Justice Topics in the Bible

The Bible has a lot to say about justice and themes connected to justice: righteousness, the poor, injustice. There are over two thousand verses about justice and poverty. Justice and righteousness are an essential, key part of the Biblical story. If we want to produce the real fruit of justice in our lives, then we need to plant God’s word about justice.

This is meant to be a resource to you to continue to explore justice in Scripture. It is not comprehensive- but it should help you start.

Justice and Righteousness are what:

Justice in Jesus’ life and teachings:

  • Jesus gives us victorious justice: Matt 12:20

  • Jesus announces Himself as the anointed one who will proclaim good news to the poor, free the captive and oppressed, and give sight to the blind: Luke 4:18-19

  • Jesus rejected racism against Samaritans: Jn. 4:1-42

  • Jesus doesn’t say that money itself is evil, but warns against greed, storing treasure on earth instead of heaven, and serving money instead of God: Matt 6:19-20, 6:24, 19:23; Luke 12:15, 16:13; Mark 7:21-22, 8:36

  • Jesus touched the Lepers-who were considered untouchable in His day- to heal them: Matt 8:1-3, Luke 17:11-19, Mark 1:40-44

  • Jesus invited women to learn spiritual teaching from Him, at a time when women weren’t allowed to be taught religious subjects: Luke 10:38-42

  • The longest recorded conversation that Jesus has in the gospels is with a Samaritan woman, at a time when men wouldn’t talk to any woman publicly: John 4:1-42

  • Women weren’t allowed to be a legal witness at the time, but they were the first witness to Jesus’ resurrection: John 20:11-18

  • Jesus called tax collectors, who were participating in corrupt, unjust system, to leave it and follow Him: Matt. 9:9, Luke 19:1-10

  • Jesus risked His reputation to hang out with the outcasts of His day: Matt 9:9-13, Luke 5:29-32

  • Jesus called children to come to Him, and valued their perspective at at time when children held a low status in society: Luke 18:15-17, Matt 18:1-7

  • In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus lays out how His followers should live, including their social lives and how respond to oppression: Matt. 5-7

  • Jesus uses the example of stopping to help a victim of injustice is an example of loving your neighbor: Luke 10:25-37

  • Jesus affirms that workers deserve the wage they were promised: Matt. 20:1-16

  • Jesus promises that those who feed the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes the naked, welcome the stranger, and visit the imprisoned are doing those things for Him: Matt. 25:31-46

The poor are made in the image of God and how people respond to them matters to Him:

What God does for the poor, widows orphans, and immigrants, the most powerless and vulnerable groups in Israel:

  • God gives them justice: Deut. 10:18

  • God protects and rescues them: Deut. 26:5-9, 1 Sam. 2:8, Ps. 12:5, 14:6,

  • God rescues the oppressed when they cry out: Isa. 19:20

  • God rescues the poor and oppressed from those who exploit them: Ps. 35:10

  • God doesn’t abandon the physical needs of the poor: Isa. 41:17

  • God provides for the needy: Ps. 68:10

  • God protects immigrants and helps widows and orphans: Ps. 146:9

  • When God reigns, defending them is central to how He uses His power: Ps. 82

  • Prophets, God’s mouthpieces, call out Israel when they are oppressing them: Eze. 22:7, Mal. 3:5

  • Prophets condemn oppressing orphans and widows: Eze. 22:7, Zech. 7:10

  • God acts like a lawyer for the poor and will take vengeance those that hurt the poor: Prov. 22:22-23

  • God is the help and deliverer of the poor and needy: Ps 40:17, 70:5

Business and economic laws protecting the poor and vulnerable in Israel:

  • Every third year, a tithe of all the nation’s crops went to the priests, orphans, immigrants, and widows: Deut. 26:12

  • Everyone who grew food participated in feeding the hungry through by leaving the corners of their fields available for gleaning: Lev. 23:22

  • The price of food sold to the poor couldn’t be marked up: Lev. 25:35-37

  • No interest could be charged on loans to the poor: Exo. 22:25

  • The poor could buy back their land if they lost it: Lev. 25:8-34

  • Debts were forgiven every 7 years: Deut. 15:1

  • For loans to widows, their cloaks couldn’t be taken as collateral at all: Deut. 24:17

  • For loans to the poor, you couldn’t keep their cloak as collateral overnight because they needed it for cover: Deut 24:12-13

Leading with Justice and Righteousness:

  • Unjust king Jehoiakim is contrasted with the righteous and just king, Josiah: Jer. 22:13-17

  • Nehemiah confronts injustice and oppression of the poor: Neh. 5:1-13

  • Leaders need wisdom to do justice and righteousness: 1 Kin. 3:7-17, 28; Prov. 8:13-16

  • Kings are told not to drink because they might forget the rights of the poor : Prov. 31:4-7

  • Kings- one of the most important and most heard people in the land- must use their voice to speak up for the voiceless: Prov. 31:8-9 

