What the Bible says about Justice, Compassion, and Faithfulness
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Isaiah 40:28 Though God's normal activity involves far more mercy than justice, we have to operate with the understanding, the conviction, that God owes us nothing. He knows exactly what is happening. If He allows a tower to fall on our heads this afternoon, we cannot claim any injustice on God's part. He has already given us so much mercy that it is beyond our understanding. All of us receive injustices from the hand of men, and we do not deal anywhere near as fairly with each other as we should. We want everything in our dealings with others to go favorably for us, for that is what we feel is fair. Israel is saying a similar thing here. One thing is certain, however: None of us has ever received the slightest injustice from the hand of God. As we grow in understanding and humility, we begin to see that we have received an overwhelming abundance of grace. John W. Ritenbaugh Justice and Grace Related Topics: God's Justice | God's Mercy | Grace | Injustice | Injustice, Purpose of | Injustice, tolerating | Just | Justice | Justice, Compassion, and Faithfulness | Mercy

Matthew 23:23 People are being taught today that tithing is "done away." Does God show anywhere in Scripture - beginning in Genesis - that He has used any other system than tithing to finance His Work? Jesus, the very Head of the church, had a golden opportunity to state emphatically that the tithing law had been changed, but He did no such thing. Instead, He said of carefully determining the amount of tithe, "This you ought not to have left undone." John W. Ritenbaugh Is God a False Minister? Related Topics: God's Law | Intent of Law | Jesus Christ's Ministry | Judgment, Mercy, and Faith | Justice, Compassion, and Faithfulness | Law "Done Away" | Law, Intent of | Tithing | Weightier Matters of the Law

Matthew 23:23 In this denunciation of the Pharisees, Jesus does not condemn tithing - or even punctilious observance of it. Instead, He denounces their lack of justice, mercy, and faith! To the contrary, He supports tithing: "These you ought to have done [justice, mercy, and faith], without leaving the others [tithing] undone." Richard T. Ritenbaugh Tithing Related Topics: Judgment, Mercy, and Faith | Justice, Compassion, and Faithfulness | Law "Done Away" | Tithing | Weightier Matters of the Law

Matthew 23:23 Why is mercy so weighty? Those who teach "grace only" apart from the law do not even see a need for mercy, since, to them, grace cancels any need for mercy. By their definition, mercy is automatic once they are "saved"! In theory, they can breeze through a "happy, happy, joy, joy" life with no fear of eternal consequences. If that were true, why did Christ not make "grace" one of the weighty matters and leave out mercy? The Pharisees believed in keeping the law perfectly and being saved as a result. Modern Christianity teaches the law is done away, and all they need is saving grace, given when they "accept the Lord." Neither of these opposing approaches will work! Staff The Weightier Matters (Part 3): Mercy Related Topics: Grace | Judgment, Mercy, and Faith | Justice, Compassion, and Faithfulness | Law "Done Away" | Law and Grace | Law and Grace Complementary | Law or Grace | Love as Keeping Commandments | Mercy | Mercy as Larger Obligation | Weightier Matters of the Law

Matthew 23:23 What is Christ saying here? These people should have tithed; there was nothing wrong with that. The Expositor's Bible Commentary, concerning this verse, says, "Jesus does not condemn scrupulous observance in these things." Jesus instituted the tithing law and knew what it was intended to do for the ministry. He knew the purpose for it, even as we do now, but the Pharisees did not understand the spiritual intent. They knew to tithe, but did not understand the rest. John O. Reid Tithing Related Topics: Intent of Law | Judgment, Mercy, and Faith | Justice, Compassion, and Faithfulness | Law, Intent of | Mercy as Larger Obligation | Spiritual Intent | Tithing | Weightier Matters of the Law

Matthew 23:23 "Judgment, mercy, and faith" can be paraphrased to make them easier to understand. Judgment means "being fair and even-handed in judgment." Mercy means "being compassionate and kind in action," and faith means "being loyal to God in keeping His law." Justice is a more accurate, modern translation of "judgment," and "faith" might be better rendered faithfulness or trust. Thus, Jesus is speaking about justice, compassion, and faithfulness (or loyalty). Jesus applied these concepts in confronting the Pharisees because they had reached a tragically wrong conclusion regarding the intent of God's laws. Weightier means "more important," "central," or "more decisive" as compared to what is peripheral or secondary. Thus, the intent of God's law is to produce justice, compassion and kindness, and loyalty to God. Of course, the major thing that will be produced is a right relationship with God and men, and character will be built. The Pharisees were guilty of a massive distortion of God's will, or what could even be called God's pleasure, and in their zeal to be absolutely correct, they corrupted those they were leading. Their problem was their attitude toward law, one opposite from most people's. Most people tend to become looser and more liberal in their application of law, but for some strange reason, the Pharisees corrupted the law in the complete other direction. God felt it necessary to correct this corruption so that we would understand that it is equally perverse. John W. Ritenbaugh Sabbathkeeping (Part 4) Related Topics: Compassion | Faith | Faithfulness | Intent of Law | Judgment, Mercy, and Faith | Justice | Justice, Compassion, and Faithfulness | Kindness | Law, Intent of | Loyalty | Mercy | Mercy as Larger Obligation | Relationship with God | Trust | Weightier Matters of the Law

 

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