Understanding God Through Justice and Testimony

Sep 1, 2024

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.