Hi,
I was wondering if God favors some people more than others by Grace?
Not because it was something earned, but God decided to bless/favor certain people more than others out of His Gracious Will. Some of us have greater works and are used in greater measure by God. (Ephesians 2:10) But I think ultimately we all reflect God’s glory to some degree by His Grace and by that degree we are favored. We’re all favored as His chosen people but we’re not all favored to the same degree.
We know from scripture that God judges in perfect fairness in that we’ll receive what is due without discrimination, “we’ll reap what we sow.” (Romans 2:11) Also, we know that God doesn’t give mercy/grace by worldly standards (by discrimination) but out of His unbiased choice.(Galatians 3:28) So when we’re saved by faith in Christ we are all Children of God and none of us are any less saved or any less a Child of His.
But I think the world’s view of what “love” is and how everything needs to be “fair” or “equal” in order it to be loving is a mindset of the world and it’s not something of God. God’s will is above our will of what we think should be right and wrong. If He wills to bless some off us more than others He has the right to do so as God, and that wouldn’t make Him any less loving in nature. He’s not even obligated to save any of us (sinners), yet He ordained/willed it so out of His loving/gracious nature.
Would love to get your thoughts.
Respectfully,
Zack
Hey Zach,
nice to hear from you again and hope things are well. I won't write much as you stated things well, but here are a few thoughts...
Grace (cháris) can speak of:
- The unmerited favor of God in salvation, resulting in a perfect position in Christ for those that believe
- The enabling and gifts given to believers for their service to Christ in this life.
1. The first grace is 'positional', and is totally the same for all believers.
For example, all believers are 'accepted in the beloved' and declared righteous in His sight. Thus both the weakest and strongest believer have the same perfect standing in their position in Christ. This is important to know, incorporating a lot of aspects, which I have written about here:
https://jesusplusnothing.com/series/post/positioninchrist
Eph 1:6-7 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. (7) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
2. The second grace is 'practical' dealing with God's gifts and enabling for this life, and is different for all believers.
He gives gifts and grace according to His will and foreknowledge. That is, He sees what best suits us in relation to how we can best be used. His knowledge of all things comes into play here including our own personalities and the life choices we will make. Concerning this second aspect of grace, there are different analogies given in the Bible. For example:
-
Believers are likened to different parts of the one body:
1Co 12:12, 18-20 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ... But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. (19) If they were all one part, where would the body be? (20) As it is, there are many parts, but one body. -
Or vessels in a house:
2Ti 2:20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble.
So are some believers given more grace or favor in this practical sense? Absolutely. The Bible is clear on this. For example:
Paul speaks of the work he did in planting and building up the church according to the grace given him:
1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.
Mat 25:14-15 Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. (15) To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.
Eph 4:7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.
You could think of the Apostle Paul himself - he was highly favored and given amazing gifts for the work he was assigned by the Lord. He was an evangelist, teacher, miracle worker, given a personal visitation of Jesus, experienced heaven itself where he saw and heard inexpressible things (2 Cor 12:1-4)... He was certainly highly favored, hand picked to write a large part of the New Testament and thus saw and experienced things we likely won't until we are with the Lord. But remember...
Luk 12:48 ...everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
And much was asked and required of him! Thus right from the very beginning of His call, Jesus said that He would show Paul what he must suffer for His namesake (Acts 9:16). Now Paul understood this grace or favor that was upon him but also that this meant he had to work harder and face greater difficulties than others as well.
1Co 15:9-10 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. (10) But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
But like it says about the body, the ear shouldn't be jealous of the eye, wishing it were that. Each plays an important part. You only have to have a sore little finger to know that you want everything working perfectly! Yes, there are parts of the body that are more important (heart, brain etc!) but the body needs all parts to work correctly as it should. And when it comes to the judgment and rewarding of believers, we will be rewarded according to what we have been given. Remember the widow's mite here (Luke 21:1-4)... here was a poor widow who just gave two small copper coins but Jesus pointed out that she gave more than all the rich for she gave much compared to her ability and situation. The bema seat of Christ, where we get our rewards, will be like that. We will be judged and rewarded according to how we have used what we have been given - whether we were richly favored by God with spiritual gifts initially or not. And, as Jesus often said, many that are first will be last, and many who are last will be first! (Matt 19:27)
But like I said at the start, it is important to keep this practical aspect of grace separate from the positional aspect of grace where all believers have been given the same standing and position in Christ.
Hope this helps.
Blessings!
Iain.