What does the Bible say about justice?

God’s justice is all about wholeness. Fixing what’s broken. Making wrong things right. Restoring the world, and humanity, to its original design.

03 Sep, 2024

‘Weltschmerz’ is a German word that describes being world-weary because of all the evil and suffering that surrounds us.

It’s that feeling of looking out the window and becoming disheartened because what you see doesn’t reflect what should be. That feeling of wanting to hide under the covers and not face the day because it’s all too much. Too painful. Too overwhelming.

More than that, ‘weltschmerz’ is a phrase used to describe the sense of overwhelm that comes when there is no easy solution. No quick fix.

This story of world-weary fatigue is not unfamiliar to God. Throughout the Bible, there are many stories of God’s people being treated unfairly, and God’s righteous response to their circumstances. In fact, there are over 2,000 verses in the Bible directly related to the topic of justice¹. It’s clearly something that is close to God’s heart.

One example can be found in Exodus.

For 430 years, God’s people lived under the yoke of bondage in Egypt. Living as slaves in a foreign land, it’s likely the Israelites were treated with cruelty and contempt. They would have faced judgement from the Egyptians and would have been denied certain privileges.

On top of that, centuries had passed since God made His covenant promise to Abraham about the Promised Land. The Israelites probably felt abandoned and despondent, wondering where God was, and if (and when) He would show up.

Yet God did not forget His people. He was present, even in their suffering, and He had a plan to release them from their captivity. The Bible says God heard their cries and listened to their prayers. He had a plan to restore justice.

"I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians." —Exodus 6:7 (NIV)

From stories like this, we know the concept of justice is important to God. He does not turn away from our pain and suffering, but He stays with us through the darkness, and in time, promises to transform it into something beautiful.

Even in prolonged seasons of silence or inaction, it’s important to remember that God longs for justice. It matters to Him that redemption and reconciliation win in the end. It matters to Him that the oppressed and mistreated experience victory.

Woven through the Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy), the Psalms, the Old Testament prophets, Jesus’ ministry in the Gospels, and the New Testament Epistles is the consistent message that God’s justice is about the flourishing of all people².

Sometimes it takes longer than we expect, and the outcome might look different, but God always has a plan. He longs to make wrong things right. And this story began in Genesis.

Justice and Imago Dei

Deuteronomy 32:4 says that justice is part of God’s nature; His essence. God cannot be separated from it. God does not merely possess love, holiness and justice; He is love, holy and just³.

“He is the rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He.” —Deuteronomy 32:4 (NIV)

Because God is just, and Genesis 1 says that humans are created in God’s image, this means that our innate sense of justice is imparted to us by our Creator. It is not a flaw in our design that seeing vulnerable people or animals in pain makes us feel anger or grief. We are wired that way for a reason. A holy and divine reason.

And because we are made in Imago Dei, we are also called to live lives of justice.

Right from the beginning, we were designed to be image-bearers of justice. To reflect the heart of our Father. To be moved by the things that move Him, and to advocate for the causes that matter to Him.

On Earth, there are two kingdoms: a kingdom of light and a kingdom of darkness, and in Ephesians 6, the Apostle Paul gives us instructions on the biblical way to stand against the snares and traps that surround us.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armour of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” —Ephesians 6:10-11

As Christians, it can be tempting to protect ourselves from the pain and injustice all around us by holding on to numbness, but God shows us a different kind of armour to wear. It is an armour made by Him, and one that won’t be a burden or heavy weight. It’s the kind of armour that will position us to rightly enter into the battle against injustice as we push back against the evil that surrounds us.

It is the armour of surrender. Of trusting that God is who He says He is.

When we surrender our own metrics of human justice, our eyes are opened to see that He is already at work making wrong things right. His methods might look different to what we expect, but as His children, He invites us to follow in His footsteps and partner with the work He is already doing.

How do we live lives of justice?

God’s kingdom is marked by justice, and as His children, we are commissioned to reflect that lifestyle here on Earth. Interestingly, acting with justice requires movement. It’s not enough to simply talk about it: justice must be embodied.

But the truth is, we all participate in injustice, actively or passively—even unintentionally.

We’re all guilty of walking by someone in need. Of turning the other way when we don’t want to engage with the messiness of broken humanity.

It might be hard to admit, but all too often, we are the like the priest and the Levite who walked past the injured man in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10). We choose our own comfort, convenience and preference over showing mercy and compassion.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

As we look to the example of Jesus, we see that pursuing justice starts in the heart.

Committing to living a lifestyle of justice will cost us comfort, time, money and status. It will likely give us heartache⁴, and it will definitely challenge the norms of the culture around us. But we will struggle to live any other way once when we begin to see people the way Jesus does.

Jesus looks at the broken and downtrodden and He calls them His own. He leaves the ninety-nine to track down the one lost lamb. Jesus, the High King of Heaven, chose to hang bloodied and marred on the cross because He so loved His children and wanted them to come home.

Because Jesus chooses the path of justice every single time, as we follow in His footsteps, we will desire to do the same.

Restoring dignity to people is also an act of justice. Just as Christ embraced lepers and prostitutes with open arms, when we choose to look outside of ourselves and ‘love our neighbour’, we begin to see people as God sees them.

Only from this posture, fuelled by the compassion of Christ, are we are able to engage in the big issues of injustice—protecting the vulnerable, fighting for those held in oppression, walking alongside the wounded and pointing them to the One who heals, restores and redeems⁵.

Because God is always seeking justice, so too should we.

“And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” —Micah 6:8 (NIV)

God’s justice starts and ends with Him. As His people, we need to trust that because justice is an inseparable part of His nature, there is a day coming when we will see the fullness of His justice restored on Earth. Excitingly, He invites us into this work. He invites us to partner with Him.

Yet, if we’re not careful, our zeal to see justice prevail can easily slip into ‘weltschmerz’ if we allow ourselves to get disheartened by lack of momentum. It can be difficult to pour out energy and advocate for the causes of the vulnerable and see no obvious signs of change.

The important thing is to remember the bigger picture. Fighting for justice is about restoring truth, beauty and order to Earth. To reconcile things back to their original, perfect design—and it all comes back to God.

Without Him, we cannot live a life of true justice. But with Him, we will see captives set free, sight restored to the blind, and the lost come home.

Compassion exists for this very reason.

The work of releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name is a holy pursuit, because it is all about reminding our brothers and sisters across the world that they are deeply loved and seen by God.

Through partnership with the local church, Compassion seeks to remind children living in poverty that their current circumstances are not the end of the story. God is at work bringing true and righteous justice to the world, and He has a plan and a hope for their future. Their lives are precious to Him, and He longs to see each and every child living free from poverty—of all kinds.

If you want to be involved in this life-changing work, you can partner with Compassion through volunteering, sponsoring a child, or donating. Together, we can pursue justice and see hope restored on the Earth.

Written by Sarah Moore, Compassion Australia.

¹Noyes, J. (2022). Justice Matters to God. https://www.str.org/w/justice-matters-to-god.

²Jacob, C. (2020). What is Biblical Justice? https://groundworkonline.com/blog/what-is-biblical-justice.

³Wellum, S. (2023). Thinking Biblically and Theologically about Justice. https://christoverall.com/article/longform/thinking-biblically-and-theologically-about-justice/.

⁴Benner, S. (2019). Act Justly, Love Mercy and Walk Humbly: What does it mean? https://thelife.com/to-act-justly.

⁵Erickson, C. (2018). Biblical Justice & Social Justice. https://sharedhope.org/2018/06/04/biblical-justice-and-social-justice/.