I'm having questions about fairness. Fairness is a virtue of the world, but not of God? Talents parable shows we should not compare and be satisfied with what we are given (Not focus on inequity). Does anyone here understand why God does not put much value on fairness?
Hi Derek , I know I answered you already but I was negligent . I didn't give you my interpretation of the parable . Briefly : the working day is these kingdoms of men , the work the labourers are doing is the Lord's commission for them , so , wether you become a Christian early in the day ( a thousand years ago ) and when you are young , and therefore spend a large part of your life serving God , or , wether you become a Christian as an old person and , just before Christ returns to earth to set up His Father's Kingdom , so you don't work for the Truth for a very long time , as long as your heart is faithful , you will have your place in God's Kingdom . God is no respecter of persons and we are all equally precious in His sight and nine of us can earn a greater reward than to be with Him in His Kingdom because no greater reward exists . The reward is the same for all of us .
I love how you said that being with the Lord Jesus IS our reward. We know that his overabundance towards us is so great and His Kingdom is our true and eternal home where God dwells with His people and we are glorified in Christ. Thanks for reminding me of this today.
In the parable it is implied that the reward that the vineyard laborers received is the salvation of their souls. Nomatter when one believes in Christ, as a kid (the first hour) or as an old man (the twelveth hour) the reward is still the same, the Kingdom of God. If one believes in an early age then they have time to do a lot of work for God. If one believes as an old man, sometimes there is no time nor the abilitiy and energy to do anything. Remember the thief who was crucified next to Jesus? He wasn't able to do nothing for God, he was dying in a few hours time. But he was still saved.
Next, we must kow that the reward we will receive is not a result of our work. It is not a debt of God to us for our work for Him but it is a gift from Him. No matter how hard or for how long we work for God, it still is a gift from Him. There is no amount of work that we can do for God and offer to Him that can buy our salvation. Nomatter how much we work for Him and how much we try to be good men, we are still sinners and we deserve punishment, hell. And because God knows that, He offers us an escape door, which is our faith to Jesus. Which means that Jesus as a representative of all mankind was punished with death in our position, instead of us, although He wasn't a sinner Himself. So now everybody who accepts His sacrifice is free of punishment.
Couldn't God just forgive somebody without punishing him? No. He can forgive but still people had to be punished. God can not accept sinners in Heaven. We have to be holy. And how do clean ourselves and become holy? With Jesus blood, sacrifice. Example, if one goes to a court of justice because he stole something the judge may forgive him for doing so, because he understands the reasons he stole, but he also has to follow the law and imprison him. In our case Jesus was imprisoned instead of us. So we are now FREE.
I hope I haven't confused you, maybe others can make it clearer. GBU
I would say that God is very fair, for He is a righteous and just God. It is the world that is not fair. It is humanity itself that's not fair.
Ezekiel 18:25, "Yet you say, "The way of the Lord is not fair." Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not my way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair?"
There were those in the house of Israel who were questioning the fairness of God. God's response was that His ways are completely fair, and that they were the ones who were unfair.
Leviticus 19:15 would show how God values fairness. It says, "Do not pervert justice; do not show favoritism to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly."
The very nature of God is that He is fair and just. There are several places in the bible that show how fair God is. Here are just a few places in scripture that show the fairness of God: Matthew 20:16, Romans 2:11, 1 Peter 1:17.
Would you be able to share why you feel God does not put much value on fairness? Also, what is your take on the parable of the talents?
Greetings Jessie . I meant the parable of the vineyard laborers where they received unequal rewards based on time spent ( Matt 20). For the record, I'm not implying that God is unfair, but it seems His concept of fairness differs from society's? Job had severe trials by God, and some people face much harder lives than others. There's an inequality in the challenges people encounter-everyone has obstacles, but some, like those with severe disabilities, face significantly more.
(15) Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
(16) So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
Jesus wasn't treated fairly on earth either. I don't fully understand why He had to be tortured and die to atone for sins-can't God forgive without death or blood required? I don't know the origin of this rule or why it must be this way.