  • King’s throne is established with righteousness: Prov. 16:12

  • The righteous are concerned about the rights of the poor: Prov. 29:7

  • Righteous people in authority brings joy to everyone: Prov. 29:2

  • Kings bring stability to the land by justice: Prov. 29:4

  • Job description of the ideal king in Israel, and a Messianic prophecy, includes: Ps. 72

  • Leaders who use their power for violence are called out: Eze. 22:6

  • Giving justice to the poor leads to the longevity of kings: Prov. 29:14

  • Those who make unjust and oppressive laws that keep the poor from getting justice are condemned Isa. 10:1-4

  • The prophet calls out those that became rich through stealing and keeping justice from the orphan and oppressed Jer. 5:26-28

Immigrants and refugees:

  • God loves the immigrant to Israel: Deut. 10:18

  • Israel is commanded to love the immigrants among them because God does: Deut. 10:18-19

  • Israel is commanded to love the immigrants around them as they love themselves: Lev. 19:34

  • The material needs of immigrants were part of Israel’s law: Lev. 19:9-10

  • Isreal is commanded to not oppress immigrants or deprive them from justice: Exo. 23:9 , Mal. 3:5

  • Prophets condemn exploiting immigrants: Eze. 22:7

  • Jesus and His family fled as refugees in Egypt to save Jesus’ life from violence: Matt. 2:13-23

    Paying workers is essential:

    • Israel was commanded to pay their workers everyday, because if they didn’t, the workers would will cry out to God: Deut. 24:15

    • Israel was commanded to not hold worker’s wages overnight: Lev. 19:13

    • Workers deserve the wage they were promised: Matt. 20:1-16

    • Prophets call out those who don’t pay their workers: Mal 3:5

    • When workers in aren’t paid by follow members of the church, their cries are heard by God and He has a strong, personal response: Jam. 5:1-6

Hurting the poor is taken seriously by God:

  • Withholding justice from the immigrant, orphan and widow brings curses: Deut. 27:19

  • Hurting the poor insults God Himself: Prov. 14:31, 17:5

  • Israel is condemned for exploiting the poor: Amos 2:6-8

  • Women are called out for oppressing the poor Amos 4:1

  • An example of an unrighteous and unjust life includes oppressing the poor and needy: Eze. 18:12

  • Withholding help from those in need is a sign that God’s love isn’t in a person: 1 John 3:17

  • When workers in aren’t paid by follow members of the church, their cries are heard by God and He has a strong, personal response: Jam. 5:1-6

Help for the needy in the early church:

  • The only time in the Bible when there was no needy among God’s people is in the first generation of the church: Acts 4:34

  • The early church re-structures a food program for widows after conflict between the Greek and the Hebrew widows: Acts 6:1-4

  • Paul sets guidelines for which widows should receive support, helping Timothy solve a logistical problem at His church: 1 Tim. 5:3-16

  • Pure religion is expressed in helping widows and orphans: Jam. 1:27 

  • Paul praises the sacrificial giving of the believers in Macedonia to other needy churches: 2 Cor. 9

  • Faith is practically expressed by giving food and clothes to needy brothers and sisters: Jam. 2:15-17

  • Paul commands believers to contribute to the needy in the Christian community: Rom. 12:13

  • Christians are commanded to share with the needy: Heb 13:16

  • The rich sharing with the needy is an demonstration of God’s love 1 Jn. 3:16-17

How we are shown to respond to those doing injustice in the New Testament:

  • Jesus called those participating in an unjust system to follow Him : Matt. 9:9, Luke 19:1-10

  • Paul, who persecuted and helped kill Christians, is transformed in Christ, and becomes an apostle: Acts 8:1-3, 9:1-31

  • Our war isn’t against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces behind evil: Eph. 6:12

  • Thieves should stop stealing and become contributing members of a community: Eph. 4:28

Praying for and honoring leadership:

  • Israel was commanded to never curse their rulers: Exo. 22:28

  • Paul says to pray for political leaders so you can lead peaceful lives: 1 Tim. 2:1-3

  • Give taxes to your nation and honor to those in authority: Rom 13:1-7

Justice: Hiding in Translation

Justice: Hiding in Translation

When I first started studying what the Bible said about justice topics, I thought I knew exactly how to find them: search for the word “justice.” But there’s a problem with looking for justice in the New Testament. If you type “justice” into a Bible word search engine, it doesn’t appear much. “Justice” appears only 11 times in the ESV translation, 9 times in the NASB, and 8 times in the NKJV. For those translations, “justice” shows up more in the book of Isaiah—around three times more, in fact—than in the entire New Testament.

Why can't I "see" justice in the New Testament?

Why can't I "see" justice in the New Testament?

