by Arthur W. Pink
by Arthur W. Pink
Philologos Religious Online Books
Philologos.org
by Arthur W. Pink
December, 1940
THE JUSTICE OF GOD.
We have seen that the justice of God in His government of this world is manifested in the consciences of men and in the dispensations of Providence. Let us now behold how it is evidenced in the work of redemption. Here it has pleased the Most High to give a signal demonstration of His righteousness according to the requirements of that law which He has framed. Nowhere are the principles of the Divine administration exhibited so plainly as here, yet nowhere, we may add, is it so imperative for us to be completely subject to the Scriptures if our thoughts thereon are to honour the Lord God. If the works of creation contain mysteries which are beyond our powers to solve, and if the dispensations of Providence are often sorely perplexing, the yet grander work of redemption—God's masterpiece—must fill with reverent awe those who endeavour to contemplate its method and meaning. Only as we interpret by the light of Holy Writ the amazing anomaly of the Just suffering for the unjust shall we be preserved from the most horrible errors.
In connection with the work of redemption we are confronted with the astonishing spectacle of a Person whom even His worst enemies acknowledged to be free from the slightest stain of impurity. And of whose moral conduct Heaven itself testified an unqualified approbation, spending His days in such affliction and ending His career in such anguish that He was denominated “the Man of Sorrows.” If guilt precedes affliction and is the cause of it, then to behold the Holy One enduring the unabated curse of the Law presents a problem which human wisdom is utterly incapable of solving. Yea, it is at this very point that the blasphemies of infidels have raved the loudest. But this is exactly what Scripture leads us to expect, for it plainly tells us that the preaching of Christ crucified is “unto the Jews a stumblingblock and unto the Greeks foolishness.” Yet this same passage at once adds, “But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:23, 24).
The light of Divine revelation removes what is a stumblingblock to those who walk in darkness. So far from the Scriptures uttering the least apology for God in His appointment of Christ unto death, they declare, “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” So far from the death of Christ casting the slightest reflection upon God's justice, this very passage repeats: “To declare, I say, at this time His righteousness: that He might be just and the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:24-26). The Lord Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for sin has been exhibited for this very end, to demonstrate the righteousness of God in this greatest transaction of all time, so that He now acquits the guiltiest transgressor who trusts in the Saviour without infringing the rights of His government; yea, manifesting and magnifying His very justice in so doing.
Though personally innocent of the slightest infraction of God's Law, yea, though rendering to it a perfect and perpetual obedience, yet the Lord Jesus Christ suffered vicariously as the Substitute of His people. Nor was this fearful sacrifice forced upon Him against His own will: rather did He freely assume the office of Surety and voluntarily discharge its duties. It must ever be borne in mind that He who presented Himself as the Sponsor of God's elect possessed rights and prerogatives which belong to no mere creature. He was complete master of His own life. He voluntarily assumed our nature and held His life for the purpose of surrendering it as a ransom for us. He Himself made this unmistakably plain when He declared, “Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:17, 18). If One who was innocent voluntarily received the wages of sin, then God's hatred of sin was unmistakably manifested, the authority of His government maintained, and the requirements of His justice fully satisfied.
From earliest times this apparent travesty of justice—an innocent victim being slaughtered in the place of the guilty—held a prominent place in the Divine appointments for His people. The Divine institution of propitiatory sacrifices and their abundant use under the economy God framed, was solemnly unforced by that penal statute, “And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set My face against that soul that eateth blood and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul” (Lev. 17:10, 11). Of such frequent application, of such varied utility, and of such high importance was the expiatory blood of sacrifices that the Holy Spirit moved an Apostle to say, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb. 9:22).
