July 2025
Biblical justice as a path to restoration: a theological perspective for our times
By Dr. Harold Segura
“We cannot love God if we do not love our brothers and sisters. And we cannot love our brothers and sisters if we do not do justice to them.”
Dorothy Day
To speak of justice today, more than ever, is to speak of humanity. The concept of justice cuts across our globalized societies, fractured by armed conflict, forced migration and human mobility flows, structural inequalities, and exclusions that persist in old and new forms. However, it is also a concept that has become elusive. What does justice mean to a victim of war? What does it represent for a person imprisoned for years without trial? What hope does it offer to those who see the law used as an instrument of repression rather than protection?
In this complex scenario, theology has something to say. Not as a single voice or moral compass, but as an exercise of discernment in faith. Biblical theology of justice invites us to return to the Scriptures not only to interpret the text but also to be challenged by it. It calls us to understand justice not as an abstract idea, but as a concrete experience that touches people's lives and the heart of God.
The starting point for all theological reflection is none other than reality. The biblical tradition—especially when read from the human experiences of pain, hope, and the search for meaning—shows us that God is not indifferent to suffering.
“Justice, in the biblical horizon, is not limited to legality or punishment, but unfolds in multiple dimensions that reveal God's character and his desire for redemption for all creation.”
In this context, I propose a theological reading of justice based on four complementary dimensions: retributive, distributive, restorative, and reparative justice.
Retributive justice is perhaps the best known and most associated with the legal sphere. It refers to the application of the law and the punishment of the guilty. It is present in various passages of the Old Testament (Deut. 19:21; Rom. 13:4) and is part of the human desire to protect victims and punish evil. However, even this form of justice is not purely punitive in the Bible. The same God who establishes laws also creates spaces for mercy, such as cities of refuge, where judgment does not become lynching.
Distributive justice introduces a concern for equity. It is not about punishment, but about sharing. It is justice that questions the concentration of wealth, systematic marginalization, and unequal economic relations (Lev. 25:35-36; Isa. 58:6-7). It is found in the prophets, who denounce those who exploit the weak and call for a social life based on solidarity and dignity for all. This dimension of biblical justice connects with the deep longing for more just societies, where no one has too much and no one has too little.
Restorative justice goes a step beyond judgment and redistribution. It seeks the transformation of the guilty party and the healing of broken relationships. It starts from the principle that a person is not reduced to their crime, and that reconciliation is a possible path. In the New Testament, this dimension shines brightly in the life and teachings of Jesus (Luke 19:8-10; John 8:10-11). Forgiveness, the inclusion of the marginalized, meals shared with sinners—these are expressions of a justice that does not delight in punishment but longs for the restoration of life.
Reparative justice, for its part, embraces an even broader vision: it is not limited to the individual or society, but encompasses the entire creation. God not only wants to correct evil, but to heal the world (Lev. 25:10; Rom. 8:19-21). This approach, present both in Jewish thought (as in the concept of tikun olam, the repair of the world) and in the letters of the New Testament, invites us to understand justice as participation in the restoration of all that has been wounded: from human relationships to ecosystems. The church, then, is called to be a co-worker (to labor together with) in this healing task.
All these dimensions converge in Jesus. He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it; not to perpetuate the sacrificial system, but to transform it through mercy. Jesus did not avoid talking about justice, but he radically redefined it. In his parables, the last are first, the sinner is welcomed, the last-minute worker receives the same wage, the prodigal son is celebrated. Jesus' justice is disconcerting because it disrupts our logic of merit and punishment. It is an outrageously inclusive justice that denounces religious hypocrisy and dismantles the mechanisms of exclusion.
This model of justice poses significant theological and ecclesial challenges. First, it reminds us that we follow a person, not a code. The interpretation of Scripture must be done from the face of Jesus, who reveals to us what God is like and what it means to live justly. Second, it invites the church to be a countercultural space, where grace overflows merit, and dignity is affirmed above mistakes. The Christian community is not a court of law, but a house of reconciliation.
Finally, this justice redefines mission. It is not just proclaiming the gospel, but living it.
“It is not just preaching personal salvation,
but participating in the restoration of all things”
Mission is collaborative, integral, and transformative. It involves the church in the affairs of the world: politics, economics, care for the planet, and broken relationships. It is the proclamation of the Kingdom as a present and future reality, where “justice and peace kiss each other” (Ps 85:10).
Today, amid so many global tensions, this theology of justice is not a luxury accessory of faith, but a pressing necessity. A justice that punishes the oppressor but does not exclude one who repents; that redistributes with equity, restores with tenderness, repairs with hope, and welcomes with a kind and just heart. In short, a justice that is not limited to human laws but is inspired by the love of God. A justice that calls us to be disciples of Jesus, bearers of good news for a broken world.
