Law: Part I

Judicial law includes civil, common, secular and criminal laws. Civil (social) law deals with disputes between individuals and/or organizations and does not deal with military or religious law. Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and judges, rather than through legislative statutes or executive action. Secular law deals with non-criminals (no incarcerations), contracts, property, divorce, child custody and damages, but not religious law. Criminal law deals with crimes (felonies/misdemeanors) identified in statutes that have been enacted by federal, state and local government legislation in response to issues that affect the jurisdiction.

Civil or social justice refers to the concept of a society in which justice is achieved in every aspect of society, rather than merely the administration of law. Civil justice may be found in the Bible in Exodus 21:23-25; Leviticus 24:17-22 and Deuteronomy 15:15-21. Let us not forget there is God’s justice. In Romans 12:19 it says, “Do not take revenge my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: it is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the Lord.” And in Deuteronomy 32:35 it says, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.” Justice is a virtue which should defend and promote the dignity of every person. From justice comes moral and legal law, not the other way around. True justice comes from God for he is continually just. Law is structured on morality and reflects system values. Fairness, truth, honesty, compassion and respect for the individual are the basis of an acceptable morality that is stimulated from justice. Laws may be written for the Common Good and the individual or for sectional interest. Organized groups with sectional interest can influence political decisions for their own interest and breed injustice.

There are those who think governments should not try to enforce morality, especially Christian morality, because you cannot legislate morality or because you should not mix religion with politics. However, morality is the basis for most, if not all laws. God established three fundamental institutions for the governance of men: family, Church and civil government. All three are mutually supportive and interconnected. For the Christian, the unity of purpose of family, Church and civil government is to glorify God. In Romans 13, it states God’s requirements for a magistrate, a high government judicial officer with judicial and executive power, to administer laws. In Romans 13 it says, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For judicial officers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For the judicial officer is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for the judicial officer does not bear a sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him; if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”

After reading this, it seems the present judicial systems of the world have a Holy responsibility to the people served to govern as God has so stated. All the judicial officers that run our judicial systems today should be in awe and fear of God’s judicial guidelines and justice. In as much as we the people are under the scrutiny of God’s word, so are the judicial officers because they hold much more responsibility than do the people. The judicial officer is “God’s servant to do you good.” I wonder if those words could be found today hanging on a law office wall. God’s laws are always for the good of the individual. He is concerned for our families, our need to worship and our protection from evil forces. God wants us to be fully aware of our conscience in order to help guide us to do what is right.

Biblical law started with Adam and Eve. God taught His Law by word and with His Presence from the time Adam and Eve disobeyed Him. God’s law included moral and ethical laws, including the Ten Commandments. The children of Adam and Eve had the knowledge of good and evil, called the “law of conscience.” God continued reminding generations following Adam and Eve through chosen men of faith like Mechizadek (High Priest/ King of Salem or later Jerusalem), Noah, Abraham and Moses. It was not until Moses that God’s Law was written down. God first gave Moses the Ten Commandments and then through time added another six hundred and three laws. God’s written laws were called the “Book of the Law”, “Book of the Covenant”, or the “Mosaic Law.” The Mosaic Laws given to the Israelites were a total of 613 including moral, civil (judicial), ceremonial (religious), health and dietary. Moral laws were laws pertaining to the immediate morality of God. Civil laws were laws that governed the running of Israel during the time it was a theocracy, a form of government in which God is its supreme civil ruler. Ceremonial laws dealt with how God’s people should interact with Him.

The basic meaning of “moral” is relating to, or capable of making the distinction between right and wrong. Moral law makes the distinction between right actions and wrong actions. The Ten Commandments do just that. The Moral Law or the Ten Commandments is God’s Law. The objective moral standards with “values” instead of “laws” that we see today has no morality. If we make the rules, we can change the rules. A “nonbinding morality” is not morality, only “good ideas.” Today, God’s Moral Law has been discarded as “absolute standards” of law. You can’t avoid the reality of God’s absolute moral laws. Our present-day culture keeps trying to make the “good idea” or “nonbinding” morality work, but the experiment is failing.