What striking and emphatic declarations are those: the blood makes an atonement for the soul—almost all things were purged by blood—no remission without the shedding of blood. As no blood was expiatory except that which was poured out in sacrifice to God, that which brought death on the victim, and that in which the death of a victim was vicarious—God kept constantly before His people under the typical system of worship the fact that pardon would not be dispensed to transgressors nor communion with Himself enjoyed except in strict connection with a display of punitive justice. But though the propitiatory sacrifices were so many testimonies to Jehovah's purity, so many evidences of His righteousness, yet in their nature, application and efficacy they did not extend to the burdened conscience but were limited to the removal of ceremonial defilement and to a typical prefiguration of the Messiah's priestly work. They were so far from fully exhibiting the governmental perfections of God that they were merely shadows and pre-intimations of that which was to be manifested when “the fullness of time should come.”
“For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin Thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, (in the volume of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy will, O God. . . by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:4-10). Here is the grand transition from the shadows to the Substance. The typical sacrifices were inadequate for displaying the righteousness of God, and therefore were they superceded by the all-sufficient Sacrifice. None other than the Son of God Himself took upon Him our humanity (immaculately conceived) and came into this world to do in reality what had been previously prefigured of Him.
In the above passage our blessed Redeemer stands forth as a voluntary victim, completely qualified to make full expiation of sin. Confident of His own perfect qualifications to perform the arduous work, absolutely willing to undergo all the bitterness of the sufferings involved therein, he announced His readiness to discharge the greatest undertaking of all. But let us carefully note, once more, how everything is resolved unto the Divine WILL. “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God” (Heb. 10:9): that will which had been formulated in His “eternal purpose” (Eph. 3:11), which had been expressed in the terms of the Everlasting Covenant, which had been freely accepted by the Mediator Himself, and which had been made known in the Scriptures of Truth. That “will” involved the magnifying of God's Law and rendering it honourable (Isa. 42:21). It involved the Son's becoming the federal Representative of His people, His entering into the office of Surety, His serving as their Substitute, and His making expiation for their sins. And by that same “will” we are saved. How clearly this confirms what we have said in a previous article.
It would take us too far afield for us now to enter into a discussion of the nature, design, and effects of the Atonement, rather must we confine ourselves to the relation which the Satisfaction of Christ had unto the demonstrating of God's governmental perfections under the economy He had instituted. The fundamental feature of that economy is that the Lord God has placed His rational creatures under law, and that He administers this law with strict impartiality, enforcing its sanctions without respect of persons. The climactic proof of this appears in the plan God formed for the salvation of His elect. He did not sovereignly pardon their iniquities without any satisfaction being rendered to His broken Law, but appointed His own Son to enter their stead and place and be made a curse for them, experiencing in His own Person the unabated penalty of that Law, so that they may be righteously discharged. This it is which alone explains the unparalleled sufferings of the Saviour.
What has just been pointed out alone accounts for the agony of our Redeemer prior to the Cross. Before any human hand was laid upon Him, before any human enemy came near Him, He exclaimed, “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death” (Matt. 26:38). Behold Him prostrate in the Garden: He was in an agony of mental distress: He sweat great drops of blood: engaged in “strong crying and tears.” Observe Him on the cruel Tree. With unmeasurable magnanimity He interceded for His crucifiers. With royal majesty and unparalleled mercy He allotted a place in Paradise to one of the malefactors dying by His side. But before He yielded up His spirit He cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” There is only one adequate cause for such unspeakable anguish, namely, His vicarious Character, His bearing imputed sin (for He had none of His own), His undergoing the curse of the Law in the stead of those who were justly condemned by it.
Scripture speaks so plainly on this momentous subject that there is no excuse for any misunderstanding of its meaning. Christ was “wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him” (Isa. 53:5). And why so? Because God made His Son to be “sin for us, who knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21), because “the Lord made the iniquity of us all to meet on Him” (Isa. 53:6), because “His own self bear our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). And what was the consequence? This—Jehovah cried, “Awake O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the Man that is My Fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the Shepherd” (Zech. 13:7). Under the regime God has instituted, sin must be punished wherever it be found and no exception was made even of the spotless Lamb when the iniquities of His people were transferred to Him. Hence we are told that the Sinbearer was “smitten of God” and again, “it pleased the LORD to bruise Him” (Isa. 53:4, 10).
