Is God fair? Yes, He is fair, and no one can ever be equal to His fairness. In fact, He goes the extra mile of fairness. He is gracious, loving, merciful, and fair in everything. God loves us and instead of letting us pay for our sins, He brought His only Son to save us. If God were completely “fair,” by this definition, we would all spend eternity in hell paying for our sins. We have all sinned against God. Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.” and are therefore worthy of eternal death. If we “fairly” received what we deserve, we would end up in the lake of fire. God is merciful and good, so He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross in our place, taking the punishment that we deserve. All we have to do is believe in Christ and we will be saved, and we will receive an eternal home in heaven. With the sacrifice of Christ, God maintains His “fairness” in that sin is adequately punished.
It is we who are unfair to God, while God remains fair to us. The term “fair” must be really different when we talk about God’s grace. It is synonymous with “just.” On the contrary “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he” (Deuteronomy 32:4). Peter, while in the house of Cornelious the Centurian, a Gentile’s saw the work of the Holy Spirit, and said in Acts 10:34-35 “Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: 35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.” God is eminently fair. He treats no one wrongly.
God forgives. He does not treat anyone wrongly as long as we repent. He is the yardstick of fairness. It is written that “whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.” We can take inspiration from God’s mercy in the life of Paul. Paul was a sinful man who was even tasked to kill followers of Christ. But God changed Paul and instead made him a true believer. He did this by showing mercy towards Paul and forgiving Paul’s sins.
All who believe in Jesus Christ will be saved (John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10). All who turn to Him based on what they know of Him, as Rahab did, will be saved. The Bible never describes God rejecting anyone who believes in Him or turning away anyone who is seeking Him (Deuteronomy 4:29). The truths of God’s sovereign predestination and man’s responsibility are not mutually exclusive. Somehow, in the mystery of God, predestination works hand-in-hand with a person being drawn by God (John 6:44) and believing unto salvation (Romans 1:16).
As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is 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. This is the reason why God draws Himself to us and He did that through Christ Jesus. When He saved us, He meant all of us, His creation.
Yes, God is fair? Yes, He is fair, and no one can ever be equal to His fairness. He is gracious, loving, merciful, and fair in everything. He is God and we should love God as He loves us.
Dr Ashwin Drummond
Laddertoheaven.co.in