Society today desires that everything be fair and just. Extreme measures have been taken by society to ensure that all are treated fairly. This need for fairness also reaches into the heart of the Lord’s Church. The desire for justice is one of the reasons for the many divisions we have on various doctrinal issues. Some say it is not fair that the one put away for the cause of adultery can not remarry. Some say that it is not fair that we have to withdraw from an erring member in the church. Because one of God’s commandments seems unfair in our eyes, we come up with a different viewpoint on that commandment to make it appear fair. We justify this by saying that God is a just and fair God and could not mean what He says because that would be too unfair in our eyes.
But I would like to suggest that not everything God does is fair. God committed the most unfair action known to this world. God sent Jesus Christ, Deity Himself, to earth to be murdered by the very beings He came with love to save–By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren (1 John 3:16). It is our actions that caused this unfair action to happen. Because of this ultimate unfair action that God can command us to do whatever He wishes, even if it seems unfair to us. How can we complain that God is being unfair with us on a certain commandment? We may feel that some of God’s commandments are not fair. But it is not our place to alter what the Scriptures say based on our sense of fairness. God suffered through the ultimate unfairness, the killing of His Son. Let us be thankful that God sacrificed His Son for our sins instead of requiring us to physically die for our sins, which is what we deserve. Instead, God asks us to obey His commandments. That sounds fair to me.