The Justice Or
Righteousness Of God
By
John Gill
Concerning this
attribute of God, I shall...
1. First, Show that it does belong to him, and is natural and
essential to him. The scriptures do abundantly ascribe it to him;
all rational creatures, angels and men, good and bad, acknowledge it
in him, (Rev. 16:5; Ex. 9:27; Jer. 12:1; Dan. 9:9; Ps. 145:7) and
remove all unrighteousness from him, and affirm there is none in him
(Ps. 92:15; Rom. 9:14). And, indeed, without this attribute, he
would not be fit to be the Governor of the world, and the judge of
the whole earth; his government would be tyranny, and not yield that
pleasure and delight to the inhabitants of it, it does; the reason
of which is, because "righteousness and judgment are the habitation
of his throne" (Ps. 97:1, 2).
And from his love of righteousness, and constant performance of it,
it may be concluded it is natural to him; as what is loved by men,
and constantly done by them, shows it to be agreeable to the nature
of them, (Ps. 11:7, 9:4) and, indeed, it is originally and
essentially in God; it is in and of himself, and not of another; it
is his nature and essence, and is not derived from another. Adam was
righteous, but not of himself, God made him upright, or righteous;
saints are righteous, not by their own righteousness, but by the
righteousness of Christ imputed to them.
But God is righteous in and of himself; his righteousness is
essential and inderivative, and is incommunicable to a creature; it
is not that by which men are made righteous, as Osiander dreamed;
for though he who is Jehovah is their righteousness, yet not as he
is Jehovah; for then they would be deified by him: the righteousness
of God being his nature, is infinite and immutable; the
righteousness of angels and men, in which they were created, was
mutable; Adam lost his, and many of the angels lost theirs; but the
"righteousness" of God is "like the great mountains", as high, firm,
and stable as they, and much more so (Ps. 36:6).
Righteousness in creatures, is according to some law, which is the
rule of it, and to which it is conformed, and is adequate so the law
of God, which is holy, just, and true, is a rule of righteousness to
men; but God has no law without himself, he is a law to himself; his
nature and will the law and rule of righteousness to him. Some
things are just, because he wills them, as such that are of a
posture kind; and others he wills them because they are just, being
agreeable to his nature and moral perfections.
This is an attribute common to the three Persons in the Godhead, as
it must be, since it is essential to Deity, and they partake of the
same undivided nature and essence: hence the Father of Christ is
called by him "righteous Father", (John 17:25) and Christ, his Son;
is called Jesus Christ "the righteous", (1 John 2:1) and no doubt
can be made of its being proper to the Holy Spirit, who convinces
men "of righteousness and of judgment" (John 16:8). But,
2. Secondly, I shall next consider the various sorts, or branches of
righteousness, which belong to God; for though it is but one in him,
being his nature and essence; yet it may be considered as
diversified, and as admitting of distinctions, with respect to
creatures. Some distinguish it into righteousness of words, and
righteousness of deeds. Righteousness of words lies in the
fulfillment of his words, sayings, prophecies, and promises; and is
no other than his veracity, truth, and faithfulness; which will be
considered hereafter, as a distinct attribute. Righteousness of
deeds, is either the rectitude, purity, and holiness of his nature;
which appears in all his works and actions, and which has been
treated of in the preceding chapter; or it is a giving that which
belongs to himself, and to his creatures, what is each their due.
So justice is defined by Cicero, an affection of the mind, "Suum
cuique tribuens"; giving to everyone his own. Thus God gives or
takes to himself what is his due; or does himself justice, by making
and doing all things for his own glory; and by not giving his glory
to another, nor his praise to graven images: and he gives to his
creatures what is due to them by the laws of creation, and governs
them in justice and equity, and disposes of them and dispenses to
them, in the same manner.
