Psalms 89:14 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.”
Righteousness and justice are two concepts that natural men do not understand. The reason for that is because they have never been exposed to an environment in which true righteousness and justice prevail, for all they have ever known in this world in which they live, is a society that is full of unrighteousness and injustice. And so it is only natural men and carnal believers that can be deceived into believing that God can bend the rules (so to speak), and allows sinners into His kingdom by simply overlooking and forgiving their sins. The kingdom of God however is completely opposite to this world, because God governs His kingdom in absolute righteousness and justice. The above quoted passage of scripture reveals a very important truth to us, which is that the very foundation of God’s throne is righteousness and justice. So what does that mean? It simply means that the underlying principle on which God’s kingdom is founded is righteousness and justice, and it is impossible for God to ever deviate from that. Those who would try deceiving people into believing that God is able to simply forgive everyone’s sins, do so by proclaiming that God can do anything, but that is actually not true, for God Himself reveals to us that there are certain things that He cannot do. For example God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18) and God can also not be tempted with evil (James 1:13). In the same manner God cannot perform any acts of unrighteousness or injustice, for the scripture teaches us that God will never do unrighteousness (Zephaniah 3:5) for there is no unrighteousness with Him (Romans 9:14), and God also declares to us that there is no injustice in Him (Jeremiah 2:5). Therefore God is unable to simply forgive sins, for that would constitute both an act of unrighteousness and injustice. Let me explain. If God were to simply forgive sin it would mean that there is no punishment incurred for that sin, which would mean that God would have condoned that sin, and that would constitute an act of unrighteousness from God. In a similar manner, if God were to forgive one person’s sins then He would be obliged to forgive everyone’s sins, for if He didn’t do that He would no longer be impartial (Romans 2:11) and that would make Him unjust.
Hebrews 9:7 “But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in ignorance.”
To demonstrate the absolute righteousness of God, a very important truth is revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, which is that God requires an account for every sin committed by men, even their unintentional sins and sins that they commit in ignorance. Under the Old Covenant, whenever the Jews transgressed the laws of God, they were required to offer a sacrifice of atonement for their sins. This they were required to do throughout the year. Once a year however, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would offer an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole nation. This sacrifice however, was offered for the sins which they had committed in ignorance and unintentionally throughout the year. God is the same yesterday, today and forever and even under the New Covenant He requires every transgression of man to be accounted for, i.e. both sins committed intentionally and sins committed in ignorance, for in God’s kingdom in which absolute righteousness reigns, no sin can go unaccounted for. The natural mind does not understand that concept and would accuse God of being unjust by holding individuals responsible for committing sins of ignorance. However, what this passage reveals to us is the absolute righteousness of God in that every sin must be accounted for, even those which most would assume that God excuses, i.e. unintentional sins and sins committed in ignorance.
Michael E.B. Maher
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