but if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? that God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (i speak in a human way.) by no means! for then how could God judge the world? [romans 3:5-6]
when we come into the presence of God, it is right to tremble in fear at the wrath of God:
tremble, o earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob, [psalm 114:7]
because God is perfectly right and just if he were to condemn us to an eternity apart from himself. but we know the Gospel:
that God created the earth,
that man sinned and broke relationship from God,
that we are condemned and deserving of wrath because of that sin,
that God sent his son to live and die in our place,
and he was raised triumphing over death and sin,
and that those who put their trust in him will spend eternity with him.
the fact that God saves such sinners as us is amazing, we have murdered, committed sexual immoralities, lied, and committed all manner of atrocious crimes against God, and yet he accepts those who believe in him–if we believe in the Gospel, we are changed–and paul lays out a foolish question for us to ask:
“well, when we sin, we show how big the gap is between us and God–isn’t that gap important to put on display? isn’t it unfair that we could have been punished for showing how great he is vs how sinful we are?”
paul puts his answer succinctly:
“by no means!”
we don’t have the right to ask this question, and we couldn’t imagine asking this if we are saved by his grace because we know that the exchange was anything but ‘fair’ this objection is from the unbeliever, and it is simply an excuse to demean and discredit God’s character.
God is the creator. God is sovereign king. God is the righteous judge. he has rightly ordered things to maximize and magnify his own glory. if we are used to display God’s glory in our repentance and obedience to his rules, it is because he has placed his grace and mercy upon us. if we are used to display God’s glory because of our disobedience, it is because he has stayed his hand and given us up:
therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, [romans 1:24]
God gets to do whatever he wants, and because he IS love, because he IS goodness, we don’t get to use our human categories to define love and goodness. our natural state is dishonoring God, our natural state is following the lusts of our hearts. we rightly deserve the wrath of God, and those of us who are saved are trophies of grace.
but thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. for we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? [2 corinthians 2:14]
as those who have been conquered by Christ, we are used by God to magnify and bring people to life, and to show others that they are dying, Christ conquered us despite the depth and magnitude of our sin–let us not return to it–let us not ask what is fair and unfair, but as those who are changed, let us worship in the presence of Jesus, who ever lived, died and pleads for us before the Father, the Creator, the good God of the universe who does all things for his good pleasure!
~ce