Is God Fair?
As a pastor, I have the opportunity to visit with and council people every day. We talk about personal pain like financial difficulty, illness, aging parents, death of a loved one, etc. We talk about the pain in the world today like the effects of Covid 19, the invasion of Ukraine, inflation, the martyrdom of Christians around the world, etc. During these conversations, a question seems to always come up: Why would God allow these things to happen? In other words, “Is God Fair?”
The problem is that we have the wrong definition of fairness. We think that God is unfair if bad things happen to us or other undeserving people. When my wife died last year, I spent several months complaining to God that it was not fair that He took my wife and my children’s’ mother. Does that make God unfair? No!
Most people forget or do not realize that death, disease, and other bad things that are a result of mankind’s sin. (Rom 5:12)
Rom 5:12 - 12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
Sin entered the world through Adam and Eve1. We all sin2 and the wages of sin is death3 (Physical death and eternity in hell). While death, disease, and other bad things may not be a result of a specific sin we committed, it is a result of mankind’s sin and not to be laid at God’s feet.
So, is God fair by man’s standard? Yes and no! He is fair because He offers salvation to all who believe4. Despite our sin, God still love us and wants us to spend eternity with Him. God is unfair because He does not give those who believe in Him what they deserve. Everyone deserves eternity in hell because everyone has sinned but through God’s grace and mercy, those who accept Christ as their savior will enjoy eternity in heaven with Him.
I miss my wife and there is not a day that goes by where I do not think about her. But I am grateful that I know my wife is in heaven with God because of her decision to accept Christ as her savior and I will one day see her again. If you want to spend eternity in heaven and are not sure how, you can reach me at First Baptist Church of Valley City or go to the following website “stepstopeace.org”. I hope that all will receive discover God’s mercy. For those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as your savior, I want to challenge you with the following question: “Do you appreciate that God shows you mercy and doesn’t give you what you deserve?”
1 – Genesis Chapter 3
2 - Romans 3:23 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:10-12 “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
3 – Romans 6:23 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
4 – John 3:16 - 16 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.
Romans 10:9-10 9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.