“Double Speak” Denies Fairness as Equality
But as Deservedness: Who Decides?
What is fairness? The term is used nearly everyday but rarely is it actually defined. This clearly violates the Law of Identity muddling the conceptual waters. What is meant by fairness? Many Christians reject the doctrine of Election because they believe it is not fair! If God decides who is saved and who is not, many believe that He is responsible for sending sinners to the Lake of Fire making Him the true evil one for who can resist His will? Is fairness a character trait of God? The above graphic demonstrates the incoherence of discussing fairness by rejecting the obvious meaning of fairness for a social justice meaning of fairness without ever presenting a coherent argument as to the correctness of their assumptions. But, even more troubling, is the unanswered question as to who gets to define what everyone needs. If not God, then whom?
The Cambridge English dictionary has a clear, simple definition of fairness, “the quality of treating people equally or in a way that is right or reasonable.” Yet its simplicity is probably more confusing than clarifying. What is a quality? What is meant by “treating people equally”? Who determines what makes equal treatment “right” or “reasonable”? Since these concepts are essential to understanding Cambridge’s definition of fairness its definition has provided no clarity at all.
Psychology Today gives a more complex approach to defining fairness. It is broken into three major concepts: sameness, deservedness and need. Sameness is the same as equality. According to Psychology Today, “Fairness is finding the average and applying it across the board. This is fairness as equality of outcome.” Deservedness as fairness is the concept that you get to keep what you earn and if you do not earn, you do not expect to receive compensation. According to Psychology Today, “Fairness is a rational calculation. This is fairness as individual freedom.” Needless to say, this notion is in decline in light of the last major concept of fairness. Need is the concept that those who have more are morally obligated to give to those who have less. The article does not address why this is a moral value nor defines the breadth of differences. How much more initiates this moral obligation? How much less is necessary to trigger this generous obligatory giving? According to Psychology Today, “Compassion plays a role in the calculation of fairness. This is fairness as social justice.”
Fairness Puts Christ on Par with Man
If a Godly Quality Christ would be above man
Paul discusses the election of God in Romans chapters nine through eleven. Paul uses the Greek word, πρόθεσις prothesis, {will or purpose} to show that God’s will is the sole determining factor as who is saved and who is not saved. Prothesis means that prior events determine the success of God’s will and since God is immutable, unchangeable, His plan will achieve His goal because it solely depends on Him. Man being weak in the flesh {sinful} has no power to achieve anything except sin (Ro 3:10-18). Paul begin his discussion describing how sinful man refuses to accept any truth of God or even the existence of God (Ro 1:18). This is the essence of ungodliness. If God left man to his own devices then all people would receive the full justice of the Moral Law, eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire. But, God expressed mercy and compassion on some in spite of their sinfulness; Paul’s example: pregnancy and birth travail of Rebekah (Ro 9:10-13). Paul emphasizes this when he quotes from Malachi, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated” when as yet both were unborn and had done nothing? What does it mean that God hated Esau?
God had not chosen Esau for salvation based solely on His own unknowable, to us, criteria based in eternity past (Ep 1:3-10). Since Esau was conceived in sin and thus had a sin nature, he was already at enmity with God; thus, he was an enemy of God (Col 1:21). God allowed Esau to live in his sin nature as he desired which showed in his decision to trade God’s Promise for a bowl of soup. Jacob, though a supplanter and thus a sinner, was chosen for salvation, and to receive the Promise (Ro 5:10-11; Col 1:21-23). Jacob did not choose God but deceit to obtain his goals; it was God who came for Jacob and saved him in spite of himself giving Jacob the name Israel, struggles with God (Ge 32:22-32). However, this violates modern man’s idea of fairness which embodies the concept of equality and certainly of deservedness.
The doctrine of Arminianism or free will salvation is Christian man’s answer to God’s doctrine of election. Man attempts to show God as innocent of sending people to Hell in order to show God as Fair. First, God does not send people to Hell or the Lake of Fire; they go there because they hated God and wanted nothing to do with Him. They received their wish. Second, if God was indeed Fair then He would save none for equality demands that everyone suffer the same penalty for their sin; thus, fairness equates with the demand of the Moral Law for eternal death, separate from God. What does sinful man demand?
Sinful man demands that the unchangeable God, change! Sinful man demands to remain with his sin nature and in his sinful flesh but live in eternity with God. God could not allow Moses, who was a faithful servant of God, to see God in His glory directly because he remained in his sinful flesh (Ex 33:18-23). God hid Moses in a cleft of a rock until He had passed by while proclaiming His compassion and mercy on those whom He chooses. Sinful man cannot be in eternity future and survive; God’s glory would consume him, and her. One must be saved and receive the new nature and the new body in order to survive in the presence of Christ who is the only source of Light in eternity future.
Thus, man wants to remain in this Creation for eternity which is suited to his sinful nature, though grudgingly (Ro 8:20-22). But, this Creation was never designed to last forever. It is only temporary until God completes His salvation plan. The deservedness aspect of fairness would again demand that those who are of this creation go the way of this creation: with fervent heat! Thus, even their choice must result in the same result: eternal separation from God.
Currently, man clothes fairness with the garment of social justice, need fulfillment as defined by sinful people. This approach is best illustrated by a slogan from the book, Animal Farm, “All animals are equal, some are more equal than others!” Those who determine who has too much and who has too little seek redress via force or redistribution under the threat of force. They hide the fact that they receive a significant portion for their efforts which they do not share with others; thus, they are more equal. They hide this behind the false moral value of compassion though they cannot exhibit compassion themselves for it is not a quality of the flesh; only of the Spirit. In actual fact, they seek power at the expense of everyone. They are of their father the devil who was a liar and murderer from the beginning (Jo 8:44). They can only do the things of their father. Thus, fairness is a trait of Satan, their father. Christians do not ask God for fairness but rejoice in His mercy and compassion. They seek to emulate Christ and take the Good News of salvation into the Lost World so others may also be saved. Election is not about determining who gets saved; its about obedience to the One who saved us and being points of Light in a Dark World.