Several comments have been made here on my blog by those who don’t worship Jehovah saying that he is unfair and unjust. Unbelievers claim a just God would never send people to hell or would never be so narrow-minded as to require that only believing in Jesus Christ can get people into heaven. I decided to write a post discussing this subject even though the unbelievers, because they are stiff-necked, will more than likely still not accept the fact that God is truly just. I’ll start with a scripture from Ezekiel:
“The soul that sinneth, it shall die. …
But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the LORD is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?” Ezekiel 18:20-29
In Ezekiel, God tells us plainly that if an individual insists on continuing in their sinful, evil ways, they will face God’s judgment of spiritual death. If they repent of their evil, they will be rewarded with spiritual life. God also goes on to say that he does not get pleasure out of giving people the sentence of spiritual death. He would prefer that people turn from their wickedness and receive eternal life. But in the end, it’s up to each person to make their own choice. In verse 30, we are told that the Lord judges us according to our ways.
The people of Israel, just like unbelievers of today, accused God of being unfair in his judgments but the Lord said that they were the ones who were unfair. Why? They expected that they should be able to do whatever they wanted without any consequences for their evil actions. That type of mentality is unfair. If a person kills someone, should they be given the same treatment as a law-abiding citizen? Should someone who lies be treated the same as the person who tells the truth? Would a politician who takes bribes for wrongdoing be the same as the politician who wants to set a good example for the people who elected him?
If our society has laws of punishment against those who break man’s just laws, then how is it that we would expect God (who is way superior to us) not to punish those who break his just laws? That would be totally unfair. God is a just God and being just requires that the evil are punished and the good are rewarded. Otherwise, there would be no incentive to do what’s right and society would be much worse than it is already.
So why would God allow people to be born if he knew they would end up in hell? If some people go to hell and some go to heaven, isn’t God playing favorites unfairly? Romans 9 tells us
“As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
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 sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”
God is free to choose whoever he pleases based on his mercy. Even those who are not chosen by him (like Pharoah) can be used by him to show his power, but they will ultimately face eternal destruction because they hardened their hearts and in the midst of them hardening their hearts, God hardened them even more. Yet in the midst of God’s sovereignty over man, man still is given the freedom to choose right or wrong. We are all created with a conscience that lets us know when we have done wrong. Even those who claim to be criminally insane or may be determined mentally incompetent know they have done something wrong because they try to elude capture after committing their crimes. A toddler automatically knows how to lie to avoid being punished for doing wrong.
Since God knows ahead of time what type of character a person will have (which will ultimately be that person’s decision), he forms them accordingly to be for honor or dishonor and cannot be called unjust since that person has a free will. Those of us who are chosen by God cannot brag about how much better we are than those who aren’t saved because based on what the Lord’s standards are, we know we deserve hell. The Lord “hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.” (Psalm 103:10)
Many people who have the delusion that Jehovah is unjust base their unfounded premise on the belief that man is basically good. They then draw the conclusion from their delusion that since he is basically good, why would God have to judge him so harshly? The basic goodness of man is a doctrine of the devil and is totally backwards to the truth in God’s word.
“The heart [of man] is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9
“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” (Mark 7:21-23)
–posted by Harry A. Gaylord–
sunandshield.wordpress.com 
Well, I am one that you would include in your statement, “people have the delusion that jehovah is unjust.” Because I do believe that the bibical god is unjust. And I’ll use your own words and the scripture that you’ve provided to convey why I have that belief.
You ask a number of questions similar to, ” If a person kills someone, should they be given the same treatment as a law-abiding citizen? ” And I answer your question with a strong no. But according to your provided scripture
“But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him”
So, basically if a murderer repents for being a murderer, he or she will get the same treatment, despite still being a murderer. God sees such a man’s actions no longer as sins although the actions did not change.
“…being just requires that the evil are punished and the good are rewarded.” -Your words. Now I can understand the argument that God sets the standard for good and evil, and that, God’s standard for good and evil is what I believe to be unfair.
