Does God show partiality or favouritism towards His elect? If “He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45), how does God judge His elect without being charged as a partial Judge?
Let us consider the following scriptures:
“For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know with certainty that the LORD your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the LORD your God has given you.” (Joshua 23:12-13)
“‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live. And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.’” (Numbers 33:55-56)
It is evident that God does not show partiality towards His elect; for just as He would treat the nations that do abhorrent things before Him, He promised to treat His elect alike if they lived like the nations amongst them. In fact, God would destroy them, and tear them away from the land of promise if they were corrupted by the nations in the midst of them.
“If you are not careful to observe all the words of this law which are written in this book, to fear this honored and awesome name, the LORD your God… It shall come about that as the LORD delighted over you to prosper you, and multiply you, so the LORD will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you; and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it.” (Deuteronomy 28:58, 63)
Indeed, God does not show partiality in His judgment towards the elect just because they are the elect; for how can God, as the Judge who sits at His great white throne before all humanity, be impartial if He chooses to save a believer who, despite knowing the truth, does not observe His commandments nor honour His holiness, whilst choosing to condemn an unbeliever who, in ignorance, does not observe His commandments nor honour His holiness in similar measures?
So, if God is impartial, what then is the basis that God uses to judge between the elect and the rest of the nations of the world?
“You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to live will not spew you out. Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I will drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them… Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.” (Leviticus 20:22-23, 26)
“but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.†If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;” (1 Peter 1:15-17)
Since He is the Creator of all mankind, God’s universal basis for judging mankind is His own holiness, that is, the holy image of the Creator Himself; for “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27). In fact, Adam and Eve fell because they violated the universal image of God’s holiness when they failed to observe what is holy to the Lord in all their behaviour.
“Opening his mouth, Peter said: “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him.”” (Acts 10:34-35)
“For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.” (Colossians 3:25)
So, by the universal measure of His holiness, the man who does what is holy to the Lord in all his behaviour will be welcomed and loved by Him, and he who does what is wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done; for He impartially judges every man according to his work, even if he is an elect. In other words, He blesses whoever pleases Him in His sight, and recompense those who do not please Him accordingly.
Indeed, there is no measure or reference point that is more impartial than the holiness of the transcendent God who created all mankind. Therefore, since God justifies according to His own image as Creator of all mankind, who can bring a charge against God’s elect? (Romans 8:33)
In addition, God’s impartiality transcends anthropocentric distinctions (or human distinctiveness) of all mankind.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)
“Who shows no partiality to princes nor regards the rich above the poor, for they all are the work of His hands?” (Job 34:19)
Since all mankind are the works of His hands, God applies His holiness universally to all without any bias or prejudice against skin colours, people groups, gender, native languages, social classes, financial status, religious orders, or cultural heritage. In other words, He makes the same demands on all mankind, and judges them accordingly, based on His own universal image of holiness regardless of man’s natural image. This is the impartiality of God.
In order for all mankind to satisfy His holy requirements and impartial justice, God has given all mankind an universal opportunity to access His truth, His way, and His life so that they can do what is holy in His sight, conform to His holy image, and be welcomed and loved by Him. All mankind can access this truth, this way, and this life by obeying God’s commandments concerning the Christ, and become God’s elect.
“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”” (John 14:6)
Thus, although God is impartial towards all men, He has given His elect an exclusive power – the blood of His Christ, the divine nature of His Son, and sanctifying power of His Spirit – to live set-apart lives, so that they can progressively conform to the image of His Incarnate Son, who was the perfect representation of the holy image of God on earth. Without this power, no man can please God or measure up to the image of his Creator, no matter how hard he tries. Yet, this exclusive power is given freely to anyone who chooses to put their faith in His Christ and walk in His holy ways as God’s elect.
We must understand that God ordaining a specific way for mankind to reconcile with His holy image does not mean that God is partial against all other ways; as it simply means that His divine providence is fully found on personal faith, one in corporate hope, infallible in salvific outcome, and equitable to all in holy judgment.
As such, who can bring a charge against God?
Perhaps, what is most important in God’s impartiality is that God will treat His elect in the same way as He treated His Incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, if His elect is set apart as holy to Him just as His Incarnate Son was set apart as holy to Him. In other words, there is no partiality in the way the Father will treat His adopted sons as compared to the way He treated His firstborn Son, if His adopted sons walk just as His firstborn Son walked in the holiness of the Father. Such is the assuredness of our covenant promise and inheritance in Christ through our impartial God.
“I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession.'” (Psalm 2:7-8)
Praise God for His impartiality! Thus, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the perfecter of God’s workmanship in us, let us abide by God’s holy nature and commandments in all our behaviour, just as the God who created us is holy.
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