UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND JUSTICE

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PROVERBS 17:15-28
Lesson #29
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE AND JUSTICE

• Memory Verse: Your choice of a verse from Pro 17:15-28. (Be prepared to explain your verse.)
• Some verses in this lesson are out of numerical sequence to maintain the theme of unconditional love and justice.
• ^“He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord.” (15)
• ^“ Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.” (26)
  • Key words: justifieth (right relationship); wicked (lawless evil); just (righteous believer); abomination (hated); equity (impartiality).
  • The person that accepts as righteous the evil person living in lawless evil is just as out of order as the person that condemns the righteous believer. Why?
    • This proverb says that both these actions are hated by God.
    • If you praise the evil and condemn the good your perspective is not God’s perspective.
    • God’s nature is perfect justice based on His holiness. God’s standard of holiness demands punishment for evil because it falls far short of God’s standard.
    • Equally God’s standard is based on His perfect, unconditional love and justice. Perfect justice demands a reward for righteousness.
  • The person that turns God’s system of holiness, justice, and love upside down will not succeed in avoiding a final judgment.
  • In the same way that God’s justice is perfect, so should the believer’s justice be perfect without favoritism, prejudice, and pride as we deal with other people.
    • This proverb also refers to the believer that speaks against another believer or one in authority.
    • God is the judge and the believer is not.
  • It is not justice for a believer to punish another believer or the person in authority.(1Tim 5:19)
    • Perfect justice demands that evil be punished and that good be rewarded.
    • Because God is a righteous judge and his judgment is perfect, He will never punish those who are righteous in Jesus Christ. Why?
      • The believer in Christ has his sins forgiven. This is not a pardon where the believer is guilty and the judge decides to look the other way.
      • Instead the blood of Jesus Christ has paid for those sins. That means that God’s perfect justice is satisfied.
      • The believer will not pay for his sins because Christ already paid for them on the cross.
  • God will never act against his basic nature of justice and truth.
    • Man’s justice is never perfect.
    • God’s justice is always perfect. When Jesus said, “It is finished.” (Joh 19:30) He was saying that He fulfilled God’s demands for perfect justice.
    • God will especially punish those that treat His believers badly especially when those believers died for their faith in Christ.
• ^“Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?” (16)
  • Key words: fool (no God for me); wisdom (skillful living); heart (inner man).
  • The fool would buy skillful living if he could, but God does not sell His wisdom.
  • We have learned in the book of Proverbs that God’s wisdom of skillful living is given freely to those believers that are obedient to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
  • Why does the fool not know that God’s wisdom is free?
    • The end of verse 16 tells us he has “no heart to it”.
    • In other words, Jesus Christ, God’s love gift, the personification of wisdom does not live in his inner man.
    • The fool has made his decision that he wants nothing to do with God in his life.
  • We have a good example of this proverb in the book of Acts with Simon, the sorcerer who wanted to buy the power of the Holy Spirit. (Act 8:9-20)
• ^“A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (17)
  • A brother will help you out in an emergency just because he is part of your family.
  • However, the friend that will love you at all times is the person whose love goes beyond blood lines. He is the person that lives the unconditional love we see in 1Cor 13.
  • Read 1Cor 13:4-8
    • What are the characteristics of unconditional love?
      • The King James Bible in English uses the word “charity” for love. This is a special word used by the translators to indicate that this love is different from the general word “love”.
      • Only the believer in Jesus Christ is capable of this kind of unconditional love, why?
        • Unconditional love is commanded and modeled by God, the Father in sending His Son, Jesus Christ to die for unlovable, sinful man. (Joh 3:16)
        • The believer in Christ loves others with unconditional love because that love is God’s love expressed through the believer to a third person by means of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
        • Because this is God’s love, the unbeliever cannot express it without having God in his heart.