Maybe these evil erpenters shouldn’t be condemned to hell without another chance but getting the same treatment as yuo’ve said is unfair…
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Thanks, Nathan, for your comment. Yes, God absolves the guilty if they genuinely repent and he wipes the slate clean. He is a merciful God. I don’t know if you’ve read the Bible or not, but there are many examples of people who sinned, repented, and were forgiven by God but they still had to pay a penalty here on Earth. The thief on the cross next to Jesus is a good example.
Then there is the tax collector Zaccheus, who overcharged the citizens on their taxes to make himself rich. When he encountered Jesus, he repented and refunded the money he had extorted fourfold to the people.
The problem is not with a murderer who truly repents. The problem is really with people who think they are better than the murderer. We are all sinners who deserve death. Ever had sex outside of marriage? According to God, that is also a sin worthy of death even if our society condones that behavior. Worshipping other Gods besides the God in the Bible is also a sin worthy of death.
You have probably committed plenty of sins that you got away with and some you may have deserved to be arrested for. And yet you think that you are better than others and God is unfair? You’ve deceived yourself. In God’s eyes, mercy and forgiveness are traits we should all aspire to have. You expect people to show mercy and forgiveness towards you, don’t you?
Yes, murderers and rapists deserve severe punishment even if they truly repent to God. But from God’s perspective it’s better for them to repent and take their licks while here on Earth, than to be unrepentant and not only suffer here, but suffer in hell for eternity.
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Well, I’ve not done anything worry of being put in jail, but I sympathize with your making that assumption, as well as the sex outside of marriage one that you seem to have. I have, however, sinned but according to religion, one doesn’t get away with sinning.
And I admantly disagree. I think all murderers, repentful or not are much more a problem then unviolent arrogrant pricks.
Every wrongdoing deserves consquence and every “good deed” deserves reward. I claim to know neither the consquence of all wrongs nor the rewards for all rights. But I do claim to know that every action deserves a reaction, so to speak. And no, I do not expect people to be forgiving and merciful toward me. I try my best to live by the motto, understand and be not unsettled when not understood.
I have not read the bible, so let me ask, does genuine repenting always include searching out the fair punishment for one’s crime? I’ve never gotten that impression before. It seems hard for a muderer or a rapist to search out fair consquence… But that action for any wrongdoer would be a good standard along with the others.
Forgiveness is a very good quality to have and I’m not challenging that, just saying that it isn’t always based on fairness. Because fairness is a twoway street (wrongdoers and dogooders both deserve something) always expecting fairness isn’t always as good as it might seem.
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Nathan,
Thanks for bringing up some good points. To answer your question about genuine repentance, when someone is truly sorry for what they’ve done they are willing to accept the consequences for their actions and make amends where they can, according to the examples that are in the Bible.
I think the whole misunderstanding that you may have about God’s fairness is because you’re thinking of it from a human perspective instead of what God considers being fair. God’s laws and commandments are superior to man’s. It may not have been “fair” according to man’s sense of fairness for Jesus to die for your sins, my sins, and the sins of everyone who has ever (or will ever) walk this earth, but it was necessary so that mankind could have a way to get out of living as a slave to his sins and suffering for eternity in hell.
The Israelites were complaining that God’s judgments were too harsh. But God was showing them how he was being more than fair by giving them the opportunity to avoid his eternal judgment if they would only repent.
Since you haven’t read the Bible, could I make the suggestion that you try reading a small part of it? If you’re interested in my suggestion, could you try reading one chapter like John 4 or Matthew 6? If you don’t own a Bible, there are plenty available online.
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I think that we are in a fallen world that God did not design this way. It must be judged and destroyed, then remade again. Paul wrote in Romans that even man had to come up with laws to curb sin. Funny how many of our “civil” Laws come from the Noahic covennant laws.
God has offered to all that beleive on Him a way of escape from His wrath. Simply beleive on His Son Jesus Christ and repent. This what Adam and Eve did not do. Simply trust His word. It comes down to being a part of the devils system or God’s Kingdom. We all have anger about this world and how fair or unfair it is, but I think it is beyond fair what God is offering to us. John 3:16
Hebrews notes if anyone comes to God He must beleive and will reward the diligent. Romans also notes, faith in God comes by hearing His word.
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