Who Says That Everything Has to be Fair?

“What shall we say then?  Is there unrighteousness with God?  God forbid.  For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.”  Romans 9:14-16

There has been a lot said lately about “equity”.  It is funny how the definitions of words change over time.  The actual definition of “equity” per Webster’s Dictionary is “fairness; impartiality; justice.  Equity is also known as the money that someone has invested in property, for example, the amount of money that one has paid on the principle of his or her home mortgage.  However, the so-called “politically correct” definition of “equity” refers to the same exact outcome for everyone, which is impossible.  People want the same things that other folks have, but most of the time, they do not want to do what is required to obtain these things.  We now live in an age where people expect to get things for free, at least, free to them, while someone had to pay for these “free” things.  Like they say, “There’s no free lunch”.

In the last blog, we saw how that Paul was willing to give up his relationship with Christ in exchange for the salvation of his fellow Jews if that was possible, but it is not possible to be saved for someone else.  We also saw that being a direct descendant of Abraham did not necessarily mean that God’s promises would be extended to every descendant.  Two of these descendants were mentioned:  Ishmael and Esau, both descended from Abraham, both the firstborn sons, but neither were included in God’s chosen nation, Israel.  Both Ishamel and Esau became fathers of great nations, but not part of God’s chosen people.  However, there may be some of their descendants who have repented of sin and have come to know Christ in a personal way.  We are saved on an individual basis.  Each person is accountable to God for how he or she responded to Christ and the gospel.

Thus, Paul asked the question, Is there unrighteousness with God?”  That is, was it fair that God selected certain people to be His chosen people, but not others?  Paul answers his own question with an immediate, “God forbid”.  God is righteous, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.  He made man.  He doesn’t answer to man.  God makes His decisions based on His holiness and righteousness.  People make choices all the time.  They choose who they will be kind to, and who they will be unfriendly to.  They choose who they will shower attention on, and who they will ignore.  So, if man has this ability, doesn’t it stand to reason that God, who made man, can make His choices?  After all, He gave man free will and the ability to make choices.  God would not be sovereign if He had to answer or be accountable to someone.  He is Almighty God.  He said in Exodus 3:14, “I AM THAT I AM”.

Of all of the great leaders in the Bible, Abraham, Moses, David, and Paul, none of them registered to be a candidate nor ran a campaign for the position in which they served.  It was the mercy and grace of God which selected each one of them for the task of serving Him in their various duties.  People don’t usually seek out God.  They usually run from Him until conviction becomes so strong that they turn to the Lord.  God allowed Pharaoh, who was not a believer in God, to become a great and famous leader of the Egyptians.  When the children of Israel were getting ready to leave Egypt, Pharaoh would not let them go.  He was a cruel and hardhearted man.  God used him in a mighty way to show God’s power and might.

Scripture says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 7:3).  He could see into Pharaoh’s heart and knew exactly what kind of man he was.  With each plague that God sent, Pharaoh had an opportunity to repent, but he chose not to.  I think it was the same for Judas.  He had ample opportunity to repent, but he chose evil instead.  God didn’t make him into an evil betrayer.  His evil heart and his greed led him to commit the sin of betraying Jesus.  A person so steeped in their sins can be given over to a reprobate mind, meaning they have gone too far.  They have stepped over the line of no return (Romans 1:28).  They have chosen to not have anything to do with God, and He obliges them.  To me, that is a horrible place to be.  Imagine selling one’s soul to the devil because he or she loves sin so much that he or she is willing to give up eternal life in heaven for a few years of running his or her own life on earth.

Why do some people hear and heed the message of the gospel while others ignore or reject it?  The answer, as they say, is “beyond my pay grade”.  I know that pride has a lot to do with why people reject Christ because they believe they are good enough to please God, but a truly logical and thinking person who understands the sovereignty, holiness, and righteousness of God knows that any sin is not acceptable with Him, and, thus, there must be away whereby sinful people can be made acceptable with Him.  Since God made that way in sending Jesus to pay for the sins of mankind, how can anyone accuse Him of unrighteousness?  What He requires from folks to be made right before Him, He freely gives them.  It doesn’t get any fairer than that.