JC Disciples
Is God Fair?
There are many non-believers and a few believers who will say that God is not fair. They will claim that God is petty and vindictive because He doesn't save everyone or because He doesn't show them enough mercy and love. Or because God will not overlook their sin. But the Bible declares that God is fair and just. Not only that but God surpases our definitions of fairness and justice (as defined by Websters).
As someone who has struggled for almost two decades with the concept of the exclusivity of Christ and the result of freewill let me point out a few Biblical passages to support the Christian claim of Christ's exlusivity and the judgement that man is under. I did not come to this POV willingly it has been a struggle ("actually I came to it kicking, screaming and dragging my feet"). But a Bible study on this topic has led me to these conclusions.
Christians believe in a God who is eternal, merciful, holy, just, and righteous (to name a few of His characteristics). To understand Christianity, the concepts of God's holiness, justice, righteousness and mercy must be understood. That is what I will attempt to do here. Part of this argument comes out of the book and study guide, Reasons to Believe, by RC Sproul. Part of this argument is based on definitions for those words as given by Websters dictionary. Unless otherwise stated all Biblical quotes are from NIV.
- God is revealed to the world
Christians believe that God has revealed Himself to all mankind. The Bible speaks about this revelation.
Psalm 19:1-6 "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes our into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat."
So the very universe proclaims the glory of God. It speaks of God and there is no place on earth where man can not know the glory of God. Someone might want to argue that the universe we have is does not require a "designer" but from a Christian perspective this is just denying the knowledge you have built into your very being.
Isaiah 40:21-26 "Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. 'To whom will you compare to me? Or who is my equal?' says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."
God's own power maintains the universe and life itself. Without God the universe would not be at all. It exists because He willed it to exist. God has presented and informed man of His nature.
- God insures that everyone knows His nature and being
God is not a tyrant who punishes without reason. God does not punish the innocent. He insures that everyone knows who He is. But because all men are sinful, we suppress the truth of God. We run from that truth because the implications are to awesome. How do we run from that truth, we deny that God exists. We deny that God would be soveriegn over His creation. We deny that the creation needs a creator. We then make ourselves gods by defining and deciding what is right and wrong.
Romans 1:18-20 "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
Romans 2:12-16 "All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do no have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares."
Romans 3:9-20 "What shall we conclude then? Are we any better? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written: 'There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.' 'Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.' 'The poison of vipers is on their lips.' 'Their months are full of cursing and bitterness.' 'Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their was, and the way of peace they do not know.' 'There is no fear of God before their eyes.' Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin."
God has revealed the law to all of mankind. Either by the special gift given Israel or by writing it in the hearts of men. But no one is righteous by observing the law. Afterall, how was Abraham declared righteous. Genesis 15:6 "Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness."
And if God has revealed his law to all of mankind then it is fair that he mete out His justice. Please look up the definition of fair in Webster's, the part of the definition that applies is "according to the rules." If God's Law says do not do x or you will die, and then you do x, God is being fair in carrying out the sentance.
So it is clear that God has revealed Himself to mankind both by the works of His hands and by the law, and that man has rejected God in any case (cosmic treason).
- God created us in such a way to be capable of freely choosing
to love and obey Him.
(As a demonstration that this is not a uniquely Christian concept I am using Pentateuch & Haftorahs, Edited by Dr. JH Hertz, C.H., Late Chief Rabbi of the British Empire)
Gensis 1:26 "And God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.'"
The study notes from P&H are as follows:
"Mankind is described as in a special sense created by God Himself. To enhance the dignity of this last work and to mark the fact that man differs in kind from the animals, Scripture represents God as deliberating over the making of the human species (Abarbanel). It is not 'let man be created' or 'let man be made', but 'let us make man'...
In our image, after our likeness. Man is made in the 'image' and 'likeness' of God: his character is potentially Divine. 'God created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of His own eternity' (Wisdom of Solomon II, 23). Man alone among living creatures is gifted, like his Creator, with moral freedom and will. He is capable of knowing and loving God, and of holding spiritual communion with Him; and man alone can guide his actions in accordance with Reason. 'On this account he is said to have been made in the form and likeness of the Almighty' (Maimonides). Because man is endowed with Reason, he can subdue his impulses in the service of moral and religious ideals, and is born to bear rule over Nature...."
Not only is Man "capable of knowing ... God", but God has gone out His way to insure that mankind will know Him (see #2). What powerful concepts and gifts God has given us by giving us "moral freedom and will".
- God's justice and righteousness
As for righteous I again look to Websters for a definiton. The definiton seems to revolve around the concept of justice. Websters definiton of justice is "a being righteous; fairness; rightfulness; reward or penalty as deserved; the use of authority to uphold what is just; the adminstration of law".
Genesis 6:5-7 "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, 'I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air for I am grieved that I have made them.'"
Psalm 33:5 "The Lord loves righteousness and justice;" Proverbs 17:15 "Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent the Lord detests them both."
And just so that no one thinks that Jesus doesn't talk about God's justice, there is Matthew 13:24-30 and 13:36-43
"Jesus told them another parable: 'The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?'
'An enemy did this,' he replied.
The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?'
'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'"
....
"Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, 'Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field.'
He answered, 'The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear."
Just so this is extremely clear, when Jesus is talking about the "sons of the evil one" He is talking about all who do not believe in Him (see John 8:31-47). Also when Jesus talks about "all who do evil" this refers to the cosmic treason which I have already described. God judges us by His absolute standard, not by mankinds ever lowering standard.
Jesus spoke of hell and damnation in a number of other places, also see Matthew 18:21-35, Matthew 21:33-45, Matthew 22:1-14, and on and on and on.
How about "reward or punishment as deserved"? We have seen that God is fair about awarding punishment to those who sin. God is also fair in rewarding those who deserve it. Who did he reward? Enoch, Elijah, and Moses are all men in the OT who were rewarded for their faithful service to the Lord. The first two were taken up to God. As for Moses the transfiguration event seems to indicate that he is alive and well. So God rewards some and punishes others based on their relationship with him.
God is just and righteous. He will punish the guilty and reward the innocent. If He didn't do this, then He would not be a just and righteous God. And no one is innocent, we are all guilty of cosmic treason.
The Bible, both in the OT & NT, tells us that breaking any part of the law is equal to breaking all of the law. So God must judge all men and find us all guilty and deserving death and damnation.
- God's Love and Mercy
If God must punish the guilty in order to achieve justice, then how does God achieve such satisfaction if He is also merciful.
John 3:16-21 "'For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.'"
Romans 5:6-8 "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Ephesians 2:4-10 "But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Hebrews 9:11-14 "When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
The blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"
So God receives satisfaction by the death of His innocent Son.
Some might argue that this isn't enough Grace. That God ought to do more. That God isn't a loving God if He doesn't save everyone. But in fact God is under no moral obligation to go out of His way to save anyone. He made us capable of choosing to be with Him (Heaven) or to not be with Him (Hell). And then He did go out of His way, by providing us ONE way out - Jesus Christ. You might want more Grace, but that is all the Grace there is for mankind.
For reasons I do not understand, God saves me. In fact God has no moral obligation to save me, but He chooses to save me. Praise to God Almighty for His righteous mercy!