Notes on Justice
Justice is, in many contexts, a synonym for righteousness. The Church prays for justice, preaches for justice, and works for justice in this world, true justice, as defined by God’s Word. But we still live in a fallen world. There is a limit to how much justice we can reasonably expect at the present. If an evildoer murders a Christian, even if the civil magistrate acts to the limit of his authority—arresting, prosecuting, and executing the murderer—has justice fully been done? No. The victim is still dead. The family has not been made whole. A void and grief remain.
The Bible does not teach that vengeance is wrong. It affirms that vengeance is God’s. Sometimes the Lord provides a measure of justice through temporal instruments, e.g. civil magistrates. But even then, there is a limit to how much justice can be enacted. Its application will always be incomplete and often very imperfect. We do not know the hearts of men, even if we know their basic nature from the fruit produced. Sometimes the civil magistrate punishes the wrong person. Sometimes the greatest punishment he can administer is entirely inadequate. And even if the person punished is guilty and the sentence is just, such temporal vengeance cannot adequately fulfill the design of justice.
The Lord claims the right to vengeance because the goal of vengeance is justice. This distinguishes two terms that are closely related but are far removed from one another in application: revenge and vengeance. Revenge is an act inspired by hate, even if the hatred is born of holy and righteous anger. Revenge is personal, more about satisfying one’s own desire for pain than objectively balancing the scales. Vengeance, on the other hand, is the exercise of wrath in the interests of justice. Its aim is not rehabilitation of the offender, though the gospel can accomplish that, but the restoration of victims and of the society which has been marred and harmed by the evil being punished.
Justice involves vindication, the public declaration of right and wrong, the acquittal of the innocent and the condemnation of the wrongdoer. But justice in this present world will inevitably fall far short. Evildoers are frequently declared not guilty in civil courts. Even if convicted, they may be lauded and celebrated by supporters in the public square. On the other hand, the guiltless are sometimes judged guilty. Martyrs die as condemned men and women. They may be innocent, but they are treated as infamous and held in derision and scorn. The best justice we can ever hope to see prior to the return of Christ will still be far less than the restoration and vindication we expect on the Last Day.
Christians are committed to justice, pray for justice, hope for justice, and patiently await justice from God as we live, suffer, and die by faith. When condemned by men, we look to Christ for justification. When mistreated and cursed, we bless. When struck on one cheek, we turn the other to our offender. This is not because we do not love justice, desire justice, and hope for justice. It is because we know who alone can truly accomplish justice, and we patiently await his righteous vengeance on that day.
Some Christians seem to think that true faith means renouncing any desire for or concern about justice. Others seem to think God’s Law allows us to pursue justice with the self-righteous passion and ungodly tactics common to unredeemed man. But if we are to be faithful Christians, biblical Christians, who think christianly about all of life, including justice, we will be people who preach, pray, and promote justice in this world but who expect it only from the Lord. We endure suffering as those who await the righteous judgment that this world can never provide, the vindication and restoration accomplished by Christ on the last day.