How does the Bible say that God’s people should pursue justice among themselves? Well, 16:19 makes it clear that justice must be impartial, neither taking bribes to favor the rich, or giving preference to the poor, for that matter (see Exodus 22:2-3).

And the best way to ensure that the scales of justice are not tipped one way or the other is to render all decisions strictly according to the Law. To this end, judges were to be chosen in each town, and they were specifically told to “judge the people with righteous judgment” (16:18). More difficult cases were to be referred to the priests, who had the greatest expertise in the Law of Moses (17:8 and 9). And everyone was expected to abide by the judges’ decisions (17:12) – mob rule or vigilante justice was simply not in view.

Moreover, God’s people must render justice according to the true facts of each case. 17:6 requires the testimony of more than one witness in order to administer the death penalty – the only way anyone could be removed from the covenant community at the time (as we saw yesterday, I Corinthians 5:11-13 makes clear that the New Testament Church now practices excommunication rather than execution). Careful investigation and deliberation is required if true justice is to be done – one Facebook video simply cannot take the place of a properly conducted trial.

But the only way to ensure true justice within the Church is to keep the main point of the Law firmly in mind: to love the Lord our God with all we are and all we have (Deuteronomy 6:5). There can thus be no room for the worship of false gods (17:3), or even the incorporation of foreign religious practices into Christian worship (16:21). Instead, just as the offerings of God’s Old Testament people had to be free from any blemish or defect (17:1), so the worship of God’s New Testament people must focus on spotless Lamb of God – for it is only His perfect sacrifice that allows us to draw near to God in prayer and praise. Any effort at Church discipline that doesn’t seek to bring wanderers back to Christ is thus not only misplaced – it is unjust.

Deuteronomy 16:18-17:13 (NASB)

18 “You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your towns which the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
19 “You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous.
20 “Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
21 “You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make for yourself.
22 “Neither shall you set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the LORD your God hates.

“You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any defect, for that is a detestable thing to the LORD your God.
2 “If there is found in your midst, in any of your towns, which the LORD your God is giving you, a man or a woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, by transgressing His covenant,
3 and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the heavenly host, which I have not commanded,
4 and if it is told you and you have heard of it, then you shall inquire thoroughly. And behold, if it is true and the thing certain that this detestable thing has been done in Israel,
5 then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has done this evil deed, to your gates, that is, the man or the woman, and you shall stone them to death.
6 “On the evidence of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
7 “The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
8 “If any case is too difficult for you to decide, between one kind of homicide or another, between one kind of lawsuit or another, and between one kind of assault or another, being cases of dispute in your courts, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God chooses.
9 “So you shall come to the Levitical priest or the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall inquire of them, and they will declare to you the verdict in the case.
10 “And you shall do according to the terms of the verdict which they declare to you from that place which the LORD chooses; and you shall be careful to observe according to all that they teach you.
11 “According to the terms of the law which they teach you, and according to the verdict which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, to the right or the left.
12 “And the man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the LORD your God, nor to the judge, that man shall die; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.
13 “Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and will not act presumptuously again.