Justice

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:15-23 ESV). We pride ourselves in America as being a people of justice. Unfortunately, in the name of "justice," some Americans have initiated strange and convoluted lawsuits. Consider the following true cases:  At a recent boxing match a fan drank too much, got into a fight, and ultimately fell down a flight of stairs. His family wanted "justice," so they hired a lawyer and sued. Included in their lawsuit was "Ticket Master," the company that sold the man the ticket to the boxing match.  Then there was the man who bought a four-seated plane. In order to rig the plane so he could fly it from the back seat, he removed the pilot's seat, along with all its safety equipment. The plane crashed and the man's family sued the company that designed and built it. The family won a million dollars, even though the man altered and deliberately misused the original equipment.  In another case a young woman was injured when her fiancee deliberately smashed into her go-cart, as they were finishing up their ride around the track. The court ruled that the young man who actually ran into the woman was 85% responsible, the young woman herself was 14% negligent, and the theme park was 1% involved. However, in the interests of "justice," the theme park was required to pay the entire cash judgment. Shifting responsibility, blaming others, and expecting someone else to pay for our stupidity is common in today's legal system, but someday we will all stand before a truly righteous judge who will accept no excuse and will tolerate no legal jargon. On judgment day you won't be able to sue anyone or blame anyone else for your own sins. Our reading today is very clear on our personal responsibility before God. But, there is good news too! We can be certain that we will not be condemned to death, as we deserve. Jesus' sacrifice has made grace available to us through faith. Trust in Him today!