Paul Poulton considers if there is such a thing

Paul Poulton

The police in the UK have told us that for some time to come they will be scouring CCTV footage in an attempt to trace individuals who took part in looting and rioting. I imagine that some young people will be in fear of a knock on the door. We know that it takes the police weeks, months or even years to bring some criminals to justice. In fact some guilty people may have thought they've got away with crime, only to be rudely awakened at 4:00am by the police shouting and breaking down their door; but what about those who escape the judicial net, because there must be some? Are there some people who can do the crime without doing the time?

The Bible has a lot to say about justice. God seems to be very interested in it; but if he is so interested in it, why doesn't he help us administer it by pointing out bad people? Or if we are looking for a child who has been stolen away from her parents why doesn't he help us find that child and bring the perpetrators to justice? The answer to this is surprisingly easy; it's because God has given us the amazing gift of freewill. We can't have it both ways; we can have freewill which means we are free to do good or bad things or we can have our free will disrupted.

If I want to hit someone with a wooden chair but find that the chair loses its rigidity when I bring it down on the unsuspecting person's head so that it lands softly upon them like a feather then I have lost a small part of my freewill. I am not free to smash a chair over some poor unsuspecting person. We may think that that is a good thing and in some ways it is, but it also means that God is not giving us freewill if he interjects every time I choose to do something bad; I would not be a free agent.

To make any sort of choice we need a stable environment in which to make choices. God has made the laws of physics and they are trustworthy. They are the material we use to make our decisions. Even when Jesus did miracles he followed the laws set down by his father. In fact he said the son can do nothing that the father doesn't do. He made bread into more bread, something God does with wheat every year. He multiplied the fish, something God does in the sea. He healed people something God does every day in our bodies. When we cut ourselves we don't worry too much because we know if we wash it and keep it clean somehow it will heal. There is a pattern to Christ's miracles; but when tempted by the devil to turn stone into bread he wouldn't do it. No where do we see stone turned into bread in nature. We are told in the Psalms that, 'Faithfulness springs forth from the earth', and that, 'The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved'.

So if seeking out criminals and bringing them to justice is largely down to us, we may be tempted to think that sometimes crime does actually pay; but that would be a serious folly. Those who engage in wrong doing hurt themselves. The author George MacDonald said, 'The one principle of hell is that I am my own'. We don't realise what an amazingly precious gift freewill is. God has made us human not just animal, with the ability to be upright in character with a strong heart made in his image. To have our own souls is a wonder, some people don't seem to realise how precious it is. They treat their own souls without any care, mistreating them and we are told that some people even lose them.

If I hurt others I am actually harming myself. If I tell lies, I will end up believing a lie. If I steal from others, I am essentially stealing from myself, as my own heart is being made less human. If I hate others then my own freedom is being restricted. That's how evil works. If I cheat others I am really cheating myself. In other words those who live by the sword will die by the sword.

So we can firmly say that there is no such thing as the perfect crime. Evil closes us in, inhibits us and traps us.

When Ezekiel was shown the temple of God in a vision he noticed that there were levels to it and that the rooms got wider on each successive level. That's a great picture of the kingdom of heaven. Righteousness gives us more room to manoeuvre. The domain of darkness gets smaller and smaller, as Dante pointed out in the famous book 'Inferno' with its ever decreasing circles.

When I've been into prisons to do concerts I've met some inmates who genuinely regret their crimes and in some ways are pleased that the police caught them and brought them to justice, because it's given them time to reflect. When they have left prison they are changed people and become valuable members of society. Some get involved in crime prevention groups and help the police with their work.

For those who are not brought to justice here in the material world, there is another court that we must all stand before.