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I believe that the evil of abortion is the greatest horizontal injustice in our world today. That’s a bold claim, I know, but I hope to defend it on the blog this week. But first, what do we mean by injustice? An injustice is any action that fails to conform to the biblical standard of justice. And what is biblical justice? In our sermon series at PBC we’ve defined biblical justice this way:

Biblical justice is conformity to God’s moral standards as revealed in Scripture (1) by giving all humans their due as image-bearers of God, especially the most vulnerable and (2) by impartially rendering judgment, righting wrongs and punishing lawbreakers.

Injustice is any failure to do that. It’s any failure to treat our fellow humanity as they deserve. It’s the failure to pay particular attention to the most vulnerable. It’s the failure of those in authority (whether government, parental, or spiritual) to impartially render judgment and punish lawbreakers.  

But what do we mean by horizontal injustice? Although our definition focuses on giving humans their due, the reality is the One who deserves the most from us is God Himself. He deserves all our praise, all our affection, all our love, all our worship. Any failure to honor Him as He deserves is an injustice. We might call this type of injustice a vertical injustice since we are failing to love and worship God as we ought. If Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, then the greatest sin (and therefore the greatest injustice) would be a failure to do so. Therefore, the greatest injustices in our world today occur vertically as we sin against a holy God.  

But which horizontal injustices (those injustices committed against our fellow man) are the most grievous? We could list many, but I believe unequivocally that the greatest horizontal injustice in our world today is the evil of abortion. Come back tomorrow to learn one reason why.