The Blessing of An Impartial God

Sermon by Pastor Dennis Gleason - December 5, 2004

Romans 2:11  “For there is no respect of persons with God.” KJV

11For God does not show favoritism.(NLT)
12God will punish the Gentiles when they sin, even though they never had God’s written law. And he will punish the Jews when they sin, for they do have the law. 13For it is not merely knowing the law that brings God’s approval. Those who obey the law will be declared right in God’s sight. 14Even when Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, instinctively follow what the law says, they show that in their hearts they know right from wrong. 15They demonstrate that God’s law is written within them, for their own consciences either accuse them or tell them they are doing what is right. 16The day will surely come when God, by Jesus Christ, will judge everyone’s secret life.
God does not play favorites. He sees us all as equals before Him. And he doesn’t  waiver in his estimate of us.

God does not look at things like we do. He looks to the heart and not to the outward appearance.

Clark Clifford shares this reminiscence of his former boss, Harry S. Truman:  Every morning at 8:30 the President would have a staff meeting. One day the mail clerk brought in a lavender envelope with a regal wax seal and flowing purple ribbons. Opening it, the President found a letter from King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia, whose salutation began, "Your Magnificence." "Your Magnificence," Truman repeated, laughing. "I like that. I don't know what you guys call me when I'm not here, but it's okay if you refer to me from now on as 'His Magnificence.'"
Truman subsequently sent a message to the United Nations supporting the admission of 100,000 Jews into Palestine. Soon afterward he received a second letter from King Ibn Saud. This one began: "Dear Mr. President."

As we have been working our way through the Book of Romans, we have been considering  the principles by which God judges mankind. We have already seen that:

God judges: According to truth.

God judges: according to the accumulation of wrath which people have stored or treasured up by trampling on the mercy of God.

God judges: according to the manifestation of the life choices people make – whether the choices are for righteousness in faith or for unrighteousness in opposition to God.

Our text today tells us that God judges without respect for persons.
Verse 11 of the second chapter of Romans is a repetition of the truth that was set forth in verse 6 previously. In that place Paul tells us that God’s judgment “…will render to every man according to his deeds…” Judgment will come and it will be impartial and according to what man has done.

Our text pictures God as being absolutely impartial. This impartiality is spurred on by a rich, warm love that is working out eternal principles that have been planned from eternity past and for whose fulfillment every provision has been made.

God has a plan for us, which is good for all men and which must submit man to a test with rigorous impartiality. Jeremiah 29:11-14 11For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. 14I will be found by you,” says the LORD.”

The reality we live with is quite different that the impartiality God displays toward us.
Who of us has never been treated differently than others for one reason or another?
Human standards of conduct and judgment have been erected by men to replace the divine standards which humans had already rejected.

Cain judged his brother and killed him.

The sons of Cain became oppressors, arbitrary, high handed, dealing with the souls of men as if they were mere animals instead of human beings created in the image of God, possessing souls and spirits as well as bodies.

As time passed, almost everybody looked down on someone else for one reason or another. And there is no hope that man himself can change this reality. If there was hope that this could be done man would not need God. Only God can cut through the tangled knots of human relationships to bring mercy, forgiveness and salvation to men.
God created man and the pattern of life for mankind. And when He did, He left man with choice.

Having fallen into sin, mankind by refusing the grace of God has become enmeshed in a life from which he can never free himself. Part of that life involves a respect of persons, a partiality in the intricate web of human relationships. We now have leaders and followers. We find in certain places of the world women are still considered inferior to men. This is certainly not God’s plan for the relationship between men and women, but the result of the fall. There are class and caste systems around the world that keep people in their place. Racial designations separate us, depending upon who makes up the majority of people in the land.  Wealth and poverty are things that cause us to view each other differently.
Man has always attempted to cover up any feelings of inferiority by creating another class of people beneath them upon which they can vent the expressions of their indignity.

This past week I was chosen to be on a jury in a criminal trial. Our system of justice goes to great lengths to provide the fairest possible means of making judgments of those who have been charged with a crime. And an impartial jury is a key to that plan.

As the jury was being picked, potential jurors were chosen at random by number from a pool of thirty-six individuals. Numbers were called and those assigned these numbers were placed in the jury box. Attorneys for the prosecution and then the defense began asking questions in an attempt to ensure that the twelve individuals who would sit in judgment of the evidence and testimony of witnesses were impartial.

