In Numbers 5:6-8 God said to Moses, "Speak to the Sons of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the Lord, and that person is guilty, then he shall confess his sins which he has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong, and add to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged. But if the man has no relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to the Lord for the priest, besides the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him."

The genuineness of your relationship with God is demonstrated in what you WANT to do rather than in just what you are commanded to do! I'm speaking of the Spirit of obedience rather than the mere conformity of conduct. Far too many people go through the formality of serving God, but their heart is not in it. Therefore, they do only what is required to be looked on as a Christian. But unless you are really converted and serve the Lord because you want to with all your heart, you will never know the joy and satisfaction that comes from being a Christian.

The New Testament has little to say on the subject of restitution, but it is implied in several passages. I believe this subject of restitution falls under the category of the spirit of obedience. It is one of those things that serves as a barometer showing how genuine our Christianity really is. It is very much like church attendance. The New Testament does not come out an say to attend Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday night, every Rally, every night of a revival meeting, and every other special occasion that the church has. It simply says, "Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some." (Hebrews 10:25) That Christian who loves God will be in as many services as he is able to, and when he misses, it certainly will not be because he didn't want to be there.

Repentance without confession and restitution is a questionable repentance at best. To repent of sin is to forsake sin! I don't believe it is possible to forsake sin unless we restore any ill-gotten gains from our sin. How can you be sorry for your sins and keep the "rewards" of your sins? You cannot hate sin and break off sinful practices without at least an attempt at restitution.

A lack of restitution has created many uneasy relationships and doubts in the minds of other Christians. The record simply is not clear. True repentance involves a clearing of ourselves and of our record (see 2 Corinthians 7:10,11).

Let's examine this matter of restitution and see what we can learn about it.

First, restitution is based on the very nature of justice. Justice is rendering to everyone what belongs to him. It is dealing fairly with all who are involved. In order for any society to function well, it must maintain order and a proper relationship between every member of that society. If someone violates this trust and wrongs any person, justice demands not only a penalty for the offender but also a compensation for the victim for what has been lost; i.e., restitution!

When God set up the civil government for the nation of Israel, He instituted laws which provided both aspects of justice: punishment for the offender and restitution to the victim. This was a divinely instituted government. God allows each nation today to formulate its own laws and system of carrying them out, but today's nations, including our own, would do well to examine the only civil government that has ever been set up directly by God Himself and learn lessons from it. Today our penal system is failing to correct the problem of crime and injustice. Prisons not only fail to rehabilitate criminals, but they even serve as an extended education in the ways of crime to the inmates. A criminal who tries to reform and do what is right while in prison sometimes does so at the risk of his own health or even life. Most crimes are committed by men who have already been in prison before. Prisons are overcrowded, new facilities are being built, there are too few judges, and the case-load is so heavy it may be months before many are even brought to trial.

I believe it is extremely significant that when God instituted the government for the nation of Israel, He made no provision for jails at all! The closest thing to a jail were the cities of refuge, and they were designed for innocent people who were involved in accidental deaths. Punishment under the Mosaic law was: (1) corporeal (e.g., Deut. 25:1-3); (2) capital (e.g., Exo. 21:12-17,29); and (3) restitution. Every prison mentioned in the Bible was the instrument of a foreign society. In Israel, under the Law of Moses, all violent and dangerous men were executed. Murderers, kidnappers, rapists, moral perverts, those who cursed or struck either parents, and idolaters were put to death. God's pattern of restitution in non-violent crimes did not place these people in with hardened criminals. And instead of their imprisonment being a financial drain on the community or the state, they were required to repay what was stolen or damaged. This also prevented the serious strain or even the breaking of marriages and family relationships by incarcerating a member in prison. It encouraged the offender to consider the consequences of his crime and made him realize what was lost for the victim. And the victim was compensated for his loss. As it is all too often today, crimes are viewed as primarily against the state, fines are paid to the government, and the victim continues to suffer the loss sometimes for many years to come. True justice requires restitution. In the Lord's church we would also do well to be very careful about practicing restitution if, for no other reason, than that moral justice demands it.

But restitution is also based on Scriptural injunction. Most of what we learn about this subject comes from the Old Testament. Let me give you some reasons why this is still a valid source of information for our conduct today.

We do not live under the law of Moses any more. No one could be saved by it for several reasons. The apostle Paul gives detailed explanations in several passages of Scripture. One of the clearest is found in Romans, chapters 7 and 8. The Mosaic Law was unsuccessful in saving people partly because it was regulations attempting to govern men who were living according to the flesh rather than the Spirit (Romans 7:5,6). People who are living according to the flesh often wish to do better and agree that the Law is good, but their fleshly passions have enslaved them so that they do not do right (Romans 7:14-24). The Law itself was NOT sin (7:7). In fact, the Law was holy, and the commandment was holy and righteous and good (7:12). The very fact that man wished to live according to the Law shows that he believed it was good (7:16,22). Yet, unaided man was unable to keep the Law.

But when you become a Christian, you are set free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1,2). Now that you are in Christ, every Christian is able to fulfill the requirement of the Law of Moses because he is walking according to the Spirit rather than the flesh. All this is made possible through the sacrifice of God's own Son (Romans 8:3,4). Now instead of unsuccessfully trying to force the flesh to conform to a set of commandments, we live right because we have the Spirit of Christ within us to give us the strength (Romans 8:5-9). This does NOT, however, eliminate the requirement of the law. It FULFILLS it in US (Romans 8:4)! The requirement of the Law has not changed. The method of fulfilling that requirement is what has changed! Ceremonies, sacrifices, offerings, feast days, types, and various regulations were unsuccessful because they involved people who were still living "in the flesh." It regulated their lives but not their spirits. Most were not really converted to the Lord. They were simply born into a Israelite family, inheriting its religion. They had to be taught to know the Lord. They were taught what was expected of them as an Israelite. Since Jesus offered Himself as an offering for sin, we are now able to fulfill the requirement of the Law by walking according to the Spirit of God who dwells within us (Romans 8:5-9). Now we are Christians by our own choice (Hebrews 8:9-12). We are under a new covenant with God, but He still expects us to live holy lives. He still requires us to be just, honest, kind, respectful of others etc.