Justice, among men, is sometimes distinguished into commutative and
retributive. Commutative justice lies in covenants, compacts,
agreements, commerce, and dealings with one another, in which one
gives an equivalent in money or goods, for what he receives of
another; and when integrity and uprightness are preserved, this is
justice. But such sort of justice cannot have place between God and
men; what he gives, and they receive from him, is of free favour and
good will; and what they give to him, or he receives from them, is
no equivalent for what they have from him; "What shall I render to
the Lord for all his benefits towards me?" (Ps. 116:12) nothing that
is answerable to them. Besides, God has a prior right to everything
a creature has or can give; "Who hath first given to him, and it
shall be recompensed to him again?" (Rom. 11:35). Retributive
justice is a distribution either of rewards or punishments; the one
may be called remunerative justice, the other punitive justice; and
both may be observed in God.
2a. Remunerative justice, or a distribution of rewards; the rule of
which is not the merits of men, but his own gracious promise; for he
first, of his own grace and good will, makes promises, and then he
is just and righteous in fulfilling them; for God, as Austin[2]
expresses it, "makes himself a debtor, not by receiving anything
from us, but by promising such and such things to us."
And his justice lies in fulfilling his promises made to such and
such persons, doing such and such things; and not in rewarding any
supposed merits of theirs. Thus, for instance, "The man that endures
temptation shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has
promised to them that love him", (James 1:12) but the crown of life
is not given according to any merit of it arising from enduring
temptation, or loving the Lord; but in consequence of the promise of
God graciously made to such persons, for their encouragement
thereunto. Moreover, the reward is not of debt, but of grace; or
God, in the distribution of rewards to men, rewards not their works,
but his own grace; he first gives grace, and then rewards that grace
with glory; called, "the reward of the inheritance" (Col. 3:24).
And this seems to be no other than the inseparable connection
between grace and glory, adopting grace, and the heavenly
inheritance; which, he having of his own grace put, does in justice
inviolably maintain. Indeed, the remunerative justice of God is
sometimes represented in scripture, as rendering to every man
according to his deeds, or as his work shall be, (Rom. 2:5-7, 10,
22:12). But still it is to be observed, that the reward given or
rendered, is owing, to the promise that is made to them for
godliness, whether as a principle of grace, or as practiced under
the influence of grace; or godly persons have "the promise of the
life that now is, and of that which is to come", (1 Tim. 4:8) which
promise is punctually and righteously performed.
Besides, God does not reward the works and godly actions of men, as
meritorious in themselves; but as they are the fruits of his own
grace; who works in them both "to will and to do" of his own
pleasure; and therefore he is "not unrighteous to forget their work
and labour of love"; which springs from love, is done in faith, and
with a view to his glory (Heb. 6:10). Moreover, the works according
to which God renders eternal life, are not mens' own personal works;
between which, and eternal life, there is no proportion; but the
works of righteousness done by Christ, of which his obedience and
righteousness consist; and which being done by him, on their
account, as their Head and Representative, are reckoned to them;
and, according to these, the crown of righteousness is given them by
the Lord, as a righteous Judge, in a way of righteousness (2 Tim.
4:8).
2b. Punitive, or vindictive justice, belongs to God; It is a
righteous thing with God to render tribulation to them that trouble"
his people, (2 Thess. 1:6) and so to inflict punishment for any
other sin committed by men; and this has been exercised by him in
all ages from the beginning of the world; and has appeared in
casting down from heaven to hell the angels that sinned; in drowning
the old world; in destroying Sodom and Gomorrah; in the plagues on
Egypt, on Pharaoh and his host; the righteousness of which was
acknowledged, in some of the instances of it, by that wicked king,
(Ex. 9:27) in each of the captivities of the Jews, and in the
destruction of that people; and in the judgments of God on many
other nations, in each of the periods of time; and as will be seen
in the destruction of antichrist and the antichristian states; the
righteousness of which will be ascribed to God by the angel of the
waters, and by all his people, (Rev. 16:5, 6, 19:1).
