Question:
What is God like?

God is just. The prophet Moses (Musa) said, "I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." (Tawrat, Deuteronomy 32:3-4) Twice in these few words the prophet Moses tells us that God is just. But what does it mean when we say someone is just? Why did God reveal to us that he is the ultimate in justice?

Answer:
Let me give you a human illustration so that we can understand a little of what it means that God is just. There was a judge in the land. One day a case was brought before him. A poor man was brought in and accused of murdering a rich man's son. Many witnesses spoke against he poor man during the trial. The rich man secretly offered the judge a large payment of money if he would only condemn the poor man. But in the end the judge determined from the evidence that the poor man was innocent and he let the man go free. We would say he was a just judge.

Or let me give you another example. A man is brought before the court and accused of murder. In his defense the man gets up and says, "It is true that I have committed murder. But judge I have also built three hospitals that have helped thousands and saved countless lives. I have donated money to the poor so that thousands at this moment have food and shelter because of me. During the natural disasters I am the first one to help and give money to those who suffered misfortune. I stand up for the rights of the oppressed, am a good citizen and faithful husband. I have kept and keep all the laws of the land except for this one violation. For these reasons you should let me go." Now, if you were the judge what would you do? A just judge would tell the man, "I commend you for the good you have done. I say you are right in keeping the laws of the land. However it is not the laws you have kept that is of interest to the court but the law you have broken. You have broken one law and are a criminal. I cannot let you go and be just, justice cannot ignore evil. You have broken the law and must be punished for it." Justice is doing what is right, it is punishing the good and not punishing the innocent.

God's justice is of course higher than man's. While man has to judge by what people do and say, God looks at the heart. His judgments on a matter are true, all the time and in everyway. And if someone does evil God is just and will punish. The Bible says, "Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder." If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker." (James 2:9-11) You and I will someday stand before God. He will then be a just judge. What will he do? Will he overlook some of our crimes against his law, the times we broke his law? Will he look at the 99 times we didn't lie and just ignore the one time we did? It is blasphemy to even consider that God would be unjust. He will punish men and women for the evil they have done. And since you and I have done something wrong in our lives we can expect God's judgment. This is why the Bible says, "No one will be declared righteous (righteous means good or perfect or holy) in his sight by observing the law." (Romans 3:20) No one will be able to stand before the Just Judge of all the earth and say I kept the law. God's just verdict on us will be the same as the one he will give Satan (Shai'tan) who also broke God's law.

Thankfully God is also merciful. Read more about God's justice and mercy.