The Grammar of Justice and Abomination Text: Proverbs 17:15
Introduction: The Great Inversion
We live in a time of institutionalized insanity, a generation committed to a grand project of moral inversion. Our age is characterized by a frantic attempt to call evil good and good evil, to put darkness for light and light for darkness. This is not a new trick, of course; it is the ancient lie of the serpent, whispered now through microphones, broadcast on screens, and enforced by human resource departments. The prophet Isaiah pronounced a stern woe upon those who engage in this kind of redefinition. But the book of Proverbs, in its rugged, practical wisdom, brings this same principle down to the courthouse, down to the public square, and down to the level of every individual judgment we make.
The proverb before us today is a sharp, two-edged sword. It cuts to the very heart of what justice is and exposes the very nature of what God hates. It does not merely describe a judicial failure; it describes a spiritual condition, a worldview that has declared war on the created order. To get this wrong is not a simple mistake, like a mathematical error. It is to position oneself against the very character of God. God is a God of justice. He establishes the standards of righteousness. Therefore, any attempt to redefine, invert, or corrupt that standard is a direct assault on Him.
Our society has become adept at this particular sin. We have men who celebrate what God condemns and condemn what God commands. They justify the wicked, calling their sin "bravery" and their rebellion "authenticity." At the same time, they condemn the righteous, labeling their faithfulness "bigotry" and their adherence to God's Word "hate." This proverb teaches us that these are not two separate problems. They are two heads of the same monstrous beast. And God does not merely dislike this state of affairs; He finds it abominable. It is a stench in His nostrils. Understanding this is crucial for navigating the moral chaos of our day with biblical clarity and courage.
The Text
He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous,
Both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.
(Proverbs 17:15)
Justifying the Wicked
Let us consider the first half of this parallel statement:
"He who justifies the wicked..." (Proverbs 17:15a)
The word "justify" is a legal term. It means to declare righteous. In the glorious doctrine of justification by faith, God declares guilty sinners to be righteous, not because of anything in them, but solely on the basis of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, imputed to them through faith. God can do this without violating His own justice because the penalty for their sin was fully paid by Christ on the cross. He remains just and becomes the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:26). He does not call their sin righteousness; He punishes their sin in the person of their substitute and then clothes them in a righteousness that is not their own.
But what this proverb describes is a grotesque parody of that divine act. This is man, in his arrogance, usurping the bench of God and delivering a verdict that is a lie. To justify the wicked is to declare that which is crooked to be straight. It is to call evil good. It is to look at manifest sin, at rebellion, at wickedness, and to say, "This is acceptable. This is right. This is good."
This happens in a formal, judicial sense when a corrupt judge takes a bribe and acquits a guilty man. But it happens far more frequently in the informal court of public opinion and private morality. When a culture celebrates sexual deviancy and calls it love, it is justifying the wicked. When a church refuses to discipline unrepentant sin for fear of being "judgmental," it is justifying the wicked. When we make excuses for our own sin or the sin of those we favor, refusing to call it what God calls it, we are justifying the wicked. We are attempting to rewrite God's law and rearrange His moral universe to suit ourselves. This is an act of profound rebellion. It is to set up our own judgment as superior to God's, which is the very essence of pride.
Condemning the Righteous
The second half of the proverb presents the inverse corruption:
"...and he who condemns the righteous..." (Proverbs 17:15b)
If the first act was to call evil good, this is to call good evil. To condemn the righteous is to punish a man for his obedience to God. It is to declare that which is straight to be crooked. This is the sin of the persecutor, the slanderer, and the scoffer. It is the world's native reaction to the holiness of God reflected in His people. Cain condemned Abel, and his righteousness was the cause. The Pharisees condemned Jesus, and His perfect righteousness was an intolerable affront to their self-righteous system.
The world hates the righteous because the righteous man, by his very existence, is a rebuke to the world's sin. His faithfulness exposes their rebellion. His integrity highlights their corruption. His commitment to God's truth is a standing judgment on their lies. And so, they must condemn him. They will call his piety "self-righteousness," his moral clarity "intolerance," and his love for God's law "legalism."
We see this everywhere today. A baker who refuses to participate in a sinful ceremony is condemned as a bigot. A parent who insists on raising their children according to biblical principles is condemned as a tyrant. A preacher who faithfully proclaims the whole counsel of God, including the parts that offend modern sensibilities, is condemned as hateful. In every case, the righteous are being condemned precisely for their righteousness. This is not just a miscarriage of justice; it is a spiritual assault. It is the kingdom of darkness attempting to extinguish the light.
An Abomination to Yahweh
The proverb concludes by bringing both actions together and stamping them with a divine verdict of the highest severity.
"Both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh." (Proverbs 17:15c)
The word "abomination" is one of the strongest words of revulsion in the Hebrew language. It is not a synonym for "displeasing" or "naughty." It is used to describe things that are utterly detestable to God, things that He hates with a holy hatred. Idolatry is an abomination. Sexual perversion is an abomination. Dishonest scales in business are an abomination. And here, this judicial and moral inversion is placed in the same category. It is a profound offense against the very nature of God.
Notice the phrase "both of them alike." Justifying the wicked and condemning the righteous are morally equivalent. They are two sides of the same counterfeit coin. One cannot exist without the other. In order to celebrate wickedness, you must necessarily condemn righteousness. In order to normalize perversion, you must pathologize holiness. The worship of the idol requires the persecution of the true worshiper. They are a package deal.
This is because both actions flow from the same poisoned well: a rejection of God as the ultimate standard of truth and justice. Both are attempts by man to be his own god, defining good and evil for himself. This is why it is an abomination to Yahweh. It is a direct challenge to His sovereignty, His righteousness, and His glory. It is an attempt to turn His cosmos into a chaos of our own making, a world where up is down, right is wrong, and God's law is overturned by human opinion.
Conclusion: The Gospel as the Only True Justification
This proverb drives us to the foot of the cross, for it is only there that we see this principle perfectly resolved. At the cross, we see the ultimate act of condemning the righteous. The only truly righteous man who ever lived, Jesus Christ, was condemned by wicked men, suffering the wrath of God that we deserved. He was condemned so that we might not be.
And at the cross, we see the only grounds upon which God can justly justify the wicked. He does not wave a magic wand and pretend our sin does not exist. No, He pours out the full measure of His holy wrath against that sin upon His own Son. Because the righteous was condemned, a way was opened for the wicked to be justified. God "made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).
This is the great exchange of the gospel. It is the only place in the universe where the justification of the wicked is not an abomination, but is rather the highest display of the wisdom, justice, and mercy of God. He does not compromise His standard; He satisfies it perfectly in Christ.
Therefore, we must flee from the abomination described in this proverb with all our might. We must refuse to participate in our culture's project of moral inversion. We must learn to call sin what God calls it, beginning with our own. And we must learn to love righteousness, even when the world condemns us for it. We must do this not in our own strength, but by clinging to the one who was condemned for us. Our only hope of standing before a holy God is to abandon all attempts to justify ourselves and to rest entirely in the finished work of the one who justifies the ungodly through faith.