I’m starting a new blog series on Justice in the New Testament because I want to get beyond the surface “Is justice in the Bible?” conversations. It seems like because justice is being re-discovered in American Evangelical churches, the only teaching we get is the “Justice 101: Don’t freak out, yes social justice is a Christian thing, too” sermons. When we are only asking whether justice is even in there, we miss out on so much. Specifically, I think Evangelicals are confused about how social justice/justice and righteousness fit into the New Testament.

Justice and Righteousness: Central, Essential and Foundational to the Kingdom of God

Justice and Righteousness: Central, Essential and Foundational to the Kingdom of God

When I first started studying what the Bible said about justice topics, I thought I knew exactly how to find them: search for the word “justice.” But there’s a problem with looking for justice in the New Testament. If you type “justice” into a Bible word search engine, it doesn’t appear much. “Justice” appears only 11 times in the ESV translation, 9 times in the NASB, and 8 times in the NKJV.

It’s hard to see that the New Testament values justice when it seems almost silent on the subject.


Western-ish-Flavored Views of Justice Versus Hebrew

Western-ish-Flavored Views of Justice Versus Hebrew

Part of the challenge of learning about biblical justice is that our Western-ish views of justice are so different from Hebraic views from the time the Bible was originally written in. When an American Christian hears about justice, the images that we think of probably things like police officers, punishment, and courtrooms (and maybe a great TV drama about all those things). Unfortunately, that can make us reject doing justice now because we think of it through our Western-ish lenses. If God were to love our Western-flavored justice, then that would make Him a law-obsessed, punishment-loving judge. That is so far from what we know about God from the New Testament, so therefore we reject doing justice as Christians out of a genuine desire to reflect the Bible. But that is not at all the right image of a justice-loving God, or how we as Christians should do biblical justice. 


Love Via Socks

Love Via Socks

I saw him standing on the corner of the narrow downtown San Diego streets from the passenger seat of my friend's enormous white pickup truck. Something about his tired-looking face stood out to me. Immediately, I felt like I needed to go offer him socks and a sandwich. A few Saturdays each month, my friend and I would bring food and socks and hand them out as we hung out with some homeless people known to live in the area.

But the man didn't really look homeless, so I almost talked myself out of it.  Wouldn't he be offended if a random stranger offered him a homemade peanut butter and jelly sandwich and generic white socks?  

Exciting, Happy, Delightful Justice

Exciting, Happy, Delightful Justice

Do a quick check. If you got the news that God’s justice was coming, how would you feel? Confused? Scared? Nothing? The emotional response we see in the Bible makes a clear picture: God's justice and righteousness are so awesome that it makes everyone and everything everywhere ecstatic. This is an important lesson for us. Being shaped by God's own heart for justice and righteousness, and getting a biblical understanding for that they are, means that our reaction to justice and righteousness should include excitement, happiness, and delight.  

God's Grief

God's Grief

A question that stuck with me when I first stared reading about justice in the Bible was: Why does God take justice and injustice so seriously? Is He like a law-obsessed ruler sitting on His far away throne, enjoying throwing lightening bolts at particularly sinful people? That fit the picture I had of Him when I was growing up. But it didn't explain His passion for justice I saw in the Bible, one that seemed profoundly tied to people and relationships. 

The Walnuts & Rice of your Budget

The Walnuts & Rice of your Budget

"Economic justice" always sounded like an intimidating phrase to me. In the Old Testament “economic justice” parts, most everything that’s described feels far away from my world. Sweet, I'm not crushing widows or withholding wages from my fieldworkers, that must mean I'm not being economically unjust. Economic justice was something for governments to worry about, so I was good. But that perspective made me miss some key Biblical truths.

My Dad's love

My Dad's love

Let's take a break from theology-ish topics to meet someone important, my dad. 

Doors make him pretty happy. Born in a long line of inventive engineer types that loved working with their hands, my dad was raised tinkering in his dad's locksmith shop. Now he is one of the very best in the world at a very random, obscure specialty: Electrified door hardware. Yep, there are people like him in this world that are obsessed with door parts so you don't have to. And my dad happens to enjoy it immensely.

Injustice will find a voice

Injustice will find a voice

The Old Testament has some pretty hard-core, intense things to say about injustice committed by God's chosen people. But I had personally never heard anything about "economic injustice" in the New Testament, at the time when God's plan for redemption came through a Jesus and His heaven-anchored Kingdom. Is economic injustice still condemned in the New Testament? I personally think the best answer is to look at the topic of money, because Old Testament and New, God is surprisingly consistent about the principles behind using money. 

The Love Justice Challenge

The Love Justice Challenge

God loves justice and righteousness. Living a life full of justice and righteousness won’t take away from “more important” spiritual priorities. Justice and righteousness are God’s priority, so we can reflect that through our lives. I get it. Justice/social justice can feel too confusing to understand or too political or too scary to explore. So I am going to leave you with a simple challenge: Love justice and righteousness. That’s the message. There are three simple steps to walking this out.

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