“When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist and the man does not die but takes to his bed, then if the man rises again and walks outdoors with his staff, he who struck him shall be clear, only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.” Exodus 21.18, 19

Christians want to see the benefits of justice and neighbor-love, as these are revealed in the Law of God, for their own communities and nation. We must, therefore, work hard to understand the concept of justice as this is revealed in God’s Law and the rest of His Word. 

But we must not suppose that we are to be bound merely by the letter or words of the Law. In this age when God has poured out His Spirit – Who is the Giver of God’s Law (Lk. 11.20; Matt. 12.28; Ex. 31.18; Deut. 9.10) and both its Teacher (Ezek. 36.26, 27) and its Power (Ezek. 36.26, 27; Phil. 2.13) – believers must look to the Spirit of God to help them discern the spirit of His Law. Thus they will be better prepared to work for bringing neighbor-love and justice to their communities and their nation.

As believers grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and learn to walk in the Spirit rather than in the flesh (2 Pet. 3.18; Gal. 5.16-23), they will discover applications of the Law of God that exceed the letter of the Law and bring renewing and liberating power for reconciliation and justice into the their daily practice of the faith.

The story of the good Samaritan illustrates this well (Lk. 10.25-37). Here Jesus provides a lesson in how to restore justice and neighbor-love by following the spirit and not just the letter of the Law of God.

T. M. Moore

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