The One Factor that Motivates True Justice

Proverbs 29:4

By justice a king gives a country stability, but one who is greedy for bribes tears it down.

I love the format that Solomon uses for so many of the Proverbs:  contrasting the positive attribute against the negative one.  Here we have the just ruler versus the corrupt ruler.  Like many of the Proverbs, this one seems obvious.  This is something that we see right in front of our eyes everyday.  It would be a dangerous trap to oversimplify this, though.  We could falsely draw comparisons between different forms of government (i.e. republicanism v. socialism).  This would be a deceptive comparison because it would falsely presuppose that the form of government is what makes rulers just and honorable, or corrupt and despicable.  

Now, that's not to say that certain forms of governments are not more prone to corruption than others.  If you look at Socialism, for example, the whole philosophy of this political approach is built on corruption.  The whole purpose of socialism is to keep the masses enslaved to the government and the aristocracy.  What is the foundational flaw of socialism?

Socialists reject the the Word of God.  Socialists reject the One true God and set themselves up as gods of the world.  Socialists are generally not atheists.  They are humanists.  Socialism is actually a political philosophy birthed from Secular Humanism.  Once the socialist/humanist has anointed himself as god he can then impose his "omniscience" (moral and otherwise) on the rest of society.  If he is "smart enough", or at least charismatic enough, he can actually impose himself on the majority of the world.

As I said earlier, though, corruption is found in every political structure anywhere in the world.  The reason for this is sin.  Not matter what political philosophy you subscribe to, it has been marred by sin because it has been developed by sinful human beings.  The other problem is that it is also being carried out by sinful human beings.  The deciding factor in this matter has little to do with being a democrat or a republican; being a capitalist, socialist, communist, or anarchist.  The number one factor that determines which side of Solomon's line you're on comes down to just one question:  Are you a Christian?

This doesn't mean that Christians are perfectly just all of the time.  Christians are susceptible to sin and temptation.  Christians, and Christian rulers make mistakes.  Just read the Old Testament.  The difference is how Christians handle their mistakes as opposed to how non-Christians handle their mistakes.  Christian rulers are motivated by God's love.  Non-Christian rulers are motivated by worldly trappings:  morality for its own sake, greed, power, fame, hatred, ... this list could probably go on for a while.

I think this whole thing can be best summed up by St. Paul:

Romans 8:5-8

Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God.  It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.  Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

This is just as true for you and me as it is for every ruler that God has placed in power!

God bless

Jason Fredrick