JUSTICE
1102
JUSTIFICATION
5, C ; Heb. xii, 29) ; 3. From sin being punished in Christ, the 'surety of his people (1 Pet. iii, 18)-, 4. From all the various natural evils which men bear in the present state. The use we should make of this doctrine is this : 1. We should learn the dreadfid nature of sin, and the inevitable ruin of impenitent sinners (Psa. ix, 17). 2. We should higlilv appreciate the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom iusticc is satisfied (1 Pet. iii, 18).' 3. We shoidd imitate the justice of God by cherishing an ardent regard to the rights of God and to the rights of mankind. 4. We shoidd abhor all sin, as it strikes directly at the justice of tiod. 5. We should derive comfort from the consid- eration that the judge of all the earth will do right as . regards ourselves, the Church, and the Avorld at large (Psa. xcvii, 1,2). See Kyland, Contemp. ii, 439 ; Witsius, Economy, lib. xi, ch. viii, xi ; Owen, On the Justice of God ; Gill. Body of Divinity, i, 155, 8vo ; EUsha Cole, On the Riyhteoitsness of God; Henderson's Buck, s. v.
JUSTICE, ADMINISTRATION OF. This seems to have been one of the first subjects which claimed the atten- tion of the great lawgiver of the Hebrews. It appears from the advice of Jethro to INIoses when " Israel was encamped at the Mount of God" (Exod. xviii, 13-24). When Jethro had seen how constantly and laboriously Moses was occupied in "judging between one and an- other," he advised him to make some other provision in relation to the matter, and to restrict himself to the work which properly belonged to him, as the inspired teaelior and leader of the jieople. This was according- ly done. A civil magistracy was created in a form adapted to the existing wants of the people, and by reference to the record we shall find how fully it covers every essential point in the case. The value of evi- dence in conducting trials; the principles upon which verdicts should be rendered, both in civil and criminal cases, together with the great institution of trial by jury, are all found in greater or less development in the statutes and ordinances given from Goil to the Hebrews.
Their courts of justice were of various grades, some known as high courts of appeal, and others so simple and multiplied as to carry the administration of justice to every man's door, and effectuallj' to secure the parties against that ruinous evil, '-the law's delay." "Judges and offices shalt thou make in all thy gates." was the command ; and to what minute subdivision this creation of tribunals was carried out, we see in the ordinance di- recting that there should be " rulers over thousands, riders over hundreds, rulers over fifties, and rulers over tens, who should judge the people at all seasons."
The candidates for office were not to be selected from any one privileged class. They were taken '• out of all the people." They were required to be well known for their intellectual and moral worth, and their fitness for the station to ^rtiich they were chosen. They were to be " able men, such as fear God ; men of truth, hating cov- etousness;" "wise men, and understanding, and knowni among the tribes;" and these qualificTations being not only all-important, but aU-sufl[icient, none others "were required.
With a judiciary- constructed after this manner, jus- tice could Ijc administered promptly and freelv; and, on the (Ulier hand, a remedy was provided against the evils of hasty decision, which could not fail inthe end to dis- cover and maintain the right of the case. And if " the best laws are those which are best administered," we siiaU find the ordinances given to the Hebrews for car- rying the laws of the land into effect admirablv adapted to their end, giving equal securitv to the poor and to tlie rich against violence and wrong. See Judge • Tri- al. (E. de P.)
Justification (some form of the verbs pi::. Sikui- ow), a forensic term cjuivalent to <rcq>nttal, anil opposed to condemnation: in an apok.getic sense it is often sv- nonyraous with vindicaiimi or freeing from unjust impu- tation of blame. '
LBoymatic Statement. -This term, in theological
usage, is employed to designate the judicial act of God by which he pardons all the sins of the sinner who be- lieves in Christ, receiving him into favor, and regarding him as relatively righteous, notwithstanding his past actual unrighteousness. Hence justification, and the re- mission or forgiveness of sin, relate to one and the same act of God, to one and the same privilege of his believ- ing people (Acts xiii, 38, 39 ; Eom. iv, 5, 8). So, also, "the justification of the ungodly," the "covering of sins," " not visiting for sin," "not remembering sin," and " imputing not inquit}'," mean to pardon sin and to treat with favor, and express substantially the same thing which is designated by " imputing or counting faith for righteousness." See Pakdos. Justification, then, is an act of God, not in or upon man, but for him and in his favor ; an act which, abstractly considered, respects man only as its object, and translates him into another rela- tive state ; while sanctification respects man as its sub- ject, and is a consequent of this act of God, and insep- arably connected with it. See Regeneration.