The first time I read "God is no respecter of persons" I though it meant that He had no respect for people. How wrong I was. When God finally got through my thick skull what it really means, it opened my eyes up to all sorts of things in the Word. Here are a few examples from the Word of just what it means;
Leviticus 19:15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: [but] in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour;
Deuteronomy 1:17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; [but] ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment [is] God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring [it] unto me, and I will hear it;
Proverbs 24:23 These [things] also [belong] to the wise. [It is] not good to have respect of persons in judgment;
Proverbs 28:21 To have respect of persons [is] not good: for for a piece of bread [that] man will transgress;
Romans 2:11 For there is no respect of persons with God;
Ephesians 6:8-9 Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether [he be] bond or free. And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him. Peter finally understood this when he realized God had sent him to the Gentiles.
Acts 10:34-35 Then Peter opened [his] mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. James clearly explains this about Jesus;
James 2:1-4 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, [the Lord] of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?
So what we are to understand, as other bible translations put it, is that God shows no partiality, but treats everyone fairly and justly. What He does for one, He will do for another. God looks upon all the people of the earth exactly the same, and that is through the blood of Jesus. So He doesn’t give special favors to people. He doesn’t treat one group of people differently than another but, as Peter said, anyone that fears God and does righteousness is accepted by Him. God calls it a sin to treat people differently because of their position or wealth. As we know, our courts are always being accused of treating people differently based on their money, position, background and skin color. Isn’t it nice to know God doesn’t operate that way?
Now this opens up some new understandings in the bible, at least it did to me. You see, sometimes it seems like God is a respecter of persons. It seemed like He was going to treat Israel different on judgment day than he was others. That is the traditional opinion of the church, anyway. Every good Christian knows that the New Testament teaches that all Israel will be saved. Paul says this very clearly in Romans 11:26-28,
" And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, [they are] enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, [they are] beloved for the fathers' sakes." But why? God clearly says Israel is worse than everyone else. Look at what He says of them. In Ezekiel 16:52-58 God says,
" Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters. When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then [will I bring again] the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them: That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them. When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate. For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride, Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of [thy] reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all [that are] round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about. Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD." Now what have we here? God is saying here that Jerusalem acted more wickedly than Samaria and Sodom. Sodom! And He says that by Jerusalem’s acts of evil, they make Sodom look good! They were so evil in Jerusalem that Sodom will look righteous in comparison!
Now the bible teaches that all Israel will be saved. Yet it seems to say that Sodom will not be, for it says in Jude 1:7,
"Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
So let me see if I have got my church traditions down pat. God, Who shows no partiality, is going to save Israel, who did more wickedly than Sodom and Gomorrha, yet not save Sodom and Gomorrha, who didn’t do as wickedly as Israel? Do you see a problem with this? If the above statement is true then God not only shows partiality, but is unjust, and we know that can’t be right for the bible says He is just. So we have a problem with our theology. No big surprise there. Jesus also confirms Sodom is in a better standing with God than Israel and it’s cities. Matthew 11:23-24 declares,
" And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee." So it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the Day of Judgment than it will be for the land of Israel. Don’t get mad at me, I didn’t say it, Jesus did.
What I am trying to point out to you that your neat little tidy package of "we Christians go to heaven and everyone else goes to hell" fall very short of explaining the bible. God is not a respecter of persons and shows no partiality to ANYONE! If you believe Israel will be saved, you have to believe Sodom and Gomorrha will be saved. If you don’t believe Sodom and Gomorrha will be saved, then Israel can’t be saved either, for God clearly says they did far worse.
I’m am not trying to start a fight, but when contradictions this blatant are in the churches belief, it makes us look like fools to the rest of the world and the Word of God is blasphemed because of us. God does NOT contradict Himself. I will end this with one controversial statement, which I believe is what the bible teaches. God will save the whole world through judgment of eternal fire. Think about it and ask God what it means.
MF