W. Frank Walton
07/08/11
“Surely, God will not act wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice” (Job 34:12).
“Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil” (Ecc 8:11).
We live in a mixed-up world. Have you ever been deeply concerned that it seems that lawbreakers and criminals escape justice?
It seems so grossly incredible that: a Florida mother (Casey Anthony), charged with the murder of her 2 year old child, could go a month without reporting her child missing and even went out to frequent parties and shopping sprees and even got a tattoo proclaiming “life is good” (hardly sounds like a grieving mother if she was really innocent of murder), that the little girl had been drugged with chloroform and her mouth and nose had been duct-taped (although the mother’s alibi was she drowned), that she repeatedly lied about the child’s whereabouts, and that she had carried her little child’s decomposed body around in the trunk of her car before dumping it in the woods.
The jurors said the state did not prove their charge of first degree murder because there was no direct evidence linking the baby’s death to her mother, since all evidence was circumstantial, and it was not clear how the child died (the mother hid her body in a garbage bag and dumped it in the woods for so long that decomposition made it impossible for the coroner to decide the cause of death).
In a few days this horribly negligent mother will walk free and will even possibly make $100,000’s for media rights, etc. to her sordid story. The media even reported that outside the Orlando courthouse, where protesters had gathered against this travesty of justice, that a man held a sign asking the acquitted mother to marry him! Oh, how unjust and wicked this spectacle has been!
1. Why Does God Allow Gross Injustice? People in the Bible were vexed about the problem of evil. How could God let the wicked prosper, and why do the innocent suffer injustice? Asaph said he almost lost his faith over this (Psa 73:2). “I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked….They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like mankind. Therefore pride is their necklace; the garment of violence covers them. Their eye bulges from fatness; the imaginations of their heart run riot. They mock and wickedly speak of oppression (Psa 73:3-8). Yet, he later saw things from God’s perspective in the temple (Psa 73:16-17). He saw “their end” that God would eventually “cast them down to destruction” (Psa 73:17, 18). He believed there is eventual, not instant, justice in this world. “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For, behold, those who are far from You will perish; You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You” (Psa 73:26-27).
God allows evil in the world because His overriding purpose is for us to exercise free-will, in order to become like God and have fellowship with Him. This can only happen when we freely, lovingly choose His right way over the wrong way. If no one could make the wrong choice (evil), then there is truly no way to develop the right character in making right decisions.
2. Justice is not Always Immediate but is Inevitable! The Bible repeated reminds us that justice delayed is not justice denied. “….But it will not be well with the wicked, neither will he prolong his days like a shadow, because he does not fear before God” (Eccl 8:11-13 ESV). Elihu said that God will eventually render justice. “He does not keep the wicked alive, but gives justice to the afflicted” (Job 36:6).
Those who live by violence and lies will find evil is often self-destructive: “the way of the transgressor is hard” (Prov 13:15) and “destruction and misery is in their paths” (Rom 3:16). Also, the civil courts may catch up with them and eventually convict them (1 Pet 2:14): “they do not bear the sword in vain” (Rom 13:4).
Yet, even if they escape temporal justice, in the end all sinners will face the all-seeing God of justice and give account for every evil deed (1 Tim 5:24-25). All sin will be uncovered and accounted for at the judgment bar of God. “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne” (Psa 89:14). Jesus promised, “An hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (Jn 5:28-29). There will be no lack of evidence to convict. The apostle Paul assures us: “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, to give an account for the deeds done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor 5:10). Divine judgment is perfectly discerning and infallible.
It comforting to know that little children are not born with inherited sin but are born innocent and “upright” (Ecc 7:29); they are “safe” in regard to their eternal destiny (Matt 18:3). (The little 2 year old Caylee Anthony, as well as millions babies cruelly aborted by their mothers by saline injection that burns them to death or partial birth abortion where a doctor’s scissors are jabbed into the base of the skull so their brains can be sucked out, will be in heaven with God).
3. We’re All Guilty in Need of Christ. In the end, without forgiveness, all accountable people are condemned sinners (Rom 3:8, 23). The “wages” (due penalty) of all our “sin is death” (eternal separation from God) (Rom 6:23). All will eventually and humbly confess the righteousness of Christ (Phil 2:9-11): “for it is written, `As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.’ So then each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom 14:10-12).
However, if you wait until judgment day to acknowledge the truth about Christ, it will be eternally too late! To die lost in sin is to stay lost forever. Now, tell the truth and surrender to Christ, where obedience to the gospel is the only way to pardon: “there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12; cf. 2:38, 22:16). “You have in obedience to the truth purified your souls…” (1 Pet 1:22). We must get right with God in this life, by penitent faith and baptism into Christ and then live faithfully to Him, or we will be left out of heaven forever.
W. Frank Walton