Is God Fair?

Stand to Reason offered a video from Greg Koukl on whether or not God is unfair. I like Stand to Reason, so I link to it here for your edification.

The question, however, struck me as ... difficult. Is God fair?

Merriam-Webster has a lot of definitions for "fair". There is "not dark" (as in "fair skin"), "not stormy" (as in "fair weather"), "clear and legible" (as in a manuscript written with a "fair hand") and "favorable to a ship's course" (as in a "fair wind"). No, not those. God isn't those (although there may be some lunatic white supremacists that think that God is "fair-skinned"). God is not "fair" by those definitions.

Merriam-Webster also defines fair as "pleasing to the eye or mind especially because of fresh, charming, or flawless quality; superficially pleasing." No, God is not fair. He is not "superficially pleasing". The pleasure He provides is not superficial, merely "to the eye", or "charming". Indeed, much of the pleasure God provides is abhorrent to those in the flesh (Rom 8:7) and even difficult for His own children to grasp.

Another definition is "marked by impartiality and honesty; free from self-interest, prejudice, or favoritism". God, by definition and by necessity, is self-interested. As the Highest Being, He needs to be. We are commanded to do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31); He would do no less, nor should He. Beyond that, God clearly "plays favorites" in human terms. There are "the elect" (e.g., John 15:16; Mark 13:20; Rom 8:33) who have special standing with God (e.g., John 1:12-13; Acts 13:48; Eph 1:3-6; Rom 11:5; Titus 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:1). We know that Paul wrote, "God shows no partiality." (Rom 2:11) Don't stop there. The "no partiality" there refers to "all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law" (Rom 2:12) -- equal judgment. And again in Galatians 2:6, but there he was saying that God doesn't save based on "the influential" (Gal 2:2,6). God is not partial in saving based on status, race, gender .. the world's standards.

One that we're familiar with is "conforming with the established rules." Now we're getting somewhere. Yes, God conforms to established rules. The glitch here, however, is that they are not the rules that we establish; they are the rules established by Him -- His nature, His character. And since everyone conforms to their own character, this isn't really getting us anywhere on the topic, especially given the certainty that "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways." (Isa 55:8)

I think the definition most people have in mind for the word, "fair", is the one in, for example, the Cambridge Dictionary: "Treating people equally." Clearly -- absolutely -- God is not fair in that sense. No matter how you turn it, He does not treat people equally. If He did, not one of us could stand. Not one of us would be saved. Not one of us would have any hope. Equal treatment of violators of God and His glory would required equal damnation. And, quite frankly, none of us want God to be "fair" in that sense.

I think we're asking the wrong question. "Fair" is too vague, too varied, and, frankly, we're asking it from a human perspective. Our question, in effect, is "Does God treat His creation in a manner that His creation considers fair?" The answer to that is clearly "No", especially since His creation is naturally hostile to Him. He is just (right, correct, justified, righteous) (e.g., Gen 18:25; Eze 18:25; Rom 9:20-21), but we don't get to pass judgment on God's fairness. Ours task is to submit.