Pro 18:5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice.
I listened to a phone message today from a lady I don’t know – I don’t even know her name. She called our church office to thank us for the domestic abuse sermon series we have online at sermonaudio.com/crc If she reads this, many thanks for her encouragement.
One of the things she said was very wise. Having grown up being abused by evil family members, she said that she finally came to see two Scriptures in particular clarity that the Lord used to set her free. One is quoted above, Proverbs 18:5. The other was from Matthew –
Mat 10:21-22 Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, (22) and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
She realized in regard to the Matthew text that a Christian may well find themselves hated intensely even by their own brother, father, and children. It occurred to her that this means the abuse she experienced from family was not her fault.
Let’s look again at the Proverbs verse:
Pro 18:5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice.
What struck this lady about this verse one day is that when we see people (particularly those who CLAIM to be Christians) being partial to the wicked and/or depriving justice to the innocent, we can know that such people are of the kingdom of darkness. At best they are allies duped by the enemy, but very often (more often than Christians want to think) they are counterfeits.
This is widespread. WIDE-spread. Especially in local churches, in supposed Christian books, in “biblical” counseling. It is all over. We see those who claim to belong to Christ being partial to the wicked. Denying justice to the righteous. All in the name of “grace” or “mercy” or “forgiveness,” blah, blah, blah. But none of it is of Christ. None.
If you think I exaggerate, start looking at how victims of sexual, domestic, and other forms of evil abuse are being treated in their churches. And keep looking. Look at how those churches respond to the abusers. I don’t need to look anymore. I have looked enough to be able to tell you what the typical scenario will be when an oppressed person cries for help. The focus will turn to the welfare of the “poor” abuser and soon the victim will be accused of “bitterness,” “unforgiveness,” or “anger” simply because they desire justice.
Here is what God says about all that, once more –
Pro 18:5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked or to deprive the righteous of justice.
“Not good” I think, is a biblical understatement. Not good. Hated by God. Arousing His wrath.
And one final note from our friend. She said that once she understood these things, her habit now is that when she sees partiality to the wicked and denial of justice to the innocent, she is “outta there.” She will have no “truck” as they used to say, with such people.
Good for her.
Rev 18:4-5 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; (5) for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.