Are God’s Judgments Always Fair?

but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15–16)

Today’s big question: are God’s judgments always fair?

Sometimes when we read God’s Word, we come across an account where God judged people, and the resulting question can be, “Was that fair?” There is one common theme when it comes to God’s judgments—holiness.

As Scripture states many times, God is holy (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8). Because He is holy, He cannot accept things that are contrary to His nature (i.e., sin). Since the penalty for disobedience is death (Genesis 2:17), death entered the world because the creature (Adam) disobeyed the Creator. As a result, sin entered into the entire world, and now we are all deserving of death (Romans 5:12). It is a holy God that rightly judges the world.

Today’s Scripture quotes from the Old Testament. Throughout the Old Testament, we consistently see that mankind is completely unable to be holy in order to save himself. God instructed the Israelites to be holy because He is holy (Leviticus 11:44–45), yet they never lived up to this standard.

But instead of allowing man to be forever separated from Him, God provided the way of salvation, so that anyone who receives Christ will not face the ultimate judgment, but live forever with God (John 3:16–18). Peter referenced the Old Testament because we are to continue to strive for holiness—as God is holy—but our striving is a result of the hope that we have in Christ (1 Peter 1:13). Peter writes that we are redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:19); Jesus Christ’s work on the Cross washes away all of our sins.

The difference from the Old Testament to the New Testament in reference to holiness is that Christ’s redemptive work is now completed, which God planned from the beginning. Man deserves to be separated from God forever. That would be fair. But God’s willingness to provide the means of salvation is not just fair, it is more than fair!

God’s judgments are always fair because He is holy and just. We live in a world with death and suffering, which was caused by our sin. It is amazing that God would give sinful man the way—through Christ—to live forever with Him.

Today’s big idea: God’s judgments are always fair, and His offer of salvation is more than fair.

What to pray: thank God for His holiness, and ask him to help you to be holy.