Truth and Justice

If your church is like mine, we have been fervently praying for God to show us His glory, but until recently I had not stopped to sincerely consider exactly what I am asking Him to do. 

I see now that God’s glory is heavy, but it is not just heavy with love, it also heavy with truth and justice, and I do not believe that you can have one without the other. 

In Acts 5:15, I believe it is the glory of God that Peter carried with Him, radiating it on to others, “so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them”, so that they may be healed.

That type of manifestation of God’s power on this earth must have been wonderful. 

But have you ever considered the inverse consequences of God manifesting Himself on this earth?

I believe that I do not get to pick and choose which portions of God I want to keep and which portions of God I want to discard.

Therefore, I believe that it stands to reason that God presenting His glory on this earth means that God is not just presenting His love, healing, and wonderful works to this earth, but He is also presenting His truth and justice on this earth. 

Again, the scriptures are clear that God is love, but I should never forget that God is also truth and justice. Deut. 32:4, Psalm 33:5, 11:7,103:6 

He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. Psalm 33:5 ESV

Because God loves justice that means he is actively being righteous, meaning He cannot fairly and justly stand by and do nothing if someone is mistreating one of God’s own. It would be no different than a judge ignoring ongoing illegal conduct in her courtroom, while also sitting in judgment of others that have been charged for the same offense. Justice requires fairness, and fairness means there is no impartiality in the eyes of the Lord, and no excuse will do.

I believe that a real-life example of the active righteousness of God can found in the Bible, directly above the reports of Peter’s shadow healing the sick.

See verses 1-11 of that same chapter tell us the story of Ananias and Sapphira, who came separately before Peter, a church leader at that time, to donate the money they received from the sale of their land. We can debate all day long whether their donation was required and what giving is required of God’s people now, but as I read it, the anger of the Lord struck them down, because they were hiding the true intentions of their heart and nothing else. The intentions of their heart were to deceive a servant of the Lord, as they both chose to hide the fact that they had kept a little money back for themselves.  By keeping money back for themselves they were essentially elevating their needs above all the others but wanting the glory for their performance i.e. giving others the perception that they were laying it all down. God knows, and He also knows that we were called to be servants for the purpose of serving others, not to serve ourselves by deceiving others.

The hard truth is I cannot serve two masters, which is why Peter’s words are quite clear:

“Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴ Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.”

Acts 5:3-4 ESV

Ananias, the husband, immediately fell over dead, and when his wife, Sapphira, came in about three hours later she fell over dead immediately after this exchange:  

“Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

Acts 5:8-9 ESV

The condition of their hearts reminds me of the way Judas’ heart was also described when it says he feigned concern for the poor but was not “because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief.” John 12:6 ESV

In other words, Judas’ actions did not match the intentions of his heart. He pretended to care for others, but in reality “having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it”. John 12:6 ESV

To put it lightly, Judas had serious issues with his heart.

Regardless of what my lips may say, my God perceives my thoughts from a far, so my God knows the intentions of my heart, no matter how hard I try to hide them from others. Psalm 139:2 ESV

I see now that the condition of my heart is why there have been times that God has not shown me more of His glory. In fact, I firmly believe now that there have been times that He has not shown me his glory, not to punish me by withholding Himself, but out of mercy for me. 

Unbeknownst to me, I needed God’s mercy because there were parts of my heart that were not pure enough to see the parts of God that I was longing to see. 

I may not be a thief, like the individuals I have discussed above, but I sure have had hatred in my heart and roots of bitterness that made my heart very unclean. 

I believe that the cleanliness of my heart has a direct effect on how much of God I can see, which is why Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.”

I also believe this to be true because I can personally attest to the fact that the more I continue to work to purify my heart, the more God reveals Himself to me. 

So, rather than crying out to God for Him to show me His glory, I have decided instead that I will fall on my face before my God, repenting day after day, actively working to purify my heart, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Trusting that His Word will not return void, standing on His promise instead that I will see God if I make my heart pure. 

If I may throw this in there too, I see now that the simple act of repentance benefits me in more ways than one. Therefore, I want to pause to say that the way my efforts and works are multiplied in God’s Kingdom still astounds me, and all I can say is that God’s math is much different than mine, but I must first place whatever it is in His hands, to be used for His glory.

See, the more I see of God, the more I stand in awe of Him, or the more I have the type of reverence that is also called the fear of Lord. They had the same experience in Acts. (See Acts 5:5,11)  

The fear of the Lord is also the beginning of wisdom. Proverbs 9:10. Therefore, my simple act of repentance has a compounding effect, encouraging me even more to work to purify my heart, as I learn more of God’s wisdom, not man’s. 

Lest I forget that His Word instructs me to:

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. . . Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.” Proverbs 4:23-24,26 ESV

Wisdom has allowed me to now see that as much as God is love, He is also full of truth and justice, so I may miss an opportunity to experience His glory if I don’t acknowledge them both. 

However, I will also say that the Love of God is sweeter than anything I’ve ever known, so if you haven’t yet, I would encourage you to take the time to sit down at the table of the Lord. He is really a Wonderful Counselor.  

For His Kingdom, For His Glory.