    • Unconditional love suffers long. (1Cor 13:4)
    • Unconditional love is kind. (1Cor 13:4)
    • Unconditional love does not envy. (1Cor 13:4)
    • Unconditional love does not puff up with pride. (1Cor 13:4)
    • Unconditional love does the right thing. (1Cor 13:5)
    • Unconditional love is not self-centered. (1Cor 13:5)
    • Unconditional love is not thin-skinned. (1Cor 13:5)
    • Unconditional love does not think the worst about people. (1Cor 13:5)
    • Unconditional love does not rejoice in evil. (1Cor 13:6)
    • Unconditional love rejoices in truth. (1Cor 13:6)
    • Unconditional love bears, believes, hopes for the best, and endures through all adversity. (1Cor 13:7)
• “A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.” (18)
  • Key words: understanding (discernment of good from evil); surety (to co-sign a loan).
  • A person that does not discern good from evil will fall for the deception that to co-sign another person’s loan is a good idea.
  • However, as we have already discussed in Proverbs, (Pro 6:2-4), promoting debt in the life of a friend or in the life of a family member, is not demonstrating unconditional love.
    • Debt is bondage. (Pro 22:7)
    • Debt puts unnecessary stress on personal relationships.
• “ He loveth transgression that loveth strife: and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction.” (19)
  • Key words: transgression (lawbreaking);
  • The person that rejoices in breaking man’s and/or God’s law is a sinner. That person is controlled by his flesh nature that cannot help but serve sin.
    • The Bible tells us that all men are sinners that come short of God’s lawful standards.
    • The strife that results brings the problems that result from a sinful lifestyle.
    • Of course, the ultimate end of such a self-centered lifestyle lived to please the flesh nature is eternal death (eternal separation from God). (Rom 6:23)
  • What does it mean to “exalt his gate”?
    • The illustration indicates that this person is very wealthy and builds his house so that all can see his wealth by the opulence of his front gate. This is the hypocritical person that pretends to be something he is not.
    • Destruction is the result of this kind of pride.
• ^“ He that hath a froward heart findeth no good: and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief.” (20)
  • Key words: froward (disobedient); heart (inner man); perverse (corrupt or disobedient).
  • As in many previous proverbs we see the close relationship between the heart and the mouth. Proverbs has shown us that out of the heart, the mouth speaks.
  • Both of the statements in this verse describe the unbeliever that does not have Christ in his heart. Both statements are therefore in parallel where the second statement adds more detail to refine the first statement.
  • The evil, disobedient person will find that his own words will get him into trouble.
• ^“He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow: and the father of a fool hath no joy.” (21)
• ^“A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him.” (25)
  • Key words: fool/foolish (no God for me).
  • These two proverbs are very similar, so I have put them together.
  • The Christian parent that does not teach his children about having a personal relationship with God will not see his children with Christ in eternity.
    • Too often the job of teaching your children about the Lord is left to the Pastor and/or the Sunday School teachers.
    • However, God holds the parent responsible for training your children about God, not the church leaders.
    • Read Pro 22:6
• ^“ A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” (22)
  • Key words: heart (inner man).
  • A positive perspective of life is like a medicine that keeps your spirit built up and encouraged.
    • This is where faith in God keeps you trusting in God’s love and goodness toward you and your life.
    • A positive perspective of trust in God helps to avoid the anxieties and fears that come to mind about what terrible things could possibly happen to you.
    • Science has proven that there is a connection between the physical and emotional aspects of man.
    • A negative attitude will destroy your hope, your encouragement, and your ability to move forward with God because it destroys your image as a child of God.
  • A “broken spirit” is a poor self-image where the person says, “I am worthless. Nothing I do is right. I cannot possibly achieve anything because everything I try will fail.”
    • Parents that constantly speak negatively to their children by attacking their self-image, build into them a “broken spirit” that dries up creativity and perseverance.
    • However, Christ can heal a broken spirit. (Isa 61:1)
    • Jesus Christ came to give us a new identity of being more than conquerors in Christ. (Rom 8:37)
• ^“A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.” (23)
  • Key words: wicked (lawless evil); pervert (corrupt/disobedient); judgment (See Righteousness = pure life).
