Romans - Part 5: ELECTIONSample

Is God Unjust?

Our passage today asks that very question. Paul goes on to answer it, but in ways we probably think aren’t an answer. The content of these verses and the following verses in Romans 9 can be somewhat, tough, but good in a challenging way.

After affirming the truth about God’s justness, Paul gives a “supporting argument,” quoting Exodus 33; this section of scripture tells us that God has compassion for whom He chooses. God reveals His character to Moses as He passes by him; Moses is in a cleft in the rock and God has covered him with His hand so he will not die. Moses is allowed to see the back of His glory! God revealed His character to Moses again, when He came down in a cloud, on Mt. Sinai, proclaiming His name, the LORD. He is, by nature, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet, he does not leave the guilty unpunished! (Exodus 34:5-7)

We see God’s character in these passages, but that hardly answers the question, “Is God unjust?”

Theologian Douglas Moo comments on this passage and points out who is the determiner of what is just & unjust. Moo says:

”Determining right and wrong, what is just or unjust, demands a standard for measurement. That standard is ultimately nothing less than God’s own character. God, therefore, acts justly when He acts in accordance with his own person and plan. This is precisely the point Paul makes in Romans 9:15-18.”

If you’re like most people, certainly as a modern, Western American thinker, you question, “God is just because He is God? He can act any way He wants and it is right because He is God?!” Yes, God chooses who He has compassion on and who He does not; He acts sovereignly, according to His character and it is just. We bristle at that, maybe. Scripture reveals that God is gracious, loving, and forgiving, that Jesus is lowly and compassionate, and that God is our gracious Abba Father. We love those passages! These align with our modern picture of God, always loving and gracious. But, as these passages illustrate, there is more to God than that. Scripture reveals the true nature of God as God, a nature mysteriously beyond our understanding and (dare I say it) sometimes beyond our liking!

How then are we to respond? Paul, in all of this section of Romans, is challenging us to trust the Lord beyond our understanding and sensibilities, as in Proverbs 3:5-6:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Allow Him to be God! (As if we could prevent it, anyway!) Look today at these verses with your eyes wide open to God’s character and with listening ears to be challenged to trust Him today in all the aspects of His character, understood or not.

-Doug Drainville