The Divine Impartiality
J. Jortin, D. D.
Romans 2:11
For there is no respect of persons with God.
How is this possible, since all men are what God made them, and since no one thing can more differ from another than one person seems to differ from another?
1. As to the body, one is defective, and another well-formed; one is deprived of some of the senses, or hath them in low degree, another enjoys them all in their full vigour; one is weak and sickly, another healthy and strong; one hath length of days, another is cut off in the flower of youth.
2. As to circumstances; one is poor, and another rich; one unfortunate, another successful; one is doomed to obscurity, another is powerful and in high station.
3. As to temper; one is easily satisfied, and possesses serenity of mind; another is anxious or melancholy, and is plagued with forebodings.
4. As to the passions; they seem to be more impetuous in some, whilst others find them more compliant.
5. As to natural abilities; one hath a strong memory, a lively fancy, a good judgment, a fine taste, and a large capacity; another is deficient in all these respects.
6. As to the external advantages, of country, situation, and education, upon which so much depends; one is placed in a land of liberty, learning, religion, and good manners, and wants no helps of enlarging the mind and improving the heart; another hath his hard lot in regions quite the reverse. To clear up the Divine impartiality from objections consider —
I. WHAT IS RESPECT OF PERSONS, and distinguish between matters of favour and matters of justice.
1. Amongst men, gifts to which another person hath no claim, are free, and none can be accused as a respecter of persons who makes one rather than another the object of his kindness, if he is guided by prudence or by innocent affection. As in the choice of friends or servants, or in beneficence, we cannot keep company with, or employ, or assist everyone, and we may prefer one deserving person to another equally deserving, without being respecters of persons. But in points of justice and matters of trust, whosoever favours the guilty hurts the innocent, or gives or refuses contrary to the eternal rules of right, such an one is a respecter of persons.
2. The same distinction holds true in relation to God's dealings with His creatures. His giving them more or less, His placing them here or there, is a matter of favour, and respect of persons hath nothing to do with it. But in His behaviour to His creatures consequent to their behaviour towards Him, in this He acts by the rules of justice, and in this His justice shall be so manifest as to clear Him from all imputations of partiality.
3. If you examine the Scripture where God is said to be no respecter of persons, you will find that it is as He is Ruler and Judge, and dispenser of rewards and punishments; and so with relation to men, when they are commanded not to respect persons, they also are considered, not as doing favours, but as exercising acts of authority and justice, in a public or private character.
II. THE PRESENT DIVERSITY OF CONDITION AMONGST MEN IS SO UNCERTAIN AND VARIABLE, AND LASTS FOR SO VERY SHORT A SPACE, THAT IT BECOMES IN THIS VIEW FAR MORE INCONSIDERABLE THAN IS USUALLY IMAGINED.
1. Man is called into this world for a few years, and then to depart into eternity. One flourishes, and another struggles with adversity; and whilst we gaze with envy upon the one, and pity on the other, the scene closes, and the vision fades away. It is our future lot alone that can determine us happy or unhappy upon the whole.
2. Even the present condition of men is perpetually varying. All men, more or less, pass through the vicissitudes of what we call good and evil.
3. Even temporal happiness depends not so much upon externals. Many other circumstances are to be taken into account; and of two persons, of whom the one passes for happy, and the other for unhappy, perhaps the sum total of their pleasure and pain is nearly equal.
4. Natural evil, such as poverty, pain, and disappointments, is not always a real calamity, but rather discipline, tending to make the sufferer better, and to guide him to happiness.
III. THE EVILS OF WHICH MEN COMPLAIN ARE OFTEN OF THEIR OWN PROCURING. Virtue has a natural connection with happiness. This connection is sometimes suspended and interrupted by accidental causes; but it holds good on the whole, and vice has the same connection with misery. If the evils to which men were obnoxious were traced up to their causes, we should find that the greater part of them are the consequences either of thoughtless folly or wickedness. Therefore these sufferings are not to be charged to the Divine administration.
IV. THE IMPARTIALITY OF PROVIDENCE, WHATSOEVER DIFFICULTIES MAY ATTEND IT IN THE PRESENT STATE, WILL BE FULLY CLEARED UP IN THE NEXT; and we must wait with patience to that time for the fuller solution of some of our doubts. As to the temporals there is no reasonable objection to the Divine impartiality. It is the moral and religious difference between men that creates the main difficulty. One hath an opportunity of religious improvement, and is a good Christian; another is deprived of this advantage, by no fault of his own, but by having his hard lot in the dark regions of rudeness and of ignorance. In answer to this, the Scripture saith that God will judge the world in righteousness, and deal with everyone according to his talents, and to the use which he hath made of them.
1. All men have it in their power to do what God requires.
2. All those who in the main act suitable to their abilities have a secret influence of God to help them so far as is needful.
3. All such have Christ for their Redeemer, though He never was revealed to them.
4. All those who have thus behaved themselves shall enjoy the beneficial effects of it hereafter, according to the extent of their desires and capacities, and shall have the means of making greater progress in goodness and happiness.
5. All they who by their own perverseness have abused the talents committed to them, shall suffer for it in such manner as the Supreme Wisdom shall judge expedient. Unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall be required; and unto whomsoever little is given, of him little shall be required. This is the voice of reason, this is the express declaration of our Saviour.
V. MEN, IN MANY RESPECTS, AND WITH A FEW EXCEPTIONS, ARE RATHER MORE UPON THE LEVEL THAN WE USUALLY IMAGINE.
1. All men have a mortal body, an immortal soul, the same senses, and much the same powers and faculties.
2. All have the same earth to feed them, the same sun and stars to shine upon them, the same air to breathe, and the same heavens to cover them.
3. All have the same ordinary means and methods to improve themselves, such as diligence, application, sobriety, civility; and all suffer by the contrary vices.
4. As they are reasonable creatures, they have the same great law of reason, or natural religion, to guide and instruct them.
5. As they stand equally in need of the Divine assistance, they all may secure it, if they behave themselves suitably to their situation and circumstances.
6. They are all subject to one supreme Governor, to whom they are answerable, not according to their rank or possessions, but according to their use or abuse of the Divine blessings.
7. Christianity, indeed, hath not been revealed to all; but this arises from other causes, and not from anything in its nature. It is plainly intended for universal use, and where revealed, it is for all classes and conditions.
VI. GOD IS AND MUST NEEDS BE IMPARTIAL, FROM HIS OWN NATURE AND PERFECTIONS.
1. All partiality arises either from vice, weakness, or ignorance; consequently it can find no access to an all-perfect Being.
2. As God is almighty, self-existing, eternal, and independent, all His creatures are at the same infinite distance below Him. Compared with each other, they differ in a vast variety of degrees; but compared with Him, they bear no proportion at all. Therefore He must behold them all as they are created beings, with the same disposition.
3. As He is perfectly wise, He must treat them according to the laws of wisdom and justice.
4. As He is perfectly good, He considers them all as His offspring. He created them to do them good, and nothing can hinder Him from exerting this beneficence, except their undutiful behaviour. Conclusion: Let us imitate God in this perfection. It is indeed extremely difficult for man to be impartial, and therefore we must divest ourselves of those qualities which lead us to unfairness, such as pride, selfishness, party zeal, anger, envy, indolence of temper, capriciousness, etc.
(J. Jortin, D. D.)
https://biblehub.com/.../jortin/the_divine_impartiality.htm
But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.
For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.
luke 12:48