THE CLAIMS OF LOVE AND JUSTICE.
THERE IS NOTHING
more necessary to the peace and prosperity of the Church of God than that its
members should have a clear understanding and appreciation of moral principles,
with a full determination to be controlled by them. Even among Christians
there are often differences of opinion, with reference to principles of action,
which greatly interfere with spiritual growth and prosperity. Such
difficulties most frequently arise through a failure to rightly distinguish
between the relative claims of love and justice. Therefore we deem it
profitable briefly to consider these principles and their operation among the
children of God.
Justice is sometimes represented by a pair of evenly poised balances, and
sometimes by the square and compass, both of which are fitting emblems of its
character. Justice knows no compromise and no deviation from its fixed rule of
action. It is mathematically precise. It gives nothing over for “good weight”
or “good measure:” there is no grace in it, no heart, no love, no sympathy, no
favor of any kind. It is the cold, calculating, exact measure of truth and
righteousness. When justice is done, there is no thanks due to the one who
metes it out: such a one has only done a duty, the neglect of which
would have been culpable, and the doing of which merits no favor or praise.
And yet, cold, firm and relentless as this principle is, it is declared to be
the very foundation of God’s throne. It is the principle which underlies all
his dealings with all his creatures: it is his unchangeable business
principle. And how firmly he adheres to it is manifest to every one
acquainted with the plan of salvation, the first step of which was to satisfy
the claims of justice against our race. Though it cost the life of his only
begotten and well beloved Son to do this, so important was this principle that
he freely gave him up for us all-to satisfy its legal claims against us.
The principle of love, unlike that of justice, overflows with tenderness and
longs to bless. It is full of grace, and delights in the bestowment of favor.
It is manifest, however, that no action can be regarded as a favor or a
manifestation of love, which has not underneath it the substantial foundation
of justice. Thus, for instance, if one comes to you with a gift, and at the
same time disregards a just debt to you, the gift falls far short of
appreciation as an expression of love; and you say, We should be just before we
attempt to be generous.
And this is right: if justice is the foundation principle in all of God’s
dealings, it should be in ours also; and none the less so among brethren in
Christ than among those of the world. As brethren in Christ, we have no right
to presume upon the favor of one another. All that we have a right to claim
from one another is simple justice-justice in the payment of our honest
debts to each other, justice in our judgment one of another (which must make
due allowance for frailties, etc., because we realize in ourselves some measure
of similar imperfection), and justice in fair and friendly treatment one of
another. This is all we have any right to claim; and we must also bear
in mind that while we have a right to claim this for ourselves from others, we
are just as fully obligated to render the same to them.
But while we may claim justice-though there is no obligation to demand
it for ourselves, and we may if we choose even suffer injustice
uncomplainingly-we must, if we are Christ’s, render it. In other
words, we are not responsible for the actions of others in these respects, but
we are responsible for our own. And, therefore, we must see to it that all our
actions are squared by the exact rule of justice, before we ever present a
single act as an expression of love.
The principle of love is not an exact principle to be measured and weighed like
that of justice. It is three-fold in its character, being pitiful, sympathetic
or reverential, according to the object upon which it is centered. The love of
pity is the lowest form of love: it takes cognizance of even the vile and
degraded, and is active in measures of relief. The love of sympathy rises
higher, and proffers fellowship. But the love of reverence rises above all
these, and delights in the contemplation of the good, the pure and the
beautiful. In this latter sense we may indeed love God supremely, as
the personification of all that is truly worthy of admiration and reverence,
and our fellow men in proportion as they bear his likeness.
Although we owe to every man the duty of love in some one of these senses, we
may not demand it one of another, as we may the principle of justice; for love
is the overflow of justice. Justice fills the measure
full, but love shakes it, presses it down, heaps it up and overflows justice.
It is therefore something not to be demanded, nor its lack to be complained of,
but to be gratefully appreciated as a favor and to be generously reciprocated.
Every one who craves it at all should crave it in its highest sense-the sense
of admiration and reverence. But this sort of love is the most costly, and the
only way to secure it is to manifest that nobility of character which calls it
forth from others who are truly noble.
The love of sympathy and fellowship is also very precious; but, if it
come merely in response to a demand, it comes robbed of its choicest aroma:
therefore never demand it, but rather by manifestation of it toward others
court its reciprocation.
The love of pity is not called out by the nobility of the subject, but rather
by the nobility of the bestower, who is so full of the principle of love that
it overflows in its generous impulses toward even the unworthy. All of the
objects of pity are not, however, unworthy of love in the higher senses; and
some such often draw upon our love in all the senses.
To demand love’s overflow of blessing-which is beyond the claims of justice-is
only an exhibition of covetousness. We may act on this principle of love
ourselves, but we may not claim it from others. The reverse of this exhibits a
manifest lack of love and a considerable measure of selfishness.
Thus, for instance, two of the Lord’s children were once rooming together and,
through a failure to rightly consider the relative claims of love and justice,
one presumed upon the brotherly love of the other to the extent of expecting
him to pay the entire rent; and when the other urged the claims of justice, he
pushed the claim of brotherly love, and the former reluctantly yielded to it,
not knowing how to refute the claim, yet feeling that somehow some Christians
had less principle than many worldly people. How strange that any of God’s
children should take so narrow and one-sided a view! Cannot all see that love
and justice should work both ways and that it is the business of each not to
oversee others in these respects, but to look well to his own course, and, if
he would teach others, let it be rather by example than by precept?
Let us beware of a disposition to covetousness, and let each remember that he
is steward over his own goods, and not over his neighbor’s, and that each is
accountable to the Lord, and not to his brother, for the right use of that
which the Master has entrusted to him. There is nothing much more unlovely
and unbecoming to the children of God than a disposition to petty criticism of
the individual affairs of one another. It is a business too small for the
saints, and manifests a sad lack of that brotherly love which should be
specially manifest in broad and generous consideration, which would rather
cover a multitude of sins than magnify one.
May love and justice find their proper and relative places in the hearts of all
of God’s people, that so the enemy may have no occasion to glory! The Psalmist
says, “Oh, how love I thy law [the law of love, whose foundation is justice]!
it is my meditation all the day.” (Psa. 119:97.) Surely, if it were the
constant meditation of all, there would be fewer and less glaring mistakes
than we often see. Let us watch and be sober, that the enemy may not gain an
advantage over us.