SECTION TWO: for NZ and Israel. (these quotes are from “Justice, Law and Legalism: Pt 1”
by an Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, who follows Jesus.) “Righteousness and justice are
the foundation of the throne of God”. Ps 89:14 “In Jewish
tradition and thought, the throne of God symbolizes God’s interaction with the world and His people. For God to
have full involvement with His people, righteousness and justice must be present. If we cut justice out of the mix we
undermine that place of authority. To the extent that we remove either righteousness or justice from our lives and from our
communities, in equal proportion we will undermine and destroy the foundation of our relationship with God. To that
extent we will remove from our midst a place suitable to the Lord. God cannot be the King of our hearts and our lives
if He cannot sit upon the throne of His rulership because we have knocked the foundation out from under it. Righteousness and justice are
in fact two different sides to the same coin. Without justice, there is no standard by which we can measure righteousness.
There is nothing to tell us when we have gone off the path of proper living. At the same time, without righteousness
all justice will ultimately be perverted. On a very basic level, a system of justice in any secular government is primarily
in place to protect the rights and privileges of its citizens. In the kingdom of God, justice is also supposed to be
a protection of the rights of the citizenry. The purpose of justice within the kingdom is to ensure that each child
of God receives every right and ounce of benefit for which the Lord Jesus Christ died. In order to accomplish this the
system of justice in the kingdom, much like in our secular justice systems, is supposed to set the law and standard of living
and relating to one another. Law is a part of justice. Law is necessary for life; without law there is not a standard
by which we live. Most importantly though, law does not equal legalism; they are not the same thing. Law is there
to warn you about the consequences of inappropriate behaviour. Law taken within the proper context is a system of guidelines
which enables us to love God and to love our neighbours in a way that will not damage them or us. While law creates
healthy boundaries that enable relationships, legalism causes distance which disables relationships. Within legalism
there is no room for love or for forgiveness. Legalism requires strict adherence to the rules and the imputation of
guilt for the slightest infraction. Legalism will always take law and make it a thing that must be done in order to
be acceptable to God, instead of what should be done to please God. Law, when used as a means with a spirit of love, creates healthy
boundaries which lead to healthy relationships. God’s commandments, His Law, are the map and signs along the way
that let us know that we are still on the proper path and headed in the right direction. When God began giving the Jewish
people the Law, the Ten Commandments, He stated, ‘I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt’.
He spoke this many times. He was not so much demanding that the people follow commandments as much as He is asking them
to respond in kind on account of the great work He had done on their behalf. The rules laid down in the New Testament are to guide us in our
relationships with God and with each other: guidelines for righteous living. If we truly love God and love man, and
are in perfect relationship, embodying perfect love, rules are unnecessary. Rules are only necessary for those of us
(most of us!), who have not yet attained to perfect love, to keep us from doing harm to those with whom we have relationship.
One of the things which justice does in God’s system is to help enforce these rules, especially between the brethren,
thus ensuring that should love fail, the children of God would be protected from those who would do them harm. Justice
is far more than law, more than enforcing rules or regulations. In its proper context, justice also means loving our
neighbours. (Mk 12:29-31) PRAYER POINTS: v Pray for secular justice systems in NZ and Israel to have righteousness and justice in full measure
as their foundation; that the process of establishing this and rooting out all injustice and unrighteousness will not be aborted. v
Pray for the Body of Christ in NZ and Israel,
that the process of understanding and coming into alignment with God’s standards of righteousness and justice will not
be aborted. v
Gal 3:24, Mk 12:29-31, Rom 13:10 | 