Hi Derek , hope you don't mind me replying to you . You really need to read and study and understand the first five books of the old testament to understand the concept of what sin is and how it must be attained for if we humans are to be reconciled to our creator . Read especially about Adam and Eve in Genesis and God's response to their sin . Leviticus can be a hard book for some people but , it contains a wealth of knowledge and understanding if you just stick with it , Leviticus Ch 17 v 11 . Read them in the order they appear in your Bible . When you have been reading the new testament , have you never wondered why Jesus is sometimes referred to as the lamb if God ? Slain from the foundation of the world ? .
The answers to all your questions are there , in the Bible but , you have to be willing to learn and this takes time and effort . I hope you will make both because , there is nothing better than to draw a bit closer to you Heavenly Father and His Son . Make the effort , if you consider yourself to be a Christian you are supposed to understand what it is you believe in in case someone asks you , then you might have the opportunity to help someone else draw closer to our Creator . May God bless your efforts .
I'm having questions about fairness. Fairness is a virtue of the world, but not of God? Talents parable shows we should not compare and be satisfied with what we are given (Not focus on inequity). Does anyone here understand why God does not put much value on fairness?
I love how you said that being with the Lord Jesus IS our reward. We know that his overabundance towards us is so great and His Kingdom is our true and eternal home where God dwells with His people and we are glorified in Christ. Thanks for reminding me of this today.
In the parable it is implied that the reward that the vineyard laborers received is the salvation of their souls. Nomatter when one believes in Christ, as a kid (the first hour) or as an old man (the twelveth hour) the reward is still the same, the Kingdom of God. If one believes in an early age then they have time to do a lot of work for God. If one believes as an old man, sometimes there is no time nor the abilitiy and energy to do anything. Remember the thief who was crucified next to Jesus? He wasn't able to do nothing for God, he was dying in a few hours time. But he was still saved.
Next, we must kow that the reward we will receive is not a result of our work. It is not a debt of God to us for our work for Him but it is a gift from Him. No matter how hard or for how long we work for God, it still is a gift from Him. There is no amount of work that we can do for God and offer to Him that can buy our salvation. Nomatter how much we work for Him and how much we try to be good men, we are still sinners and we deserve punishment, hell. And because God knows that, He offers us an escape door, which is our faith to Jesus. Which means that Jesus as a representative of all mankind was punished with death in our position, instead of us, although He wasn't a sinner Himself. So now everybody who accepts His sacrifice is free of punishment.
Couldn't God just forgive somebody without punishing him? No. He can forgive but still people had to be punished. God can not accept sinners in Heaven. We have to be holy. And how do clean ourselves and become holy? With Jesus blood, sacrifice. Example, if one goes to a court of justice because he stole something the judge may forgive him for doing so, because he understands the reasons he stole, but he also has to follow the law and imprison him. In our case Jesus was imprisoned instead of us. So we are now FREE.
I hope I haven't confused you, maybe others can make it clearer. GBU
I would say that God is very fair, for He is a righteous and just God. It is the world that is not fair. It is humanity itself that's not fair.
Ezekiel 18:25, "Yet you say, "The way of the Lord is not fair." Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not my way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair?"
There were those in the house of Israel who were questioning the fairness of God. God's response was that His ways are completely fair, and that they were the ones who were unfair.
Leviticus 19:15 would show how God values fairness. It says, "Do not pervert justice; do not show favoritism to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly."
The very nature of God is that He is fair and just. There are several places in the bible that show how fair God is. Here are just a few places in scripture that show the fairness of God: Matthew 20:16, Romans 2:11, 1 Peter 1:17.
Would you be able to share why you feel God does not put much value on fairness? Also, what is your take on the parable of the talents?
Blessings!
(15) Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?
(16) So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
Jesus wasn't treated fairly on earth either. I don't fully understand why He had to be tortured and die to atone for sins-can't God forgive without death or blood required? I don't know the origin of this rule or why it must be this way.
The answers to all your questions are there , in the Bible but , you have to be willing to learn and this takes time and effort . I hope you will make both because , there is nothing better than to draw a bit closer to you Heavenly Father and His Son . Make the effort , if you consider yourself to be a Christian you are supposed to understand what it is you believe in in case someone asks you , then you might have the opportunity to help someone else draw closer to our Creator . May God bless your efforts .
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