Sunday, October 22, 2017

Are Christians More Merciful and Just Than God?

I think most Christians would say that we should believe the best about someone (not the worst) and give one the benefit of the doubt.

Yet, when it comes to the question of what God will ultimately do with the overwhelming majority of His creation; Christians believe the worst.  They overwhelmingly believe that He will eternally damn most of His creation.  If there were no scriptures that so much as hinted that God would ultimately save all; I could POSSIBLY see not giving God the benefit of the doubt.  

But we have MANY passages that literally say He is the Savior of all (1 Tim.4:10) that Jesus will draw all men (Jn. 13:32), that all will be reconciled by the blood of the cross (Col.1:20),  that He wills all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim.2:3-6), that faith is given as a gift by Him (Eph.2:8-9), that every knee will bow and every tongue swear an oath (Isaiah ), that the same all who were condemned in Adam will be justified in Christ (Rom.5:18), etc.
When Christians are faced with the evidence; however, do they give God the benefit of the doubt?  I don't find it.  Instead, I find that most find it "safe" to believe the worst about His justice, fairness, mercy, and ability or desire to save; as if God would be somehow pleased with their less than glowing appraisal of His motives and plan.

Here is the real  issue.  Christians believe that they are MORE merciful than God.  

Christian, if you had the power to SAVE someone/anyone/everyone; would you save them?  If you would, but can't and if you believe God can but won't; are you not more merciful than God in your own mind?

You may ask, "but what about God's justice?"  God judges with righteousness.  I believe in all of the judgments of God described in the scriptures but all of them (by the original Greek and Hebrew words used) both temporal and corrective.  Also, should not the judgment fit the crime?  Does any finite sin call for punishment that is infinite?

Is God fair?  Is God just?  Can He be one without the other?  Being fair is defined as being impartial.  In Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, and Ephesians 6:9, we learn that God is no respecter of persons.  That means that He deals fairly and is impartial.  One CANNOT be just if one is not also fair.  Consider this when you read what God did to call Saul (Paul) of Tarsus.  Saul was a killer of believers, blasphemer, and chief of ALL sinners, by his own admission.  And yet, Christ (representing His Father) overcame Paul's unbelief with grace, signs, and wonders; giving belief leading to repentance to Paul.  If God would do THESE things to save Paul but will ultimately NOT overcome the unbelief of others to save them; in what way is God NOT a respecter of persons/unfair/unjust when considering the conversion of Paul with the fate of any other unbeliever?


Maybe it is time to reconsider what we think we know.

No comments:

Post a Comment