So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Galatians 3:26-29
We are currently in an age where there are a lot of broken people with histories of pain that feel they need to change the status quo to create a better environment for people like them at all costs. From the Black Lives Matter to the waves of feminism, there are a lot of people who feel wronged and feel like things ought to change for them as they do not feel equal to the rest of society.
And maybe like me, you have been able to keep track of a lot of the discussion and perhaps felt that there is a clear way to fix things, people just don’t seem to understand that. The further you dig in though, the more you find ambiguity and grey areas on both sides and that can make it difficult to figure out who is right.
This is why we turn to Galatians 3 for answers to this question as the scripture seems to point to unity. On a subject where even Christians seem to be divided on answers, how do we attain this unity despite the tensions that continue to grow?
Well, we don’t. Or rather we aren’t able to. But Christ has. Allow me to explain.
THE WORK OF THE GOSPEL
Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them. They don’t know where to find peace.” “They have no fear of God at all.”
Romans 3:9-18
You might be familiar with this verse and the implications it has when we talk about the Gospel but let’s cover it anyway. Essentially, Paul pretty much states the first important thing to understand about the nature of the Gospel; man is a sinner, wretched and completely unable to save themselves in any capacity, and has invoked the wrath of a perfect holy infinite God and so is deserving of eternal damnation. This message, at least at this point always seems to rub people the wrong way and is often the biggest reason why people don’t want to hear the message of truth. The Scriptures even pointed out that later on in this age, people will have a message more fine-tuned for their itching ears; a Gospel without the Cross.
But, friends, the Gospel is meaningless without the Cross. If sin was something that wasn’t all that bad, then Christ headed to bear the wrath of God would be laughable at best and is indeed so to those who do not want to listen to it. But sin is anything but painless as anyone who agrees with the moral argument will know. The way a person who has taken one life and a mass murderer are treated and judged is completely different despite both essentially doing the same thing. If the victims happened to be children, then society does not sleep until that man gets the full punishment they possibly can get.
And yet, that is not enough to us. If the one who took one life gets a death sentence, then surely the mass murderer deserves more but they cannot serve the full punishment within a lifetime. So does justice remain unpunished? Does the man go scot free? No. There is a greater judge. One who holds no bias or prejudice. He is perfect in a way no other judge can be and will offer a ruling more just than any judge can. The ruling is not solely based on the worth of those who suffered but the worth of an infinitely omnipotent, omniscient God who created those people. And if the worth of one man is enough for a lifetime sentence, then the worth of God is worth an eternal sentence.
And yet, we are no different. If one man is judged before God under those circumstances, who should be spared? A fair judgement is where all men are judged under the worth of an Eternal God. And all men are deserving of the same punishment.
If you probably agreed with me right up until the last paragraph, it is because you do not believe that that is fairness. You do not believe that your sin is worth that much and you are essentially trying to be a judge on your own sin. And it’s something that all men seek to do. We want to sin but we want it to be legal so we don’t feel guilty and any man that points it out is unfairly judging you. But there is no escape from God’s wrath. The fact that we believe in justice at all and hunger for vengeance when we are wronged should lead us here.
And the story could end here and it would be perfectly fine. God could have given out the justice we deserve and He would have done no wrong. That would have been the end, simple and clear. But it wasn’t.
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.
Romans 5:6-11
Christ did not simply come to be a great teacher. He came to take the wrath of the Almighty God. The Jews had a practice of a sacrifice per year to cover for their sins and so Christ, like lamb to a slaughter, was led to the cross to die for the sins of the murderer of one and of the mass murderer so that both, through Christ would receive the life they never could live. A sinner isn’t merely someone who chooses to sin but one who cannot escape from it and Christ came for the damned. There is no sacrifice like his, perfect and conflict ending. There is no other hope for those who are not in him. This is the Gospel. So how does this message relate to social justice?
THE PATH TO PEACE
Going back to Romans 3, looking at verse 17, which is taken from Isaiah 59:7-8,
Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways. The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace
The Scriptures make it plain that those who are sinners are not aware about what peace looks like. Looking at the climate right now, this could not be more true. We see a lot of people witnessing violence happen and feel that art and politics among others will help them receive the justice they deserve and victims who are so hurt by the pain they have gone through that they are not able to reconcile with people on the other side even if they support them.
Both the attackers and the victims are held in a cycle of pain and hate by sin because there is no amount of legislation that will fix a wretched heart. It will never dig deep into the real issue even if they are silenced and unarmed and some victims may never recover from their hurt even if some problems are fixed. It may seem too late. Peace will not come to the two because they are focused on a shallow problem and nothing underneath. The Gospel however, does much more.
It speaks to both sides in a way human justice never will. The offender is broken by the Gospel and understands not only the worth of man but the worth of the God who created that man. The victim on the other hand also realizes that while they have been wronged, they have also wronged God and by the power of the Holy Spirit, they display a mercy similar to that that was shown to them. This is what Galatians 3 would mean in this context. It does not mean a shallow unity that is drafted by mutual assured destruction but instead it erases the identities that they held onto and gives them something infinitely better than sin, Christ. Through Christ, they are no longer victim and aggressor but both are the bride of Christ and one in him for the glory of God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21
God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above what we ask or think. We might think we want justice and people to be held accountable, but instead we might get a peace that surpasses all human understanding.
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