Justifying the Wicked

Tough Question for Christians #33—Christianity is an Abomination
Watch it here.

AZ is being pretty sneaky in this video, trying to get in two questions. His first question is a general complaint about God’s justice in condemning, even killing, an innocent man so that others can go free. I agree with AZ that this is unjust, but I explain in detail in my atonement blogs that this concept of atonement is only one idea of Christian atonement, and it is historically recent in the whole of Christian theology. I just don’t think it’s true. Rather, as I’ve said, I believe that Jesus was condemned by the Jews to show that every human system of justice, every human government is inadequate and that it rejects and kills the just and innocent, and then God established Jesus as the “First Citizen” of the Kingdom of God with its own law, it’s own system of forgiveness and it’s own merciful justice. And it is this kingdom that will rule the whole world.

AZ’s second question is his main point in this video, and in this he quotes Proverbs 17:15—“He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the LORD.” Yet, AZ says, the whole point of Christianity is to justify the wicked. Does this mean that, biblically, Christianity is an abomination?

On the one hand, I can easily say that Jesus was fully condemned by the Law and thus made a curse. Part of that condemnation is seeking justification for the wicked.

However, I think specifically for Proverbs, we need to look at the general context. The point of Proverbs is to have a pithy saying which communicates a truth. However, since each saying is brief, we have to look carefully in a broader context to understand the more nuanced truth. First of all, if what AZ is saying is correct, it means that the very idea of forgiveness of sin is an abomination. This is hard to accept, since forgiveness is a central characteristic of God in many places in the OT. No, God doesn’t forgive everyone, but it says in Ezekiel 18 that God is ready to forgive anyone who repents. Jesus says the same as does many others in the NT.

So what does this mean? Even as I John and Hebrews 10 can both be misinterpreted to mean that anyone who sins is going to hell, the fact is the OT defines the “wicked” as the person who unrepentedly sins continually. But the person who repents of their sin is forgiven, and this is justice. Jesus, in creating a new kingdom, is simply creating a place where the wicked can have the opportunity to repent.

The Proverbs passage AZ is speaking of is saying that the wicked must be punished by a judge. The abomination is not in forgiveness of the repentant, but in forsaking punishment for one who continues in their sin.