2) and in the eternal punishment and everlasting destruction of
ungodly men: and this righteousness is natural and essential to God;
but this the Socinians deny, because they do not choose to embrace
the doctrine of the necessity of Christ's satisfaction for sin,
which, if granted, they must give into. But that punitive, or
vindictive justice, is essential to God, or that he not only will
not let sin go unpunished, but that he cannot but punish sin, is
manifest,
2b1. From the light of nature: hence the accusations of the natural
conscience in men for sins committed; the fears of divine vengeance
falling upon them for it, here or hereafter; the many ways and means
devised to appease angry Deity, and to avert punishment, some
absurd, and others shocking; to which may be added, the name of dikh,
vengeance, or justice, punitive justice, the heathens give to deity;
see (Rom. 2:14, 15; Acts 28:4).
From the word of God, and the proclamation which God himself
has made; in which, among other essential perfections of his, this
is one, that he will by no means clear the guilty, and not at all
acquit the wicked, (Ex. 34:6,7; Num. 14:18; Nah. 1:3). From the nature of God, "who is of purer eyes than to behold
iniquity"; cannot bear it, but hates it, and the workers of it;
which hatred is no other than his punishment of it (Heb. 1:13; Isa.
1:13, 14; Ps. 5:5, 6). Now as his love of righteousness is natural
and essential to him; so must hatred of sin be; to which may be
added, that "he is a consuming fire" (Heb. 12:29). From the nature of sin, and the demerit of it, eternal death,
everlasting punishment and destruction. Now if sin of itself, in its
own nature, merits such punishment at the hands of God, he is
obliged to inflict it; or otherwise there can be no demerit in it.
From the law of God; the sanction of it, and the veracity of
God in it: sin is a transgression of the law; which God, as a
lawgiver, cannot but punish; otherwise his legislative power and
authority is of no effect, and would be despised: he has annexed a
sanction to his law, which is death; and his veracity obliges him to
inflict it; nor is it any objection to all this, that then all
sinners must be necessarily punished; since the perfections of God,
though natural to him, the acts and exercises of them are according
to his will; as has been instanced in his omnipotence and mercy.
Besides, it will be readily allowed, and even affirmed, that no sin
goes unpunished; but is either punished in the sinner himself, or in
his Surety. The reason why some are not punished in themselves, is,
because Christ has made satisfaction for their sins, by bearing the
punishment due unto them.
2b6. From sin being punished in Christ, the Surety of his people, it
may be strongly concluded, that punitive justice is essential to
God; or otherwise, where is the goodness of God to his own Son, that
he should not spare him, but awake the sword of justice against him,
and inflict the whole of punishment on him, due to the sins of those
for whom he suffered, if he could not have punished sin, or this was
not necessary? and, indeed, where is his wisdom in being at such an
expense as the blood and life of his Son, if sin could have been let
go unpunished, and the salvation of his people obtained without it?
and where is the love of God to men, in giving Christ for them, for
their remission and salvation, so much magnified, when all this
might have been without it? but without shedding of blood, as there
is no remission, so none could be, consistent with the justice of
God; no pardon nor salvation, without satisfaction to that: could it
have been in another way, the prayer of Christ would have brought it
out, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass me" (Matthew
26:39).
3. Thirdly, I shall next consider the displays of the righteousness
of God in his works; and vindicate his justice in them; for "the
Lord is righteous in all his ways" (Ps. 145:17).
3a. In his ways and works of providence: he governs the world in
righteousness, orders and disposes of all things in judgment; and
though he does according to his sovereign will and pleasure in
heaven and in earth, yet he acts according to the strictest rules of
justice and equity; "Just and true are his ways"; "he is the Judge
of all the earth, who will do right", (Rev. 15:3; Gen. 18:25) and
does do it; nor is he chargeable with any unrighteousness in any of
his ways and works: men may wrongly charge him, and say, as the
house of Israel did; "the way of the Lord is not equal"; when it is
their ways that are unequal, and not his, (Ezek. 18:29) nor is it
any sufficient objection to the righteousness of God in his
providences, that good men are often afflicted, and wicked men are
frequently in very prosperous circumstances: these things have been
stumbling and puzzling to good men, and they have not been able to
reconcile them to the justice of God (see Ps. 73:4-13; Jer. 12:1,
2).
