by Benedict Pictet
THE word justice, when spoken of God in scripture, is taken in different senses; for sometimes it denotes that most sacred union of divine qualities, shining forth in the words and actions of God, so that he does nothing but what is agreeable to the nature of an all-perfect Being, and thus the word is the same as that of holiness, which is everywhere ascribed to God, (Isaiah 6:3; Levit. 11:44, &c.) Sometimes it signifies that particular justice, by which he gives to every man according to his deeds, and which is seen in the proper distribution of rewards and punishments. Thus Moses speaks, "He is the Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment; a God of truth, and without iniquity, just and right is he." (Deut. 32:4.) Again, justice is taken sometimes for the will of God in punishing sinners, and sometimes for the very punishment inflicted by justice. It is also often taken for the kindness and faithfulness of God in performing his promises.
Now the very idea of an all-perfect Being shows us that God is a Being most just, wise, and true; to conceive of an unjust God involves a contradiction. Yet it may be fairly inquired, whether that justice of God, by which he punishes sin, and which is termed avenging justice, is essential to him, and whether it is inconsistent with his nature to let sin go unpunished. Now this is proved by two principal arguments. 1. If the love of holiness, or the hatred of sin, is essential to God, then his avenging justice will be so also. The former the scripture teaches in those passages in which God is represented as a Being of perfect holiness, and extremely abhorring sin: "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." (Hab. 1:13, also Psalm 5:4, 5.) And reason itself teaches it; for we cannot form any idea of God, without forming the idea of a most holy Being, hating sin. Now this hatred of sin is nothing else but a fixed determination to punish sin, as we have shown before: if then a fixed determination to punish sin is essential to God, his avenging justice will be equally so; if this be essential, he cannot and will not suffer sin to go unpunished. We must not therefore conceive of God as a creditor, who can forego his claims, although sins are spoken of in scripture as debts, but as the supreme Ruler and Judge of the universe, who is bound to preserve inviolate the majesty of his own laws, and to whom it would be disgraceful to permit his justice to be offended with impunity. Again, if this justice were not an essential attribute of God, there could be no legitimate reason, why he should have delivered up his beloved Son to death; for the perfect wisdom of God will not allow us to say that this was done without reason and extreme necessity.
The argument is confirmed both by the dictates of conscience, which summons men to the bar of God, and greatly torments them after the commission of sin, and also by the consent of all nations, among whom the opinion of God being a just judge, so far prevailed, that they sacrificed even human victims, in the hope of appeasing an incensed deity. It is confirmed also by the whole economy of sacrifices, which under the Old Testament shadowed out the necessity of an expiation of sin for the satisfaction of divine justice. It is true that to punish is called God's "strange work," (Isa. 28:21,) but it is so called, because it would be far more pleasing to God, who does not delight in the death of sinners, if men would live in such a manner as to leave no room for his judgments; not to say that this passage treats of God's vengeance on his own people. Yet elsewhere God testifies that he derives joy from the punishment of the ungodly, (Deut. 28:63; Hosea 10:10). Although this justice generally advances with a slow step to the punishment of sins, it makes up for its slowness by its severity. It shines forth in all God's judgments, but it will particularly display itself in the last judgment, when he "will render to every man according to his works."
And here we may add something concerning the truth or faithfulness of God, which is often expressed by the word justice. Truth sometimes simply denotes righteousness, as in Psalm 19:9, "the judgments of the Lord are true," i.e. "righteous;" but it is also taken for the agreement or consistency of the divine words with the divine mind, and with things as they really are; for the truth of God is not like the truth of men, which is merely an agreement with their mind, while, on account of their ignorance of many things, it does not accord with these things. God is true in all his words, commandments, and promises. Truth is also taken for that virtue or excellence, by which God always makes good his promises. (Rom. 15:8.) It is the same as faithfulness, by which God performs what he hath spoken, or promised. (1 Cor. 10:13; Heb. 10:23; 1 John 1:9.)
The justice of God is not opposed to those attributes of mercy and long-suffering which the scriptures ascribe to him, when they teach us that he does not willingly punish, and that punishment is his strange work, that the greatness of the punishment does not answer to the greatness of the offence, (Psalm 103:10,) and that he is ready to pardon, and slow to execute his wrath, (Jer. 18:7, 8; Rom. 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9.) For although God necessarily punishes, it does not follow, that he always punishes as much as he is able, and as soon as he is able, or that he always proceeds against the offender. The severity which God shows when he punishes, is shown against those towards whom he hath exercised much long-suffering, as in the case of the Israelites; against those who have received great benefits at his hands, as in the case of Lot's wife, whom he had rescued from the burning of Sodom; against Nadab and Abihu, on whom he had bestowed the honour of the priesthood; against those who have committed a sin, which might easily have been avoided, and who have thereby set a pernicious example to others, as in the cases of Uzzah, the Bethshemites, and the man who gathered sticks on the sabbath-day. It is also shown against those, who sin at the same time when God makes an extraordinary display of his goodness in the performance of many wonders or miracles, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira, also against those, who commit enormous crimes. There are other reasons for this severity, unknown to us, yet none on account of which it could be blamed. It concerns us therefore not to despise the riches of God's long-suffering, lest we treasure up for ourselves his divine indignation.
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From Christian Theology by Benedict Pictet