It is, then, in the work of redemption that we behold the clearest, the most solemn, and yet the grandest display of God's righteousness. Therein we learn His estimate of sin, His holy abhorrence of it, the nature and severity of His sentence upon it. Not only does the work of redemption exhibit the exceeding riches of Divine mercy in the pardon of deservedly condemned criminals, but it manifests the inexorable and awe-inspiring character of Divine justice in the tremendous punishment of sin inflicted upon the Holy Lamb. The more we prayerfully contemplate the Father's conduct in connection with the obedience and sufferings of His dear Son, the more clearly do we behold Him vindicating the honour of His broken Law, satisfying the claims of His penal justice, furnishing incontestable proof of His equity and veracity, and thereby is He set forth as One who is infinitely worthy to superintend the universe and to govern this world.
Finally, the justice of God will be openly manifested at the end of this world, when the present administration terminates: then will be “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom. 2:5). The ends of justice, so far as they consist in retribution, would be answered by the sentence pronounced upon every individual immediately after death, for it is enough that the state of men in the next world conform to their characters and conduct in this. But the Grand Assize is designed for the final manifestation of God's justice before an assembled universe, to bring it out of any obscurity and uncertainty in which it is partly veiled under the varied dispensations of Providence, and to demonstrate once and for all that the Ruler of Heaven and earth is no respecter of persons. Then shall the books be opened, fair trial accorded, all the evidence adduced and every man shall “receive according to his works.” The wicked will then be convicted that each one has received the due reward of his iniquities, while the righteous will exclaim, “Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgments” (Rev. 6:7).
Let us now endeavour, though very briefly, to improve this important subject in a doctrinal and practical manner. First, such manifestations of the Divine justice as have been before us should indeed promote the exercise of deep humility before God in all our devotional intercourse with Him. O fellow-Christian, if we apprehend in any measure this most solemn truth of the Divine justice, we must surely feel the propriety of that precept, “Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28, 29). There is far more danger of real believers approaching the Father of mercies in a careless, carnal, and formal manner, than there is of them drawing near to Him under the influence of painful timidity or of a desponding temper. We should endeavour to acquire a settled habit of reminding ourselves that the Object of our worship is One who is “glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders.” Such a view of God is adapted to arouse solemnity, excite reverence, and promote submission.
Second, such manifestations of Divine justice as have been before us should warm our hearts and enkindle the spirit of praise. O what a difference it makes whether that justice is for or against us. The justice is now for the weakest and most unworthy believer, for the simple but sufficient reason it was against his blessed Redeemer. Payment God cannot twice demand: first at our bleeding Surety's hand, and then again at ours. Because the sword of Divine justice was sheathed in the side of the Substitute, I go free. Because He received the wages of sin in my place, my debts are fully discharged. Because He rendered to the Law a vicarious obedience which magnified and made it honourable, His perfect righteousness is reckoned to my account. Because I have put my trust in His finished work, I am justified from all things. Surely, then, I must exclaim, “my mouth shall show forth Thy righteousness and Thy salvation all the day” (Psa. 71:15). O what praise and devotion are due Him. “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness” (Isa. 61:10).
Third, such manifestations of Divine justice as have been before us constitute an unspeakably solemn warning to the unsaved. While the consideration of God's righteousness must fill believers with peace and joy, yet it is a fearful thing for the Christless to contemplate. It is a justice which is inflexible, inexorable, and immutable. It is a justice which is never set aside by sentimental considerations, and which cannot be bought with promises or bribed by tears. The solemn truth of God's justice addresses the consciences of those who are secure in their sins, saying, “What meanest thou, O sleeper, arise, call upon thy God.” It speaks with the voice of thunder, maintaining the reasonableness of that obedience which the Law requires, the equity of the sanctions by which it is enforced, and the inflexibility of the Legislator to execute His threatened curse upon its transgressors. If God “spared not His own Son,” most certainly He will not spare any who finally despise and reject Him. Even now His wrath is upon them (John 3:36), and except they repent, soon shall they feel the full force of it in the Lake of Fire.—A.W.P.
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