JUST JUSTNESS GRACE AND MERCY

“Olorun ko ni gbe ebi fun alare, Ki yio si gbe are fun elebi”, “Olorun ko roro”

“Alanu ni Olorun”

God is just and is not wicked (Psalm 5:4). God is merciful.

The concept of just is from Latin: Justus, from jus (right), law and is synonymous with, objective, which means free from favour toward either or any side; fair, which implies a proper balance of conflicting interests; equitable, implies a less rigorous standard than just and usually suggests equal treatment of all concerned (like the parable of the labourers hired at different times of the day receiving same remuneration at the end of the day, Matthew 20:1-16); impartial, stresses an absence of favour or prejudice (while Grace can be defined as unmerited favour); dispassionate, suggests freedom from the influence of strong feeling and often implies cool or cold judgement; objective, stresses a tendency to view events or persons as apart from oneself and one’s own interest or feelings; just, stresses conscientious choice and regular practice of what is right or equitable.

The Yoruba have a saying that goes thus:”Olorun ko roro“, which roughly translated means: ”God is not wicked”

Exploring from the working assumption that God knows Himself, the uttering of this statement by His creations renders an insight into the work of creation in question. When the man is the recipient of the virtuousness and love of God, this is an obvious validation of the fact that God is not wicked. This is the case through a personal relationship with God. However, when this is considered in the perspective of religion, the water does get muddied. There are religious denominations that demand strict rules and method of worship, that goes into the experiencing or the involvement of physical discomfort, pain and denial. Some congregants in such religious sects have used the expression “God is not wicked”, to excuse their lust of the flesh or unwillingness to comply with the perceived strict or severe edicts, rules and regulations.

Jesus Christ listed two major commandments, upon which all other commandments hang, these are Love God and Love your neighbour (including your enemies) as yourself. Doing these is all that is required, rather than self-inflicting of physical pain or discomfort. When man seeks to fellowship with God on the basis of Law (such as strict regulations that involve pain and discomfort and has nothing to do with Love) and not Love as Paul espoused in Galatians 5:22-23; But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law; then man enters into the realm of Justness and not that of Grace and Mercy which are based on or are as a result of Love. Just implies an exact following of a standard of what is right and proper. In Romans 3:23; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, therefore appealing to the justness of God is calling for the guilty verdict on oneself. Just can be defined as, having a basis in or conforming to fact or reason; conforming to a standard of correctness; faithful to an original; acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good (righteous); being what is merited, deserved; legally correct; lawful.

Doing what Jesus Christ advocated, which is only possible for those that He had chosen, predestined and anointed, makes us citizens of His kingdom, true believers, adopted sons of God. The Blood of Christ qualifies us, and we are thus not qualified by our works. This is Grace, unmerited favour. As reiterated in Ephesians 2:8-9; For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. It is evident that Justness brings into question, one’s actions/works being weighed against a set of standards. Religious groups with sets of rules and regulations, other than the two major commandments prescribed by Jesus Christ, that has to be observed in order to belong (membership) or for the members to obtain penance or ablutions, set themselves up for failure, in the sense that their working assumption is that they could achieve righteousness through their works. The scriptures say that nobody is righteous before God, well in such cases, they believe what is contrary to the scriptures. Pharisees were the teachers of the Law of Moses from before first century BC to the contextual period of Jesus and His disciples and apostles. John 12 v 42-49; Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God. 44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. 47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day. 49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So, whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

John 15 v 22-24; If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.

All of us believers are going to fail. All of us who love and follow Jesus are going to go through temptation, and trials, and exhaustion, and we’ll all have questions that go without answers. Jesus prays for us! Isn’t that so encouraging? We can rest today in our insufficiency that He is praying for us and that His grace is bigger than our failures.

Talking about the justness of God and His Grace, as evident in the fact that He did not even spare His Own Begotten Son. In Matthew 26 v 31-32 and Zechariah 13:7; Then Jesus told them, “This very night you will all fall away on account of me, for it is written: “‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’[c] 32 But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

“Awake, sword, against my shepherd, against the man who is close to me!” declares the Lord Almighty. “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones.

Jesus Christ has prayed for us; this was recorded in the scriptures in John 17 verses 11 and 20; I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father protect them by the power of[b] your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. – “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message. Here Jesus Christ prays for the disciples and all believers. On the night before Jesus Christ was murdered. He made the announcement, the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah: the striking of the Shepherd and the scattering of the sheep.

The Advocate: John 16 v 8; When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: and Zechariah 12 v 10; “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit[a] of grace and supplication. They will look on[b] me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. Often times when individuals are recipient of perceived injustice, they request or demand justice, rarely anyone who benefits from unmerited favour after a catalogue of error, calls for justice. However, the one thing that is universal in its application and available to all, is the mercy of God, for those who are truly repentant. This nature or character of God, that is His Grace should be appealed unto, rather than His Justness.