The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. – Nahum 1:3
Do you get worked up when someone commits an injustice against you and seems to get away with it? Are you aggravated when someone sees something and doesn’t say something?
It can be hard to trust that God will punish the guilty. After all, it sure seems like some people get away with murder. Quite literally, some crimes go unsolved and murderers remain at large. And it’s not just the cold cases that concern us. We look around and see people getting rich off of others, enjoying their plunder with no apparent care for their fellow man.
The Bible recognizes this apparent imbalance. We read of this outcry many times: “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” (Jeremiah 12:1). “The tents of robbers are at peace, and those who provoke God are secure, who bring their god in their hand” (Job 12:6). “For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:3). But it is silly to complain about such things. Scripture speaks directly to the importance of not being pulled into worry about injustice. “Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb” (Psalm 73:1-2). Perhaps even more to the point, “Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly” (Deuteronomy 32:35, paraphrased famously by Paul in Romans 12:19).
Still, there is something that makes sense about joining with the Psalmist in crying out for justice. Yes, ALL evil and malice will be dealt with by our powerful, just Creator, eventually. Those who are resolutely unrepentant will receive the harshest of punishments at the final judgment. And in the meantime, we ought to echo our Creator’s call for justice. We ought to speak out against wrongdoing and call others to acknowledge their sin. This is why God grants authority to government, so that they can serve as witnesses of injustice and exact punishment that is in accord with His moral law.
The constitution of my denomination makes clear the purposes of discipline. In the Book of Church Order of the Presbyterian Church in America, we declare the purpose of pursuing corrective discipline: “Its ends, so far as it involves judicial action, are the rebuke of offenses, the removal of scandal, the vindication of the honor of Christ, the promotion of the purity and general edification of the Church, and the spiritual good of offenders themselves.” These objectives of disciplining wrongdoers within the church are the same reasons that we ought to demand justice in society. All of us should pursue 1) rebuking offenses, 2) vindicating the honor of Christ, 3) promoting purity and edification, and 4) seeking the spiritual good of offenders.
We have all heard stories of – or directly witnessed – family and friends covering the tracks of those who have violated the law. At the time, I suppose, people feel a need to get in the way of justice by not speaking up – or worse, intentionally protecting the wrongdoer. Maybe some even rationalize such wicked behavior by imagining that God will eventually exact punishment, so maybe it’s okay to intervene and thereby demonstrate some sort of misguided loyalty. But let’s be honest. There is NOTHING to be gained by allowing loved ones to dodge justice.
First and foremost, the wrongdoer learns [incorrectly] that he is above the law.
In His Great Commission, Jesus directed the church to make disciples, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). Quite simply, no one is above the law. Those who mistakenly think that they are have a big problem on their hands: They think that they are above their Lord. Jesus came to reconcile sinners with their God.
He bled and died, paying the price for their sins. Jesus wanted us to know that the law is always a top priority. So He intervened. Covering up sin denies the work of Christ. The Lord is slow to anger, and He will by no means clear the guilty. Instead, He calls us to repent and believe. He took our guilt upon Himself so that we CAN confess that we need Him. May the guilty recognize this, today.
