Tuesday, June 09, 2009

God Isn't Fair


God isn't fair.

I’ve been thinking about that for about a year now. My friend, Clarence, and I were driving along discussing God’s grace. I was – and still am – trying to wrap my mind around concepts like election, free will, grace and justice. We were talking (actually arguing) about the concept of limited atonement. I just couldn’t understand why God would choose to save just certain people and not others. I remember telling Clarence it wasn’t fair…

I’m not writing this to defend or criticize Calvin’s views of grace. People much smarter than me have been debating this for centuries and I can’t add anything new. Like I said before, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around all of the concepts. And God just doesn’t make sense sometimes.

I will say Clarence’s response has echoed in my soul over and over for the last year.

He said it wasn’t fair that God saved me.

Just typing that phrase makes me shudder. God really had no reason for reaching into my life and rescuing me from my sin. Why was I born to parents who loved Jesus? Why did I want to follow Him from an early age? Why did He place such Godly people in my life over the years to keep me on track when I could have so easily gone my own way?

I am humbled when I think about what Jesus did for me…

Philippians 2:6-8 says, “(Jesus), being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

I don’t deserve God’s grace. None of us do. But I’m so thankful He is merciful beyond what I can imagine. I’m so glad God isn’t always fair.

How about you? Have you experienced the great grace of God? What’s holding you back? Will you depend on Jesus to save you or are you waiting for what you deserve?