Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

In Righteousness You Shall Judge

Joe Allyn · May 1, 2021

Leviticus 19:15

sharonrpc.org/sermons/in-righteousness-judge

Summary

Leviticus 19:15 commands courts to judge neighbors righteously because God himself is perfectly righteous and loves justice.
Judicial injustice is especially grievous because courts exist to hear evidence, vindicate the innocent, and punish guilt rather than weaponize state power.
God forbids partiality in both directions: judges must neither favor the poor nor defer to the great based on wealth, status, influence, race, gender, or other superficial traits.
Poverty and wealth are circumstances, not moral verdicts; judgment must concern relevant evidence, character, and conduct.
Righteous judgment requires patient investigation and resistance to convenience, emotional manipulation, prejudice, bribery, favoritism, and the desire for peace at any price.
Justice and mercy must not be set against one another: the surrounding law protects workers, the poor, sojourners, the deaf, and the blind without corrupting judgment.
The cross displays God's perfect union of justice and mercy, because Jesus bears the just penalty of sinners whom God freely pardons and accepts.
Homes, churches, courts, and communities should be shaped by the cross through impartial judgment, protection of the innocent, practical mercy, and equal recognition of every person's need for grace.

Why is injustice in court a contradiction of the court's God-given purpose?
How can false witness turn a legal sentence into an instrument of murder?
Why does God explicitly forbid partiality to the poor as well as deference to the great?
What is wrong with treating poverty, wealth, race, gender, influence, or appearance as moral categories?
How can convenience, tears, favoritism, gifts, or hoped-for benefits corrupt judgment in homes and churches?
Why does righteous judgment require patient investigation and knowledge of God's standard?
How does Leviticus 19 command mercy toward poor workers, sojourners, the deaf, and the blind without tilting justice?
How does the cross show God to be both perfectly just and abundantly merciful?
What would impartial, cross-shaped judgment look like in family discipline and church conflict?

Righteous judgment: A decision governed by God's standard, relevant truth, and evidence rather than prejudice, favoritism, or advantage.
Partiality: Judging a person by superficial status or relationship instead of the merits of the matter.
Justice: Giving what is right according to God's moral order, including vindicating innocence and addressing guilt.
Mercy: Compassionate help for the needy and undeserving that reflects God's kindness without redefining falsehood as justice.
False witness: Untrue testimony that corrupts judgment and may expose an innocent neighbor to punishment.
Bribery: A benefit or influence that distorts judgment away from truth and the merits of a case.
Justification: God's gracious act of pardoning sinners and accepting them as righteous through Christ's imputed righteousness received by faith.