I assumed that because I was a Pastor one side or the other would believe that I could not be impartial and that I would not make the cut to be on the jury. It has always been that way when I have been called for jury duty before. I almost automatically get excused, but this time it was different. Potential jurors who appeared to have some partiality towards or against one thing or another were excused. Several were excused by the judge almost immediately and others were not acceptable to either the prosecution or to the defense.

The defendant was a Hispanic male who had been charged with burglary of a car and possession of burglary tools. I wondered if this would be a problem for any of the potential jurors. My younger son Drew, an attorney, often ponders the fate of what he calls the “brown skinned” people in the greater Chicago area and wonders if they can really get a fair trial.

The jury chosen was made up of ten Caucasians (male and female), a black lady and a Hispanic man. Instructions to the jury included the charge that we were to consider the evidence presented either in testimony or in exhibits. We were not to discuss the case with each other before we began deliberations following the completion of the trial nor with anyone else. Our own feelings about anything outside what we saw and heard in the trial were to be disregarded as we deliberated.

The goal of course was to provide a fair, impartial jury that would consider the evidence and the testimony in making a judgment on the issues before the jury. The defendant was presumed to be innocent until proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was guilty as charged.

In human society we have to work hard to ensure impartiality. We have Constitutional guarantees that protect us from the natural tendencies we have to be respecters of persons, to consider people different that ourselves in an unfavorable light.
On the jury we were encouraged to put aside any and all of our personal thoughts or feelings and honestly and fairly consider only the evidence given so that an impartial decision could be made in judgment of those facts. We had to work at it. But…

God does not see things as we do. A good example of this in the Scriptures is found in 1 Samuel when Samuel has been given the charge to anoint a new King because Saul has lost God’s favor because of his disobedience.

Samuel is sent to Bethlehem to the family of Jesse. God told him that he had chosen one of Jesse’s sons to be the new king of Israel. Then Samuel performed the purification rite for Jesse and his sons and invited them, too.

      6When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the LORD’S anointed!” 7But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The LORD doesn’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions.”
      8Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “This is not the one the LORD has chosen.” 9Next Jesse summoned Shammah, but Samuel said, “Neither is this the one the LORD has chosen.” 10In the same way all seven of Jesse’s sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.” 11Then Samuel asked, “Are these all the sons you have?”
    “There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep.”
    “Send for him at once,” Samuel said. “We will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”
      12So Jesse sent for him. He was ruddy and handsome, with pleasant eyes. And the LORD said, “This is the one; anoint him.”

God is absolutely impartial. God freely offers heaven equally to the thief on the cross and to the Pharisee. Whosoever will may come to Christ for mercy, forgiveness and salvation. This will probably date me, but I can remember when I was in college, Peter, Paul and Mary sang a song that contained these words…”If religion were a thing that money could buy, the rich would live and the poor would die…” Praise God for this truth. We are all equal before Him.

God essentially looks at man and says, “I will not look at what you have been, or who you are. No! I will bring you all to the gate and count you as equal. I will ask you to admit that your human effort, all your human attainments must be discarded and that you all come before me as bankrupts. Just admit that you have nothing to satisfy me. When you do,” God says, “I will do everything for you and put righteousness to your account as a free gift without any favoritism or respect of persons.”

Everyone will be on the same ground with God. God sees us all as equals. Before Him man is hopeless and helpless without His provision for our salvation…Jesus Christ who died on the cross of Calvary and took the punishment for our sin upon himself.

God sent his Son as the ransom payment for us all to redeem us from the slavery of sin and the death that comes with it. Paul later writes in Chapter 3 of his letter to the Romans:

      23For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. 25For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God’s anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times. 26And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.

We find it hard to be impartial, fair and just but:
 
The compelling truth of our text today is that God is absolutely impartial, fair and just in his dealings with man.

If God was no respecter of persons when he sent his Son Jesus to the Cross, it must surely follow that there will be absolute impartiality with out respect for persons when the Day of

Judgment comes for mankind.
Judgment is coming. The world cannot and will not escape it.
This world will be judged with absolute impartiality.

We can express our thankfulness to God for sending Jesus to take the burden of the punishment for our sin upon himself. Because he died for us, when we accept his death as being the punishment for our sin, we can have life that is everlasting with Jesus Christ. Mercy, forgiveness and salvation are ours once we have accepted Jesus’ death as the payment for our sin.

Once we have done that there will be no further judgment for our sin. It will all have been paid for and God will thereafter always see us through the blood of Jesus as righteous before him.

--Dennis Gleason