Uniqueness

Let’s look at an important implication of our non-contradictory definitions for faith and grace: uniqueness. Remember, Biblical grace states God is influencing the hearts of individuals.

We are not under the Law that treated everyone the same. Grace doesn’t give us all one set of rules to live by. The New Testament definition of grace says the person needs to let God carry out the action He is telling them to do for their situation. Therefore, our actions depend on the situation and our uniqueness.

One consequence is that this action may not be what God is telling others to do in the same situation. In fact, God might be telling others to do something different than what He is telling you. God needs to treat everyone differently because each person is unique.

“Uniqueness” is the belief we are all made differently for a different purpose or use.

“Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” (Romans 9:21)


Dishonour doesn’t mean “useless”. For example, some pottery is meant to be displayed, while others are meant to be used. It is up to the potter whether he wants the lump of clay to serve a delicate or hearty purpose. Like pottery, some people were made to carry out delicate functions while others do the less glamorous work. This aspect of uniqueness is qualitative.

When I discuss the God Model (which is on the website) with people, one of the first objections I get is that God can’t be defined because He is different to different people. I like to explain this by seeing ourselves as ships on the ocean with God as a lighthouse.

Every ship sees the lighthouse. Every ship communicates with every other ship the location of the lighthouse relative to their location. However, no two headings are the same; one sees the lighthouse due east while another sees it due west. At this point, it looks as if there are two possibilities: 1) There is only one lighthouse or 2) There is more than one lighthouse.

If the ships all originated from the same point, then there has to be multiple unique lighthouses. However, if the ships originated from different points, then it is possible there is one lighthouse. When people say God can’t be defined, they are denying uniqueness. They are really saying people are the same, so there must be many God Models.

If a person focuses on justifying themselves, then they are going to conclude there must be more than one lighthouse. If a person focuses on justifying God, then they are going to conclude there must be one God and the different perspectives are a result of the uniqueness of people.

The God Model is the result of discussing God with people from many walks of life for four years. When I focused on justifying God, I realized there must be higher principles that can account for the different perspectives people have of God. I like to think that God made it so that we would have to discuss Him with others in order to understand Him more.

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