God’s Take on Respect of Persons

Vol. 3, No. 23 – June 10, 2018

For there is no partiality with God. Romans 2:11

No partiality is not acting out in respect of persons. God does not show favoritism; there are no “teacher’s pets with God.”

H.G. Wells, historian, looked over the miseries, problems, and heartaches of mankind and wrote: Either God has the power and does not care, or God cares and does not have the power.

Our Lord is not cold and calculating in His impartiality. He is rich, warm, and caring. It is true that life is not fair; however, that is a reflection on people of the earth, not God. There are differences among people; there are generals and there are privates; there are those who sit at the head of the table, and others who sit near the swinging door of the kitchen. There are leaders; there are following leaders and followers; there are geniuses and there are those who are a long way from there. There are top-floor executives, and there are basement employees who hide from their work.

However, we ought to clearly recognize that God says spiritually, mankind begins on equal footing, and that He will never recognize any judge mankind offers to be determining at odds with the standards of His righteousness and judgment. Mankind makes their own personal difference, choosing to live in a way that pleases man, rather that a way that pleases God.

The “Goddess of Justice” in the Greek idol/god system wears a blindfold. She carries a set of scales, absolutely balanced, and she carries a sword with no scabbard, to strike all guilt alike. She stands on her feet, at the ground – level for all to see her.

The ground is also level at the foot of Calvary’s Cross.

In the court of law, the sage and the simpleton will be on the same footing; the Governor and the gunman have an equal chance in the court. In the church, the holy and the harlot can both enter, if the church bases its truth from God’s non-partial Word.

The sinner and the saintly, the powerful and the powerless, the judge and the judged, the lawyer and the lawless, the noble and the nobody. The proprietor and the pauper, the doctor and the dune, the strong and the stripling, the glamorous and the gawky, the sophisticate and the savage, the worthy and the worthless, [the leader and the follower] . . . all may be saved from whatever their supposed class background. –Donald G. Barnhouse.

It is a matter of the heart!

  • God is totally impartial
  • God loves them all
  • God sees them as equal
  • There is no plea-bargaining with Him
  • There was no respect of persons with the Lord when He went to the Cross

How is our partiality (or impartiality)? Does it line up with how the character of God operates? Perhaps standing in front of a mirror would bring out for us what is really operating in our hearts. If we try it, we may not like it, but we may be changed from the experience!

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. –Revelation 22:17

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Written by mlightner@lightcreations.com

June 10, 2018

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