To date we have not attempted to look at the broad topic of Biblical justice. We have focused on examining Social Justice, and have observed that a chief goal, both inside and outside of the church, is to eradicate racial inequality. But justice is more than racial equality.

So now we will attempt to define justice in accordance with the Scriptures. Here is the definition of justice we will seek to prove:

In other words, for a society to be just, it must be ruled by the commandments of God. This applies to both the private and public sectors. To base a definition of justice on anything other than the Law of God is to relativize justice and to have it be a matter of “might makes right”. If justice is subjectively defined by the individual or by society, then the people with the power get to define it and justice is inherently capricious (which is another way of saying justice is inherently unjust).

With this in mind, examining Biblical justice is quite simple in concept: go through the Law of God and see what He says. The more a society’s legislation matches the Law of God, the more just the society is. The more a society’s thoughts, words and deeds align with said legislation, the more just the society is. So an unjust society is therefore caused by unjust laws or by not following just laws.

The words of Christ help us start our understanding of God’s Law, for He gives us a succinct definition of what it means to be just:

Here Jesus defines the whole of the Law as “love God, love neighbor.” From this we immediately know any society that is not orienting its heart toward Jesus Christ is fundamentally unjust, for that society is fundamentally not loving God. Furthermore, we know immediately that any society not predicated upon loving one’s neighbor is fundamentally unjust, for they are breaking the second great command.

But the commands to love God and to love neighbor are overarching principles – they lack sufficient detail to allow one to assess whether a particular word, thought, or deed actually qualifies as loving God or neighbor. More detail is needed to discern whether justice is being upheld or injustice is occurring. For this next level of detail we turn to the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments provide more clarity as to what it means to love God and love neighbor. In fact, theologians have divided the Ten Commandments into two parts, recognizing that one part correlates with loving God and the other part correlates with loving neighbor.

Let us look now at the commandments relating to loving neighbor, and compare them to our current society:

American society regularly breaks every commandment related to loving neighbor. This is not to say each and every individual does, but it is to say that, so far as man is able to discern without divine revelation, God can charge America with corporate sin for complete and utter profanation of the Ten Commandments. We infer that since America regularly breaks all the commandments related to loving neighbor, it also inherently breaks all the commandments related to loving God. After all, does not James tell us this?

America has stumbled at more than one point, so how much more is America guilty of all.

But convicting America at large of injustice is different than convicting the body of Christ in America of injustice. This series on Social Justice is focused on the body of Christ, for we know that secular society is unjust, whether along the lines of racial issues or otherwise. But is the American church unjust, as Social Justice Advocates say? If we are to be consistent, we need to remind ourselves of what was said in a prior post: only God can truly charge a corporate body with sin. And only God truly knows the boundary and population of a corporate body. We previously concluded, based on a study of the seven churches in Revelation, that it is not proper to put all of the American church into one large corporate body. A church from the Deep South is going to be different than a church from the Pacific Northwest. And the history of racial injustice is far greater in the Deep South than the Pacific Northwest.

From our mortal perspective, corporate analysis of justice must occur on a localized basis. The starting point is obviously an individual congregation. The corporate body you should have most familiarity with is your local church body. Compare what you know of your church body to the Ten Commandments. Does injustice reign? Is your congregation led by, or full of, adulterers, coveters, liars, thieves, people speaking false things in God’s name, people denying that Christ is the only way to God? Or is it led by, and full of, people who were those things before they came to Christ, and who are now redeemed and living godly lives?

In summary:

1. Justice is based on God’s Law.
2. God’s law at the highest level is love God, love neighbor.
3. The next level down is the Ten Commandments.

Let us look for justice, or injustice, in our local congregations first. If the church family we are a part of does not live according to God’s Law, then we are in no position to deal with other congregations likewise failing in that endeavor. For Jesus says, after all: