God’s justice is an important part of His character. It means that God always stands for what is morally good and righteous, and because of His perfection, He has the authority to punish the morally corrupt and reward the morally righteous.
The Bible states that God is the creator of righteousness and justice, being both perfectly righteous and just Himself (Psalm 89:14). Therefore, God is the only righteous and perfect Judge to enforce justice while showing no partiality to anyone (Acts 10:34). God’s judgments and His ways are perfectly fair and beyond questioning (Romans 11:33). Everyone will be held accountable and face judgment before God based on what they did with Jesus. We will also be judged according to our works, whether good or bad, although not for salvation (Romans 14:12; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:11-15). God loves justice. The Psalmist David wrote, “For the righteous Lord loves justice. The virtuous will see his face” (Psalm 11:7). Psalm 33:5 says, “He loves whatever is just and good; the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth.” God stands with and rewards those who live righteous lives and commands us not to mistreat other people especially the most vulnerable and oppressed (Hebrews 6:10; Zechariah 7:10; James 1:27). God, in His justice, enacts punishment and vengeance on wrongdoers and on those who wickedly oppress other people (Colossians 3:25; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-9; Romans 12:19).
To behave justly means to act and be in conformity with that which is morally upright and good. The concept of justice is connected to merit: those who are morally corrupt will be punished, while those who are morally upright will be rewarded. These principles of justice and righteousness are the foundation on which God operates.
Knowing that God is just, why do we see so much injustice in the world? The answer is sin (Genesis 3). Since Adam and Eve, all of humanity has chosen to sin and bring wickedness and injustice into the world (Romans 5:12-21). Our sin continues to have devastating effects on our world. While God is just, He is also merciful and patient, not wanting anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:8-10). He has allowed the earth to continue in sin because He longs to redeem, restore and set people free from their slavery to sin and death.
The good news is that God so loved the world that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem the people of the world from sin and death (John 3:16). Jesus died on the cross for our sins, shedding His perfect blood, dying in our place, and taking the punishment of death that we deserved (1 Peter 1:18-20, 3:18). Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead, overcoming sin and the grave and proving Himself the Savior of the world. By belief in Jesus Christ, we are made right with God, redeemed and set free to live in righteousness as children of God.
God demonstrated His grace, justice and righteousness through the sacrifice of Christ: “Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus” (Romans 3:24-26 NLT).
So what about you? Have you believed in Jesus? Have you been made right with God or are you still held captive by your sins? Are you ready to stand before the judgment throne of God? God loves you and is merciful, and He wants you to believe in His Son, Jesus, to receive eternal life and begin an everlasting relationship with Him.