For God shows no partiality.
(Romans 2:11 ESV)
God does not show partiality. We, on the other hand, most certainly do. Our world can be a fiercely judgmental place. Racism continues to be a problem in most countries. Worse than that, tribalism, ethnic cleansing, and genocide regularly occur in human history. We judge the “otherness” of our neighbor, often resulting in horrifying treatment of one another.
Judgmentalism can take subtler forms and manifest in quieter ways too, like bullying among high schoolers, passive aggressiveness toward those we disdain at dinner parties, the absence of a warm welcome at a Sunday morning church service or favoring one friend to the neglect of another in conversation. Partiality and favoritism are natural to us as sinful people.
This is why Romans 2:11 is so refreshing. The Bible promises that God doesn’t make petty judgments like our own. God sets a benchmark and equally judges everyone against his perfect law. It is precisely God’s impartiality that assures us his judgments are right and true. Let’s look at this attribute of God—his impartiality—a little more closely. And then, how should followers of Jesus relate to others?
God Does Not Show Partiality
We all understand what corrupt judges are like. They show favoritism to those in their family or political party. They judge from the bench based on a person’s skin color or economic status. More corrupt ones take bribes to deliver judgments that favor one side. There is no assurance that their judgments will be just.
Not so with God! In Old Testament times, God judged all people fairly. That is why Moses can write, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes” (Deuteronomy 10:17 NIV). While God often decides to show mercy even in the face of great sins, he never judges people unjustly or unfairly (Exodus 34:6-7).
God is impartial. As our Judge, God doesn’t play favorites or use superficial factors to make his determinations but will judge righteously according to truth—truth that he alone fully comprehends.
An Example of Favoritism in the Bible
When we look at the New Testament, we find God’s impartial nature revealed there as well. When the apostle Peter was sent by God’s angel to speak to Cornelius (Acts 10), who was a Gentile (or non-Jew), Peter was reluctant to go. As a first-century Jew, he still held on to the prejudices that characterized racial relations then.
Jews hated the Gentiles and called them “dogs” because, unlike the Jewish people, Gentiles didn’t follow the law of God or have a “special relationship” with the one, true God. But the Jews had forgotten that God showed his favor to Gentiles all throughout the Old Testament, like Rahab and Ruth and Naaman—and the list could go on. Furthermore, Jesus’ atoning sacrifice for all people ushered in the New Covenant—and the Old Covenant between God and Israel was replaced by the promise of salvation to anyone who trusts in Jesus by faith.
Back to the story—God sent Peter to Cornelius so he could share the good news about Jesus with him. When Cornelius and his household believed in Jesus, God gave them the Holy Spirit just as God gave Jesus’ disciples his Spirit at Pentecost in Acts 2. Peter knew immediately that God’s plan for salvation wasn’t just for the Jews, but for anybody who trusted in Jesus.
“So Peter opened his mouth and said: ‘Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him’” (Acts 10:34-35 ESV). Keep in mind, Peter said these words in light of the faith that Cornelius expressed in Jesus Christ.
God shows no partiality. The gospel message is freely shared with all, and God embraces all who believe this message of salvation found only in God’s Son. The sign to Peter that confirmed this was that Cornelius received the same Holy Spirit that Peter and the Jewish disciples had earlier received (Acts 11:17).
Two Ways to Show Partiality
In light of his own righteous character, God commands us to treat others without showing favoritism. God desires that his children—those who have put their faith in Jesus—would reflect the character of their heavenly Father (Matthew 5:16).
In his New Testament letter, James highlights partiality as a problem in the early church. James opens his comments with this command: “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism” (James 2:1 NIV). He then speaks about how some believers readily receive a rich man but not a poor man into their Christian meetings (James 2:2-4). James is rather blunt with his assessment of such an attitude:
But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. (James 2:9 NIV)
James’s brother Jude speaks similarly against those who “show favoritism to gain advantage” (Jude 1:16 ESV).
You can show favoritism in two ways, through both positive and negative behavior. Either you can show partiality to those you prefer by treating them better than others, or you can negatively treat those whom you are prejudiced against worse than others. Neither attitude pleases God. That is because all people are made in God’s image and have equal value and dignity in God’s eyes (Genesis 1:27).
The Good News Is Equally Offered to Everyone
The gospel message of salvation in Jesus Christ is open to all people equally. As Paul writes, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28 ESV).
No matter your skin color, nationality, or social status, we all come to salvation in Jesus by the same way: through faith in his substitutionary death on the cross and resurrected life.
The Church is the original United Nations, individuals from every tribe, language, and people group all brought together by God into one body of believers. The apostle John sees this diverse group of people in his vision of the end times in Revelation, when he writes:
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10 ESV)
Let’s Not Show Partiality
Because God does not show partiality but is righteous in his judgments, and because God has designed his church to be composed of every type of person imaginable, we are called to embrace all people equally. Treating some with contempt because of their perceived differences—whether in conviction, lifestyle, preferences, economic status, skin color—or favoring others because they share superficial characteristics with us, are both ungodly attitudes.
Those who have been freely welcomed into God’s favor, despite their sin and failures, should be the first to welcome others, without favoring some over others. Those who trust in Jesus should be known for their winsome, inviting attitude toward all people, respecting all people equally.
Where in your life are you tempted to show favoritism? Ask God to give you a heart more like his own and consider how to resist that temptation toward favoritism.