05.22. Plausible objections to the justice of God
Plausible Objections to the Justice of God stated
and answered.
Object. 1. If God be infinitely just and righteous, how stands it with his justice that insolent contemners of his majesty and laws should prosper in the world ? This was observed by the saints long ago; see Psalms 73:5-7, Psalms 73:12. ; and has proved a stumbling-block to some of God’s own children, and has been apt to make them question his justice ; see Job 21:7-14. ` Wherefore do the wicked live, become old, yea, are mighty in power ? Their seed is established in their sight with them, and their offspring before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, neither is the rod of God upon them. Their bull gendereth, and faileth not ; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf. They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance. They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment go down to the grave.’ Jeremiah 12:1-2. ’Righteous art thou, 0 Lord, when I plead with thee ; yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper ? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously ? Thou hast planted them ; yea they have taken root : they grow ; yea, they bring forth fruit thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins.’ But in answer, consider,
1. That the wicked may be sometimes instruments to do God’s work. Though they do not design and intend his glory, yet they may be instrumental in promoting it. Thus Cyrus was instrumental for the building of God’s temple at Jerusalem. Now there is some kind of justice in it that such persons should have a temporal reward. God is pleased to suffer those to prosper under whose wings his own people are sheltered. He will not be in any man’s debt. Nebuchadnezzar did some service for God, and the Lord rewarded him for it, by granting hint an enlargement of greatness, Ezekiel 29:18-20. ’ Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great, service against Tyrus : every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled ; vet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that lie had served against it : Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon ; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey ; and it shall be the wages for his army. I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God.’
2. God doth not always let the wicked prosper in their sin. There are some whom lie punisheth openly, that his justice may be observed by all. Hence the Psalmist saith, ’ The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands,’ Psalms 9:16. Sometimes their prosperity is but short-lived, and they are suddenly cast down, as the Psalmist remarks, Psalms 73:18-20. ’ Surely thou didst set them in slippery places : thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment ! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh ; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.’ His justice is seen striking men dead sometimes in the very act of sin ; as in the case of Zimri and Cozbi, Pharaoh, Sennacherib, &c.
3. God suffers men to go on in sin and prosper, that lie may render them the more inexcusable. This goodness and forbearance should lead them to repentance ; and when it does not, it aggravates their sin, and makes them the more inexcusable, when he comes to reckon with them. Hence it is said of Jezebel, ’ I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not,’ Revelation 2:21. God spins out his mercies towards sinners ; and if they do not repent and amend, his patience will be a witness against them, and his justice will be more cleared in their condemnation.
4. If God let the wicked prosper for a while, the vial of his wrath is all that while filling up, his sword is whetting, and though he forbear them for a time, yet long-suffering is not forgiveness. The longer it be ere lie give the blow, it will be the heavier when it comes. The last scene of justice is coming, when the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. There is a day of wrath approaching, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Then he will glorify his justice in taking vengeance on them for all their sins. God hath an eternity in which he will punish the wicked. Divine justice may be as a lion asleep for a time ; but at last this lion will awake, and roar upon the sinner. Their long continued prosperity will heighten their eternal condemnation. There are many sinners in hell who lived in great pomp and prosperity in the world, and are now roaring under the terrible lashes of inexorable ,justice. Thus ye may see that the prosperity of the wicked is consistent enough with the justice of God.
Object. 2. God’s own people oft-times suffer great afflictions in the world ; they are persecuted and oppressed, and meet with a variety of troubles, Psalms 73:14. ’ For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning.’ How stands this with the justice of God ?
Ans. 1. The ways of God’s judgments, though they are sometimes secret, yet they are never unjust. God doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men. There are culpable causes in them from which their afflictions spring. They have their spots and blemishes as well as others. Though they may be free from gross and atrocious crimes, yet they are guilty of much pride and passion, censoriousness, wordliness, &c. And the sins of God’s people are more provoking in his sight than the sins of other men. And God will not suffer them to pass without correction, Amos 3:2. ’ You only have I known of all the families of the earth ; therefore I will punish you for your iniquities.’ This justifies God in all the evils that befalls them.
