Defining Justice – The Eighth Commandment

Defining Justice

The Eighth Commandment

Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19

“You shall not steal.”

Romans 3:26

It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Justice begins with God.

The sense of justice is fundamental. Every one of us knows what it feels like to be wronged and to have that sense of insisting that things be made right. There has never been a society, no matter how primitive, that has not maintained protocols of justice, ensuring order through taboos, laws, and punishments based on well-understood traditions and practices. The sense of justice is uniquely human; indeed, it would appear to be built into the very warp and woof of what it means to be a person. Made in the image of God we cannot help but reflect in our own conduct some of attributes of our Creator, among them, justice. Justice begins with God, Who is both just and the One Who justifies others according to His own criteria of right and wrong. Therefore we might define justice as how God would act in any situation involving relationships of human beings with one another. The Law of God reveals five aspects of justice, and these come into particular focus in the statutes elaborating the eighth commandment. These statutes are intended to ensure that, among those who obey the Law, the character of God will prevail in their relationships with one another.

How would you define justice? How does our society define it? How can we know when it has been satisfied?

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“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: The use of a translation other than the Authorised Version in an article does not constitute an endorsement in whole or in part by The Christian Observer.