---
title: "God commands 'justice, and only justice' — not partial or deferred justice"
description: "Scripture's standard for civil justice regarding the shedding of innocent blood is emphatic and exclusive — 'justice, and only justice, you shall pursue' (Deut. 16:20). Where God has defined an act as murder, the state's duty is to establish equal justice against it, not to legislate a policy that…"
type: "argument"
id: "arg-justice-only"
category: "Scriptural"
mode: "Offensive"
source_url: "https://www.abhortion.org/arguments/arg-justice-only.html"
---

# God commands 'justice, and only justice' — not partial or deferred justice

**Category:** Scriptural · **Mode:** Offensive · the positive case

## The argument

Scripture's standard for civil justice regarding the shedding of innocent blood is emphatic and exclusive — 'justice, and only justice, you shall pursue' (Deut. 16:20). Where God has defined an act as murder, the state's duty is to establish equal justice against it, not to legislate a policy that permits some killing while prohibiting other killing. A law that deliberately protects some children and not others is 'partiality' (Deut. 16:19; Lev. 19:15) and an 'unjust statute' whose authors are pronounced 'woe' (Isa. 10:1-2).

## Supporting points

- The doubling 'justice, and only justice' (tsedeq tsedeq) reads as an intensifier that excludes compromise.
- God forbids partiality in judgment (Deut. 16:19; Lev. 19:15) — unequal protection is by definition partial.
- The 'woe' of Isaiah 10:1-2 falls on those who write unjust statutes, not only those who kill.
- 'To justify the wicked... is an abomination' (Prov. 17:15) — statutory exceptions that pre-acquit the guilty are condemned.

## Discussion questions

1. Does a bill that bans abortion after a heartbeat but permits it before satisfy 'justice, and ONLY justice'?
2. Is a deliberately unequal law an act of impartial justice, or of the partiality Scripture forbids?

## Source transcript

Drawn from Does the Pro-Life Movement Hate Justice? (T. Russell Hunter, 'Justice Alone') — The thesis of the 'Justice Alone' talk..

## References

_The case here rests on the cited scriptures; see Related below._

## Related

**Related scriptures:**

- [Deuteronomy 16:20](../scripture/deuteronomy-16-20.md)
- [Deuteronomy 16:19](../scripture/deuteronomy-16-19.md)
- [Leviticus 19:15](../scripture/leviticus-19-15.md)
- [Isaiah 10:1-2](../scripture/isaiah-10-1-2.md)
- [Proverbs 17:15](../scripture/proverbs-17-15.md)

**Related arguments:**

- [“A bill that protects some children now is better than a bill that protects none and…”](def-some-justice-better.md)
- [“Bills that ban abortion at a heartbeat, at pain-capability, or after an ultrasound…”](def-milestone-bills.md)
- [“Equal protection does not require prosecuting mothers; targeting abortionists (and…”](arg-equal-protection-14th.md)