2. All the trials and sufferings of the godly are designed to refine and purify them, to promote their spiritual and eternal good, Hebrews 12:10. ’ For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure ; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.’ Nothing proclaims God’s faithfulness more than his taking such a course with them as may make them better. Hence says David, Psalms 119:75. ’ I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me.’ Though they are sometimes pinched with wants, and meet with various outward troubles, yet even these are the accomplishments of a gracious promise, and are ordered for their good. It is to chastise them for their sin, and quicken them to repentance and mortification, to try and exercise their faith and patience, their sincerity , and love to God, to wean their hearts from the word, and to promote their growth in grace.
3. It is no injustice in God to inflict a lesser punishment to prevent a greater. The best of God’s children have that in them which is meritorious of hell ; and doth God any wrong to them when lie useth only the rod, when they deserved the scorpion ? An earthly parent will not be reckoned cruel or unust, if he only correct his children who deserved to be disinherited. When God corrects his children, he only puts wormwood into their cup, whereas lie might fill it up with fire and brimstone. Under the greatest pressure, they have just cause rather to admire his mercy, than to complain of his justice. So did the afflicted church, ’ It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed.’
Object. 3. If God be infinitely just, how could he transfer the punishment from the guilty ? This is the objection of the Socinians against Christ’s sufferings for the sins of the elect. It is a violation of justice, say they, to transfer the punishment from one to another. How then could the righteous God punish his innocent Son for our sins ?
I answer to this in general, That in some cases it is not unjust to punish the innocent for the guilty. For though an innocent person cannot suffer as innocent without injustice, yet he may voluntarily contract an obligation which will expose him to deserved sufferings. The innocent may suffer for the guilty, when he has power to dispose of his own life, and puts himself freely and voluntarily under an obligation to suffer, and is admitted to suffer by him who has power to punish, and when no detriment, but rather an advantage, accrues to the public thereby. In these circumstances, justice hath nothing to say against the punishing of an innocent person in the room of the guilty. Now there is a concurrence of all these in the case in hand. For,
1. Christ had absolute power to dispose of himself. One reason why a man is not allowed to lay down his life for another is, because his life is not at his own disposal. But Christ was absolute lord of his own life, and had power to keep it or lay it down as he pleased. So he declares, John 10:18. ’ No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself : I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.’
2. He freely consented to suffer for his people, and to undergo the punishment that they deserved. To compel an innocent person to suffer for the offences of another, may be an injury. But in this case there was no constraint : for Christ most willingly offered himself : yea, he was not only willing, but most earnest and desirous to suffer and die in our room, Luke 12:50. ’ I have a baptism to be baptized with ; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished ?’
3. The Father admitted him as our Surety, and was well content that his sufferings should stand for ours, and that we thereupon should be absolved and discharged. It was the Father’s will that Christ should undertake this work. Hence it is said, Psalms 40:8. ’ I delight to do thy will, O my God.’ And the Father loved Christ, because lie so cheerfully consented to it, John 10:17. ’Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.’
4. There was no detriment to the public by Christ’s death ; but, on the contrary, many advantages redounded to it thereby. One reason why an innocent man cannot suffer for a malefactor, is, because the community would lose a good man, and might suffer by the sparing of an ill member, and the innocent sufferer cannot have his life restored again, being once lost. But in this case all things are quite otherwise : for Christ laid down his life, but so as to take it up again. He rose again on the third day, and death was swallowed up of victory. And those for whom he suffered were reclaimed, effectually changed, and made serviceable to God and man. So that here there was no injury done to any party by Christ’s sufferings, though an innocent person. Not to them for whom He died ; for they have inexpressible benefit thereby : he is made to them wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Not to the person suffering : for He was perfectly willing, and suffered nothing without his own consent. Not to God : for he himself found out the ransom, and admitted Christ as our Surety. Not to any thing concerned in the government of God : for by the death of Christ all the ends of God’s government were secured. His honour was hereby vindicated, the authority of his law preserved, and his subjects, by such an instance of severity on his own Son, were deterred from violating it. So that there is no injustice to any in God’s punishing Christ in his people’s stead.