  • The evil person that lives outside the law (whether man’s law or God’s law), sees no problem in using bribes to get what he wants.
  • Because the basic nature of man is evil in that it seeks what will benefit his own self-interest, he will justify the bribe as a necessary part of life.
  • Notice that the bribe is hidden in his bosom and comes out at just the right time. He may not even know the bribe is there until the opportunity presents itself.
  • The bribe corrupts a pure life. The person that receives the bribe is not free to discern correctly good from evil or right from wrong because the bribe is sitting on the scales of justice to make one side better than the other.
• ^“ Wisdom is before him that hath understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.” (24)
  • Key words: wisdom (skillful living); understanding (discernment of good from evil); fool (no God for me).
  • Skillful living is only possible for the person that has the discernment to see and act on the difference between good and evil.
  • The person that wants nothing to do with God is the person that looks in all other places on earth for wisdom (skillful living) but he will never find it. (24)
    • He has already made his decision against God.
    • That decision cuts him off from the presence, the conviction, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
    • Rev 3:18 says that man needs spiritual eyes to see the truth. This non-believing fool will never see the truth.
• ^“ Hethat hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.” (27)
  • Key words: knowledge (power to know truth); understanding (discernment of good from evil).
  • The person that has the Holy Spirit living in his spirit is a believer that has the power to know truth.
    • The Holy Spirit knows the truth of God.
    • The function of the Holy Spirit in the believer is to impart truth to the believer. (Joh 14:17; 15:26; 16:13)
  • Therefore, the righteous believer will be careful what he says, to be sure that his words are guided by the Holy Spirit.
  • The believer that knows how to discern good from evil has an excellent spirit because the Holy Spirit is living there in him.
• ^“ Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.” (28)
  • Key words: fool (no God for me); wise (skillful living); understanding (discernment of good from evil).
  • Because what is in the heart comes out through the mouth, the righteous believer will not speak everything that passes through his mind. He will be discerning of whether it is good or evil to speak.
  • He will ask himself, will this benefit or damage someone?
  • Remember that in this lesson we discussed the characteristics of unconditional love and a friend that loves at all times.
    • It is unconditional love that should guide our words.
    • It is unconditional love that should guide our thoughts.
    • It is unconditional love that should guide our actions.
  • Even the fool can hide his foolishness by being quiet because people will think he is wise. However, the fool does not have eternal life, so even if no one knows he is fool without God, God knows who belongs to Him in the end.
  • The fool’s friends and companions may be deceived, but God sees the heart and is never deceived.

Homework
Proverbs 18:1-23

• Application of Pro 17:15-28
  • Why is it better to have a true friend than a sometimes brother? (17)
    • The security of knowing that there is someone who will support you through any and all adverse situations in life is a great comfort. Of course, the greatest friend is Jesus Christ.
  • What do you think the phrase “exalteth his gate” means in verse 19?
    • This is the person that puts up a hypocritical, ostentatious front to impress people that you are something you are not.
    • What does a merry heart or a broken spirit do to the body? (22)
      • A positive attitude based on faith in God will keep you moving forward in life.
      • A negative attitude will destroy your hope, your encouragement, and your ability to move forward with God.
    • What is the gift out of the bosom? (23)
      • This is a bribe that seeks to obtain something unlawful or illegal.
• Preparation for Pro 18:1-24
  • Read Pro 18:1-24
    • What must a person have to get wisdom (successful living)? (1)
    • Instead of discerning good from evil (understanding), the fool seeks to discover himself. (2) What does that mean and why is it a bad idea?
    • How do words of gossip affect the person that hears the gossip? (8)
    • Why do you think the lazy person is just as bad as someone who wastes his resources? (9)
    • Death and life are in the power of what? (21) What does that mean?
• Memory verse: Pro 18:21