“You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land the LORD your God is giving you.” Deuteronomy 16.19, 20

The Law of God establishes a different standard and objective for the economics of a nation. The Law of God introduces a “divine economy” which holds more promise for human flourishing than the mere pursuit of material wealth. The Law of God is not opposed to wealth; it only insists that wealth, whatever the level any individual may enjoy, be used in a manner consistent with the tenets of love for God and neighbor.

The word, “economics,” derives from a Greek term which means, simply, “the management of a household.” Questions of economics, therefore, are directed at discovering the best ways of helping people live together in society, in love for God and one another. The pursuit of material wealth, while it has become the default mindset of the American economy, is by no means the only possible standard and objective a society might embrace. Nor has it proven to be a reliable currency for transactions promoting the practice of neighbor love.

The Law of God commands that the affairs of a people be governed, not by the accumulation of wealth, but by the practice of justice. As we have seen, justice describes a state of affairs among people in community which reflects the character of God and is defined by neighbor love at the human level. The Law of God sets forth a program for pursuing an economics of justice, rather than an economics of material wealth. We scarcely know even how to begin thinking in such terms.

The Lord Jesus Christ came, as part of His program of redemption, to enable people to realize the economics of justice set forth in the Law of God: “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations…He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law” (Is. 41:1, 4). In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus announced that He had come in order to bring to the world the “year of the Lord’s favor,” (Lk. 4:17-21), a code word indicating the arrival of the Kingdom of righteousness (justice), peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. He explained that greatness in His Kingdom – in the Kingdom of justice – was grounded in knowing, doing, and teaching the Law of God (Matt. 5:17-19). Indeed, Jesus insisted, it is not possible to practice justice apart from the Law and all the Word of the Lord (Matt. 22:34-40).

T. M. Moore

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