Object. 4. How is it consistent with the justice of God to punish temporary sins with eternal torments in hell ? Some think it hard, and scarce consistent with infinite justice, to inflict eternal punishment for sins committed in a little time. But to clear the justice of God in this, consider,
1. That eternal punishment is agreeable to the sanction of the law. The wisdom of God required that the penalty threatened upon the transgressor should be in its own nature so dreadful and terrible, that the fear of it might conquer and over-rule all the allurements and temptations to sin. If it had not been so, it would have reflected upon the wisdom of the Lawgiver, as if he had been defective, in not binding his subjects firmly enough to their duty, and the ends of government would not have been obtained. And therefore the first and second death was threatened to Adam in case of disobedience. And fear, as a watchful sentinel, was placed in his breast, that no guilty thought or irregular desire should enter in, to break the tables of the law deposited there. So that eternal death is due to sinners by the sanction of the law.
2. The righteousness of God in punishing the wicked for ever in hell, will appear, if ye consider that God by his infallible promise assures us, that all who sincerely serve and obey him shall be rewarded with everlasting happiness. They shall receive a blessedness most worthy of God to bestow, a blessedness that far surmounts our most comprehensive thoughts and imaginations. For eye hath not seen, car hath not heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, what God hath prepared for them that love him. Now, if everlasting felicity be despised and rejected, nothing remains but endless misery to be the sinner’s portion. The consequence is infallible : For, if sin, with an eternal hell in its retinue be chosen and embraced, it is most just and equal that the rational creature should inherit the fruit of its own choice. What can be more just and reasonable, than that those who are the slaves of the devil, and maintain his party here in the world, should have their recompence with him for ever hereafter? Nothing can be more just, than that those who now say to the Almighty, Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways, should receive that dreadful sentence at last, Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire.
3. The punishment of the damned must be eternal, because of the immense guilt and infinite evil of sin. It is owned by common reason, that there ought to be a proportion between the quality of the offence and the degree of the punishment. Justice takes the scales into its hand before it takes the sword. It is a rule in all sorts of ,judicature, that the degrees of an offence arise according to the degrees of dignity in the person offended. Now, the. majesty of God is truly infinite, against whom sin is committed ; and consequently the guilt of sin exceeds our boundless thoughts. One act of sin is rebellion against God, and includes in it the contempt of his majesty, the contradiction of his holiness, which is his peculiar glory, the denial of his omniscience and omnipresence, as if he were confined to the heavens, and busied in regulating the harmonious order of the stars, and did not observe what is done here below. And there is in it a defiance of his eternal power, and a provoking him to jealousy, as if we were stronger than he. 0 what a dishonour is it to the God of glory, that proud dust should flee in his face, and control his authority ! What a horrid provocation is it to the Most High, that the reasonable creature, that is naturally and necessarily a subject, should despise the Divine law and Lawgiver ! From this it appears that sin is an infinite evil. There is in it a concurrence off impiety, ingratitude, perfidiousness, and whatever may enhance a crime to an excess of wickedness. Now, sin being an infinite evil, the punishment of it must also be infinite ; and because a creature is not able to bear a punishment infinite in degree, by reason of its finite and limited nature, therefore it must be infinite in its duration. And for this cause the punishment of the damned shall never have an end. The almighty power of God will continue them in their being, but they will curse and blaspheme that support, which shall be given them only to perpetuate their torments ; and ten thousand times wish that God would destroy them once for all, and that they might for ever shrink away into nothing. But that will never be granted to them. No ; they shall not have so much as the comfort of dying, nor shall they escape the vengeance of God by annihilation.
4. Their punishment must be eternal : for they will remain for ever unqualified for the least favour. The damned are not changed in hell, but continue their hatred and blasphemies against God. The seeds of this are in obstinate sinners here in the world, who are styled haters of God : but in the damned this hatred is direct and explicit ; the fever is heightened into a phrenzy. The glorious and ever-blessed God is the object of their curses and eternal aversion. Our Lord tells us, that in hell ` there is weeping and gnashing of teeth,’ i. e. extreme sorrow and extreme fury. Despair and rage are the proper passions of lost souls. For when the guilty sufferers are so weak, that they cannot by patience endure their torments, nor by strength resist the power that inflicts them, and withal are wicked and stubborn, they are enraged and irritated by their misery, and foam out blasphemies against the righteous Judge. We may apply to this purpose what is said of the worshippers of the beast, Revelation 16:10-11. `They gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven, because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.’ The torment and blasphemies of these impenitent idolaters are a true representation of the state of the damned. Now, as they will always sin ; so they must always suffer. On these accounts, then, it is agreeable to the wisdom and justice of God that their pains and torments be eternal.