Lecture Notes: The God of Justice

Introduction

• The session discusses the God of justice.
• Importance of speaking positively and aligning with God's word.

Concepts of Confession and Testimony

• Confession:
  • Greek origin: "Homo legeo" (to speak the same).
  • Romans 10:10 - Confession leads to salvation.
  • Importance of confessing positively, aligned with God's word.
• Testimony:
  • To bear witness to things seen and experienced.
  • Confession can lead to negative testimony if based on lies or adversarial influences.

Confession vs. Testimony

• False confessions can arise from external pressures.
• Testimony is based on personal experience while confession might not be.
• Confession could be rehearsing God's or adversary's words.

Judgment and Justice

• Judgment:
  • Decisions and positions taken in life.
  • Linked to the concept of justice in the heavens and earth.
• Justice:
  • God's response to judgment and life's pressures.
  • In the courts of heaven, justice is based on truth and righteousness.

Parable of the Wheat and Tares (Matthew 13)

• Enemy sowed weeds among the wheat.
• Farmer's wisdom to let both grow until harvest for proper separation.
• Taught as an analogy for justice and judgment.
• Importance of focusing on the good (wheat) rather than the bad (tares).

Witness and Evidence

• The difference between being a witness and providing evidence.
• Witness: Someone who has seen or heard events.
• Evidence: Can testify without words; scriptures act as evidence of God's promises.

Jesus as a Testimony

• Jesus's works testify of Him.
• Believers as witnesses by hearing and seeing Jesus's works.

Spiritual Warfare

• The devil seeks to flip the jury by pressuring believers.
• Believers need to hold fast to their testimony of God's goodness.
• Apostle Paul's Confession (Romans 8):
  • Nothing can separate believers from God's love.
  • Testifying in trials as a demonstration of faith.

The Role of Hardship

• Hardship as a test of confession and judgment.
• Apostle Paul's testimony of resilience under persecution.

Conclusion

• God uses life's challenges to build a testimony in believers.
• Importance of not bearing false witness against God despite trials.
• Encouragement to focus on evidence of God's past goodness in current trials.

Key Verses

• Romans 10:10: Confession leads to salvation.
• Matthew 13: Parable of the Wheat and Tares.
• John 5:39: Scriptures as testimony.
• John 10:25-29: Believers as witnesses.
• Romans 8:31-39: Unshakeable faith in God's love.
• 2 Corinthians 4:7-9: Enduring trials without despair.