“A lawyer lives for the direction of his people and the advancement of the cause of his country.” (Christopher Alexander Sapara-Williams, the first indigenous Nigerian lawyer called to the English Bar on November 17, 1879).

INTRODUCTION

A few weeks ago in November 2025, I had cause to address legal officers at the 2025 RCCG Legal Officers Conference held at the Redemption City. Permit me to share the text of my presentation. A legal practitioner is an advocate who stands in the gap for his client or somebody who has engaged him. He uses law as a tool for his advocacy. Law is necessary to define, predict and regulate human conduct or else there will be chaos and disorder in the society. Light is something that makes vision possible or a form of spiritual illumination. A legal practitioner of light is thus an advocate that practices law with the best possible ethical conduct and seeks to make a difference by exemplifying the life and messages of Jesus in his/her legal practice.

THE LEGAL PROFESSION BELONGS TO GOD

God is the Law Giver

In Genesis 2:16-17, God gave man the first law.

“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

These laws were subsequently simplified in the book of Leviticus from where most of the civil and criminal laws took their origin and they were eventually codified in Exodus 20. It is important to know that the first court cases started with God.

THE FIRST CIVIL CASE IN GENESIS 3

The first civil violation of the law took place in Genesis Chapter 3, when the man breached the law of God by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, following which claims were drafted and served on him. He also prepared his defence and a trial was conducted, the defendant was afforded the right to fair hearing and judgment was eventually delivered, without any appeal. Execution of the judgment was levied with immediate eviction of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden and Cherubims were placed at the entrance of the garden to enforce it. The judgment is still being executed till date. The judgment that was pronounced upon Satan was also executed immediately.

THE FIRST CRIMINAL CASE

The first crime was committed in Genesis Chapter 4 when Cain killed his brother Abel. Charges were drafted and served upon him, he defended himself, trial was conducted and judgment was passed on him. He was allowed the exercise of his right of appeal against the judgment through which he made a case of his dissatisfaction with the judgment and his sentence was subsequently reduced and modified.

THE ORIGIN AND HIERARCHY OF COURTS

The various Courts that we operate today were created from the holy scriptures, especially from the book of Exodus. In Exodus 18:17-22, Courts were created in their hierarchical orders.

“Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.

Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:

And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.”

APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES

In 2 Chronicles 19:5-11, judges were appointed to settle disputes. The Judicial Oath is taken from this passage and it also applies to lawyers as you have to be a lawyer first before you become a judge in Nigeria. I have gone to this length to support my position that the legal profession belongs to God.

LAWYERS IN THE BIBLE

In the Bible, lawyers were experts in Mosaic Law, such as scribes and Pharisees, responsible for teaching and interpreting the Torah. A good example is Ezra, in Ezra 7:10: “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” They attended specialized schools and they were well trained in the study, interpretation, teaching of the law and in giving counsel when needed.

EXAMPLES OF LAWYERS

Zenas in Titus 3:13; Tertullus; Gamaliel; Paul, etc.Many lawyers, particularly during Jesus’s ministry, faced criticism for their legalistic interpretations (technicality) that emphasized ritual over compassion, like the rule of Sabbath which placed too much emphasis on ceremonial observance of a day beyond man himself to the extent that the Pharisees and Sadducees considered it wrong to heal the sick on the Sabbath day. Generally speaking, lawyers are to help maintain law and order in the society and be wary of the dangers of corrupt legalism. In the Bible, law is expected to be deployed in the pursuit of truth and fairness, thus reflecting God’s character by promoting righteousness and order.

THE LAWYER AS A PRACTITIONER OF LIGHT

1. Make it a Lifestyle to Practice Righteousness and Truth

You must be intentional about this. The first responsibility you owe to yourself as a lawyer is to decide on your style and area of legal practice. Let God guide you. In 2000 when establishing the law firm of Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa & Co, I prayed and I was specifically led to avoid Matrimonial Causes, except cases of physical abuse by one spouse or custody of children but no single divorce case has been filed or defended by the law firm since 2000 and we have not participated in any divorce proceedings involving the separation of husband and wife. When such cases come to me, I offer counsel and where it cannot be resolved through that channel, I make a referral to another counsel grounded in that field. The law firm does not also participate in landlord and tenant cases. We try our best to avoid Magistrate’s Court cases except where it concerns an existing client and to a very limited extent. The firm also does not get involved in election petition cases, except that of the Governor of Ondo State, which flowed from the impeachment cases, whereupon our firm was engaged as co-ordinating counsel for all legal matters involving the Governor. In that regard, I have co-ordinated not less than 19 cases from the High Court to the Court of Appeal and indeed the Supreme Court without blemish or a breach of ethical rules.

2. Maintain the Difference

You have to avoid corrupt practices and unethical conducts like a plague. You have judges who were your classmates in school, some of them are your family members while some others are members of your churches and some of them are your ministers and workers under or above you. Some may be members of your town associations or other social clubs, but you must not abuse the opportunity beyond your ministerial call of duty. Let me share a life experience with you. I was briefed to handle a very sensitive and tough case involving some young professionals and a state government. I had to file eleven cases in court on the same day, accompanied with an affidavit of urgency. At the time these cases were filed, judges of the Federal High Court were attending a maritime seminar in Abuja so there was no judge available to assign these cases. Upon interaction with the Deputy Chief Registrar of the Court in charge o’ litigation, I was advised to reach out to the Administrative Judge to explain the urgency of the cases in order to facilitate their assignment. Though the pressure was much and I truly knew this particular Administrative Judge whilst he was in legal practice as a very good friend, I went into prayers and the question I got settled the matter for me. I was asked whether since the year 2000 when I set up the law firm, if I have had any cause to lobby any judge to intervene in any case. Since I knew the answer to be an emphatic NO, I continued my prayers for a divine Intervention so that I didn’t have to call my friend at all. However, all the eleven cases were assigned the following day without having to speak to anybody. I went to court and argued all of them on the same day and the applications were granted in all the eleven cases on the same day. The substantive cases were eventually argued and judgment was delivered in our favour and there has been no appeal till date, even when the cases involved virtually all the security and prosecuting agencies in Nigeria.

In Genesis Chapter 1, it is stated that God created a permanent separation between Light and Darkness, (Genesis 1:3-4) such that they can never meet to cohabit together forever. You are the light and you must do everything in your power not to cohabit with any form of darkness. In the book of John 1:4-5, it is stated further that light must shine in darkness perpetually to such an extent that darkness can never comprehend or even resist it. In Genesis 1:5, God created a difference between Night and Day, such that both of them can never cohabit together. In Exodus Chapter 13:21-22 and Chapter 14:19-20, God created a difference between Israel and Egypt such that both of them could not meet together until Israel crossed the Red Sea and the Egyptians perished in the same sea. You must maintain these divine separations in your legal practice and not allow them to be merged together as stated in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, not to be unequally yoked together with Satanic forces and elements.