to do with this? Perhaps God’s initial objective is to bring the perpetrator of the injustice under the conviction of the Holy Spirit—with the view to leading them to repentance. If so, the only way to do this is to bring them into an encounter with the Holy Spirit and God’s “goodness.” So we must remember that bringing about the desired result this way can take time—needing “forbearance and longsuffering”:

(Romans 2:4 NKJV) Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

Doing “good” to your enemy is showing them the love of God; it also allows the Holy Spirit to continue his convicting work in their lives. What’s more, it is a practical, palpable declaration of the gospel. Again, it’s only the “goodness of God” that leads people to repentance, which is a far better outcome than personally exacted revenge. By following the God-given instructions to love our enemies and to do them good, we are literally working with God’s plan, and becoming overcomers in him—not “overcome by evil,” but overcoming “evil with good.”

In truth, Jesus does “declare justice to the Gentiles.” He reveals that God’s heart is first to see repentance, reconciliation, and restitution by every sinner; and that secondly, when we allow room for God’s justice to prevail, he will ensure that perfect justice is dispensed to every person. We just have to remember that he does take time to do this, and that the final outcomes may not be known until Judgment Day. But because God loves both justice and people, we can be sure that doing things his way will work out for our best as well as for everyone else. He will always act in love towards you in every process.

Remember, when it comes to unjust actions, the worst offender by far is Satan, the devil. Jesus declared him as a destructive, lying, killing thief—the one who accuses God’s people night and day (See: John 10:10, Rev. 12:10). Because God loves justice, and because he has promised vengeance, he will avenge us of the enemy’s wrongdoing against us speedily:

(Luke 18:7–8 NKJV) “And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? {8} I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

God is looking for “faith” from us, not self-vengeance.

Today, do you have any situations for which you would love some justice? Have you been tempted to take this into your own hands with some retaliation, payback, reprisals, punishment, and an angry getting even? If so, you need the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ:

(1 Peter 2:23 NIV) 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.

Jesus’s grace is available to you today. Remember, “It is of faith that it might be by grace” (Rom. 4:16 KJV). What’s more, God’s love—even love for your enemies—has been poured into your heart through your relationship with the Holy Spirit:

(2 Corinthians 13:14 NKJV) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.