As for the afflictions of God's people, these are not punishments
for sins, but chastisements of them; were they indeed punishments
for sin, it would argue injustice, for it would be unjust to punish
twice for the same sins; once in their Surety, and again in
themselves: but so it is not; their afflictions come not from God as
a judge, but as a father; and not from his justice, but his love;
and not to their detriment and injury, but for their good. In short,
they are chastened by the Lord, that they might not be condemned
with the world (1 Cor. 11:32).
And as for the prosperity of the wicked, though their eyes stand out
with fatness, and they have more than heart can wish, yet they are
like beasts that are fattened for the slaughter; their judgment may
seem to linger, and their damnation to slumber, but they do not;
sudden destruction will come upon them; the tables will, ere long,
be turned, and the saints, who have now their evil things, will be
comforted; and the wicked, who have now their good things, will be
tormented: justice, though it may not so apparently take place now,
it will hereafter; when all things will be set to rights, and the
judgments of God will be manifest. There is a future state, when the
justice of God will shine in all its glory.
3b. God is righteous in all his ways and works and acts of grace; in
the predestination of men, the choice of some, and the preterition
of others. While the apostle is treating on this sublime subject, he
stops and asks this question, "Is there unrighteousness with God?"
and answers it with the utmost abhorrence and detestation, "God
forbid!" Election is neither an act of justice nor of injustice, but
of the sovereign will and pleasure of God, who does what he will
with his own; gives it to one, and not to another, without any
imputation of injustice: if he may give grace and glory to whom he
will, without such a charge, then he may determine to give it
without any.
If it is no injustice in men to choose their own favourites,
friends, confidants, and companions; it can be none in God to choose
whom he pleases to bestow his favours on; to indulge with communion
with himself now, and to dwell with him to all eternity: if it was
no injustice to choose some of the angels, called elect angels, and
pass by others; and even to condemn all that sinned, without showing
mercy to one individual of them; it can be no injustice in him to
choose some of the race of men, and save them, and pass by others,
when he could have condemned them all.
Nor can the imputation of Adam's sin to all his posterity, be
accounted an unrighteous action. God made man upright, he made
himself a sinner: God gave him a righteous law, and abilities to
keep it; he voluntarily broke it: God constituted the first man the
federal head and representative of all his posterity; and who so fit
for this as their natural head and common parent, with and in whom
they were to stand and fall; and what injustice could be in that;
since had he stood they would have partook of the benefits of it; as
now he fell they share in the miseries of it? and since they sinned
in him, it can be no unrighteous thing to reckon it to them; or that
they should be made and constituted sinners, by his disobedience.
It is not reckoned unjust, among men, for children to be punished
for the sins of their parents, and particularly treason; and what
else is sin against God? (Ex. 20:5). The justice of God shines
brightly in redemption by Christ; "Zion, and her converts, are
redeemed in righteousness"; a full price is paid for the redemption
of them; and in it "mercy and truth meet together, and righteousness
and peace kiss each other": and though it is not for all men, no
injustice is done to them that are not redeemed; for if God could in
justice have condemned all, it can be no act of injustice to redeem
and save some.
Suppose one hundred slaves in Algiers, and a man out of his great
generosity, lays down a ransom price for fifty of them, does he, by
this act of distinguished goodness and generosity, do any injustice
to the others? or can they righteously complain of him for not
ransoming them? In the justification of men, by the righteousness of
Christ, the justice of God is very conspicuous; for though God
justifies the ungodly, yet not without a perfect righteousness, such
as is adequate to the demands of his righteous law; even the
righteousness of his own Son, in the imputation of which, and
justification by it, he appears to be "just, and the justifier of
him which believes in Jesus" (Rom. 3:26).
Though God forgives sin, yet not without a satisfaction made to his
justice; though it is according to the riches of his grace, yet
through the blood of Christ shed for it; and upon the ground of the
shedding of that blood, God "is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness", (1 John 1:9) and
so it is both an act of grace and of justice; as is eternal glory
and happiness, being the free gift of God, through Christ and his
righteousness.
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