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 PrintableVersion A biblical view of law and justiceDo justlyA BIBLICAL VIEW OF LAW AND JUSTICE This book is panoramic in its scope, starting with an overview of God's character, and ending with a contemplation of his love and justice demonstrated in final judgement. In between, the author surveys the effects of the fall on how justice is worked out, the role of the Mosaic law in revealing God's intentions for his people, the purpose and function of Israel's king in upholding justice and the failure of successive kings to do so, the call of the prophets to repentance, an examination of what Jesus's kingship means and does not mean, the role of the Spirit in doing what the law could never do and changing our hearts, and an examination of what our attitude should be to secular authority and government. The fact that McIlroy begins by describing key aspects of God's character lays the foundations for everything that follows. Justice is not about 'doing what is right' in the abstract - it is about being like God and doing his will. Throughout the book, McIlroy emphasises that justice (and its interchangeable concept, righteousness) primarily concerns the claims of relationships, rather than of principles. The function of the king, for example, was to maintain the covenant between God and his people - and the demands of that covenant had already been set out in the law, such that the vulnerable and needy were to be protected and cared for, grievances heard without bias, and so on. This emphasis on justice as relationship forms a lens through which we see Jesus as the one who brings about perfect justice. God is reconciled with sinners, their punishment having been borne by Christ, and he then transforms them into members of his kingdom of righteousness, until that day when they live in unhindered communion with him. In the meantime, God has established human governments on this earth to carry out a provisional role in promoting the good and punishing the evil - in so doing, they too reflect something of his own character, to a greater or lesser degree. The extent to which they do so is open to influence. We each have our part to play in upholding, enforcing, reforming and challenging the way in which government performs its God-given function of doing what is just. We are witnesses to the fact that there is a perfect Judge to whom all of us, particularly this world's rulers, must one day give an account. The text is broken up into smallish chunks with lots of headings! Although this makes it mildly repetitive and occasionally interrupts the flow of the argument, it makes the book easy to read. More importantly, McIlroy inspires in us gratitude for who God is and the way he has committed himself to acting with loving justice towards us. Caroline Eade,
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