There is nothing more strikingly plain and explicit in all the Holy
Scriptures than that God is just and His paths are "mercy and truth."
Justice is an essential attribute of Deity; it is as necessary in
government as love and mercy; it demands that man shall acquiesce in
divine law, without which all were confusion, utterly devoid of order
and method, and the learned essayist has informed us that "Heaven's
first law is order." Justice should govern law, and when the law is
violated or its statutes are broken, justice calls for a penalty
therefor. It is by law that penalties are affixed, and we find in
Deuteronomy, the 28th chapter, beginning with the 15th verse, "If
thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe
to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command thee this
day, that all these curses shall come upon thee." In Mark xvi:16, we
read, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned." Here we find a penalty affixed for the
violation of the laws of God.
We find it verily true that in all God does and in all that He orders,
He manifests goodness and love, maintains justice and equity and
exercises mercy and long-suffering. Notwithstanding His compassion and
mercy, He is nevertheless just and true, therefore a full assurance
that He will bestow rewards and inflict punishments, as He has
aforetime decreed, must take root in the mind of every considering,
inquiring, honest soul. As the apostle said: "In hope of eternal
life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began."
(Titus i:2. ) Mercy shall ever season justice, but never be permitted
to rob her of her inexorable demands Love will never cease to be a
ruling attribute in all God's dealings, but not to mitigate or lessen
punishment, unless repentance be manifest and forgiveness granted;
goodness, kindness, forbearance and gentleness, while they are forever
and always exercised in Deity, will not stand to thwart or forestall
the judgments of God, or remove deserving penalties, only as provision
is made in the plan of redemption.
There are numerous instances recorded upon the pages of Holy Writ
which go to prove that God is just, and that His decrees will be
fulfilled to the letter. Perhaps none are so convincingly clear as that
portrayed in the atonement of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He
became pre-eminently the "man of sorrows and acquainted with grief."
Not for His own sins, for He was the one person free from sin, but He
bore affliction and suffering beyond our finite comprehension before a
remission of that penalty, which justice demanded for Adam's sin, could
be procured. When we consider the agonies of the garden, the scoffings
of the council and the torture of the crucifixion, we begin to realize
the exaction of punishment ere the sons of Adam could be freed from the
original transgression enacted in Eden. Christ, in His vicarious work
of interposition for fallen man, humbled Himself before His Father,
being subject to pain, scorn, ignominy and death, that justice might
be satisfied. Herein, then, is plainly discerned the justice of the
Almighty--a justice as strict in its works as it is stern in its words,
yet seasoned with mercy and dealt kindly with love; requiring of that
Just One a full and complete atonement, unsparingly and unflinchingly,
for thus did justice demand. We are assured, then, of the justice of
God; the debt must be paid before the burden is lifted, but when the
requirements of the law are righteously met and kept, the load is
removed, for our Father is not only just, but merciful and true.
In the minds of many there exists a vague and erroneous idea as to
what is really meant by the term "eternal rewards" and "eternal
punishments." A misunderstanding of these expressions has doubtless
caused many to be skeptical and infidelic. The word "eternal" does not
refer to the length or duration of the blessings endowed or penalties
inflicted, but to the everlasting nature of the Great God, under whose
righteousness and justice the faithful are exalted and the wicked
punished.
Through Moses, that ancient seer, the Lord spoke thus: "The eternal
God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." (Deut.
xxxiii:27.) God, then, being eternal, His rewards are "eternal
rewards," His punishments "eternal punishments." If the United States
were an eternal government, its justice would be eternal; if it were
unchangeable, it always would punish violators of the law, and if
justice were meted out to all, they would be punished in proportion to
the crime committed, and when the demands of justice were satisfied
they would be released, but the punishment would still continue to
exist, and being eternal, all who fell under its ban would taste
of eternal punishment. The punishment will always endure, although
criminals may serve their penalties and come out from the prison
house; it is even so in the kingdom of God. God is the highest type
of justice. He is eternal, everlasting, unchangeable, and always will
punish sin. His punishment is eternal, because He is eternal. Eternal
is one of His names, and eternal punishment is used in the sense
of God's punishment, and not to designate it as everlasting in its
duration upon the offender of the law. He will beat with many stripes
all who commit sins worthy of the same, and with few stripes those
guilty of less venal crimes. This will be determined according to the
light and knowledge one may possess. For example, three men commit
murder, an African in the jungles of Africa, a negro who was formerly a
slave, and a white man. Other things being equal, the white man, with
his advanced intelligence, will suffer most, for he has had the most
light and by far the best opportunity to advance.
There are degrees of punishment, as well as degrees of reward. Here is
a tender, moral girl, who dies without accepting Christ as her Savior,
and here is an old man, eighty years old, who dies in his sins; dare
any one assert that a just and holy God is going to punish those two
alike? And yet many, very many, look upon hell as a place where all
suffer alike, and heaven an ethereal, uncertain abode, where all enjoy
like blessings. Our salvation from death depends entirely upon Christ,
but our exaltation is upon our acts of obedience, and our condemnation
upon our sins and transgressions. How plain and simple are the words of
the apostle Paul, "Every man shall receive his own reward according to
his own labor." (I Cor. iii:8.)
God rewards according to our faithfulness to all opportunities. He does
not require a quart from a pint vessel. "Where much is given much is
required." "As ye sow, so shall ye reap." As with rewards, so likewise
with punishments. When justice is satisfied, the sinner has paid the
debt.
How beautiful and holy is this plan of eternal justice! How consistent
with the words of the Messiah, "Be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven
is perfect." Paul informs us that after the resurrection and eternal
judgment, we are to go on unto perfection, and not until then, will
the measure of our creation be filled.
Let all ponder the simple truth that God is just, holy and righteous,
wondrously tender, loving, gentle and kind. Eternal rewards are the
blessings we receive from God for our faithfulness and fealty to His
laws. Eternal punishments are the inflictions which He imposes for
our violation of His righteous commands. Our rewards we merit; our
punishments we justly deserve. The Lord has said, "I will never leave
thee; I will never forsake thee," therefore, we are assured that "His
mercy endureth forever."