"There was none who sold himself to do what was evil... like Ahab, whom Jezebel, his wife, incited." Ahab was a bad man who killed the prophets of God, worshipped idols, and murdered a man just to get his vineyard. And yet when Elijah told Ahab what God thought of him, this evil man "tore his clothes and put on sackcloth... and fasted... and went about dejectedly." Because of this reaction, God told Elijah, a prophet who was hunted by Ahab and his wife, to tell the king, "Because [you] have humbled [yourself] before me, I will not bring disaster in [your] days" (1Kin 21).
Can you imagine telling someone who not only hated you but also hated our Lord that God forgives them? That would be almost as hard as forgiving them myself, and yet, Elijah had to do just that. As a matter of act, that's what Jesus did on the cross as He uttered, "Father, forgive them." Steven did the same moments before the stones crushed his skull and countless other saints have forgiven the hand that brought their end. It isn't fair, but is it just?
God forgives the sinner who "turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right" and forgets the righteous deeds of he who "trusts in his righteousness and does injustice." We, like the people of Israel, scream, "The way of the Lord is not just!" (Ezekiel 33). But who can be more just than our Creator, the Author of life, the Judge of people's hearts and minds, and He who would give up His very Son to save an unjust world. No, God is not fair, but He, and He alone, is just because He alone defines what is right and true.
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