Psalm
50
Is not God unjust in requiring of man in His law what
he cannot do?
No,
for God so created man that he could do it. But man, upon the instigation of
the devil, by deliberate disobedience, has cheated himself and all his
descendants out of these gifts.
Will God let man get by with such disobedience and
defection?
Certainly
not, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, both against our inborn
sinfulness and our actual sins, and He will punish them according to His
righteous judgment in time and in eternity as He has declared "Cursed be
he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them.@
But is not God also merciful?
God
is indeed merciful and gracious, but He is also righteous. It is His
righteousness which requires that sin committed against the supreme majesty of
God be punished with extreme, that is, with eternal punishment of body and
soul.
I. Is Godliness
Too Expensive?
A.
People could have been righteous in their original form. And God saw
every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening
and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31)
B.
Sin is an unnatural but powerful influence imposed on reality. Ye are
of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a
murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a
liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)
C.
God provides a satisfactory solution to the problem of sin in the
substitutionary atonement. Wherefore,
as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5-12) Therefore as by
the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the
righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:18-19)
II.
Ignoring Sin Would Ruin Justice
A.
God's wrath against sin spills out from heaven. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all
ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
(Romans 1:18)
B.
If God winked at sin the process would eliminate justice from life. For as many as are of the works of the law are under
the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all
things which are written in the book of the law to do them. (Galatians 3:10)
C.
The rules have always been obvious. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the
LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I
command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and
overtake thee: (Deuteronomy 28:15)
III.
Remember God's Mercy
A.
Never separate justice from mercy. And
the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD
God, merciful
and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy
for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by
no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth
generation. (Exodus 34:6-7)
B.
Justice is not just some perverse pleasure God takes in getting even with
sinners. For
thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell
with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers
of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor
the bloody and deceitful man. (Psalm 5:4-6)
God
would be an accomplice of evil men if He did not hold
them
accountable.
1.
Consider the implications of mercy without justice. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou
thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself- but I will reprove
thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. (Psalms 50:21)
2.
God calls those who remain silent when they see evil accessories to the
crimes. Thou
art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:
wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy
tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
(Habakkuk 1:13)
3.
God gets tired of the excuses people give for evil. Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein
have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the
sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of
judgment? (Malachi 2:17)
4.
There must be a distinction between justice and injustice. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with
thee, which frameth mischief by a law? (Psalms 94:20)
C. It is God's mercy which demands His justice.
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did
it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go
away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
(Matthew 25:45-46)
What
kind of heaven would it he if it were indistinguishable from hell?
Heidelberg Catechism
Lord=s Day 004
Questions 9-11
Dr. Edwin P. Elliott, Jr.
File: Lord=s Day 004
