Ephesians 1:4-6

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. 

Romans 9:11-13

(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

 

God chose or elected His people before he ever created the world.

Those same chosen people are predestined to be adopted into God’s family and to be made like God’s son Jesus Christ to live with him forever and forever.

The rest of the people are left alone to their hearts’ desires, to live a life without God and to spend eternity without Him as well. They have no desire to be with God, to obey His commandments, to love Him and others as He has said. So, God just leaves them to themselves. No harm, no foul. He doesn’t send them to hell. They send themselves. They follow their own GPS’s. (Disclaimer: but, you may say, didn’t Jesus divide the sheep and the goats and send the goats to hell. Well, yes, He told them that’s where they were headed, but they did everything necessary to get themselves there all by themselves.)

But that’s not fair!

God should save everybody!

Really, why should He?

Paul answers this.

Romans 9:14-16 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Bottom line — this is God’s world. He gets to choose.

Notice here that He says, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.

He does not say, I will love whom I will love or I will have grace on whom I will have grace.

Why the choice of words here? Once again, the Lord’s word is perfect and the choice of words here is perfect.

This is mercy, because we are all guilty of sin — those who will end up in heaven as well as those who will end up in hell.

Everybody’s guilty. But God had mercy on His children, His elect, His chosen.

Mercy is not getting the something bad (punishment) you deserve.

Grace is getting the something good (salvation) you don’t deserve.

Love (God’s love, agape love) is unconditional and is getting something good in action towards you.

Mercy, grace and love are all related in this wondrous work of salvation, but it is mercy that is the correct context here, because we all deserve hell, but God had mercy on His elect.

So, is it fair?

No, it’s not fair! You and I deserve eternal punishment in hell. That’s what’s fair.

But, God stepped in and instead of justice being done and every son of Adam going to hell, He rescued the ones He chose to love.

Every once in a blue moon, a judge in a court of law will show mercy to a defendant convicted of a crime. The judge can set aside the verdict of guilty from the jury and show mercy and set the prisoner free.

This is a very rare occurrence, but it does happen.

What if judges across the land started showing mercy left and right and releasing prisoners from their convictions? To many, many people. To people of every nation, family, race, and language on Earth.

People would say, that’s not fair!

Really?!? What’s fair, you say!?!

Those people are guilty of terrible crimes! Our justice system is out of control! What is happening?

Is that what you say when God shows mercy to His people, to many, many people, to people all over the world? Are you suggesting that He should send more people to hell, like the way you want our justice system to work?

Well, which is it? What is fair?

What is fair is that every one of us would pay for our sins with our lives for all eternity.

But, God in His infinite mercy, worked out a plan. A plan that would have none of His children paying for their sins, for their crimes. God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ would pay for them. He would accept the punishment for the sins of His elect, His chosen, so that justice could be served, but a loving and forgiving God could show mercy.

God is good, isn’t He?

May the Lord Bless you and keep you.