According to one of the modern “gospels” (which is really not good news at all), In spite of a considerable amount of Biblical claims to the contrary, God either cannot or will not save all. Free will is given as the reason for this impotence. Since God doesn’t want forced worship from a bunch of robots, he has given everyone the freedom to choose to go to Hell forever. Added to this, for good measure is the caveat, that if you pass this lifetime without choosing Jesus, the doors close forever leaving the damned in a fiery alternative with no exit…ever! For many “Christians” this sums up their understanding of the gospel: All you have to do is pray a “sinners prayer and mean it in your heart” and “voila” you have escaped from the bad ending.
I wonder how many even consider that this concept casts God in a very poor light. To justify this scenario, if one even ponders it at all, one has to accept that God is either unable to save all of creation, or He just doesn’t want to, and if either of these is true, then God either isn’t Love, or He isn’t all powerful. Those who maintain that He is Love have to concede that He isn’t powerful enough to save those who don’t want to accept His gift. Of course they will tell you that He is all powerful, omnipotent even. “Then why doesn’t He save everyone?” I ask.
“Because they refuse to accept Him.” They reply. “God is a gentleman and He won’t force His will on anyone.” They say.
And that is it! Because man must have free will, God is not responsible for sending them to “eternal “ damnation in Hell fire. He merely allows them the freedom to reject Him.
Really?!
Let me think this through. We have an all powerful, God of Love who is also all wise, and more than exceedingly smart, yet He can’t figure out a way to deliver all the beings He made. He couldn’t have chosen not to make the ones who were going to choose Hell over Himself? Is it because He didn’t know what choices were going to be made by each, or He didn’t want to deliver all. In the first case He isn’t really all knowing, in the second He isn’t really Love.
Does anyone see a problem here? A further problem with this belief is that the Bible clearly teaches that God IS Love and that Love works no ill to his neighbor and it also teaches that God wants everyone to be saved. Hmmm. So how do we account for this?
I don’t pretend to be even as clever as the perceived God of Christianity today, but I could come up with a few scenarios that would seem to work out better than the common belief and still leave “free will” intact. For instance, just make everyone rational and give them a clear understanding of the choices.
Choice A: Subject your will to Jesus and enjoy eternal bliss enveloped in perfect love and free from all pain, suffering, sorrow, weakness and darkness.
Choice B: Subject your will to no one and by default it becomes subjected to Satan and now you get eternal pain and suffering sorrow weeping agony and darkness.
Unless one was deluded, the choice would be simple and I am confident that given the choice everyone who was not ignorant, or deluded would choose option A.
So free will is absolutely no impediment to everyone being saved. The impediment comes in the form of blindness, delusion, ignorance, deafness and any other defect that God is free to heal, without affecting the freewill of His creatures. What law binds God from healing these defects? Certainly not the law of love. Scripture is explicit regarding this. Ga 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. The “free will” argument, excusing God for sending people to “eternal” damnation is no more than a thin smoke screen, obscuring an inconsistency in the modern Christian belief. Namely, an all powerful, all wise and benevolent God of love who is willingly sending most of His created ones to never ending torment and misery.
The main problem with “eternal damnation” is that it has no benefit to anyone. Not to God, nor to those who are saved by Him, and especially none to those who are the victims of it! It is a cruel and heartless concept depicting hateful vengeance without mercy and is purportedly inflicted on men for simply not making the right choice, whether it was in total ignorance, or drunken delusion it matters not. The mercy that endures forever is no longer enduring here, while the flames that endure forever prevail over the mercy that was hailed to prevail forever. Isn’t it strange that it’s okay for the Bible to be wrong about His mercy enduring forever, but it is heresy for the Bible to be wrong about Hell lasting forever?
So exactly what purpose would Love have in creating a place of unending, inescapable fiery torture that has no exit plan anyway? There is NO viable answer to this question nor does there need to be! Why? Because He didn’t ever create such a place. The place He created that is described in Scripture, is a place for which He holds the key. It is a place to be avoided if at all possible by those who understand, yet Scripture says all shall have their part in it. Jesus himself tasted death and Hell and He was made better for it. (Rev 21:8; Mark 9:49; Heb 5:8,9)
All the judgments of this life and the life to come are perfectly designed to bring about the changes that will make us all, just like Jesus. Does that mean I want to go through them? The answer to that should be plain. You don’t see me touching the burners on the stove when they are hot, nor do I intentionally touch the wires in the electrical panels I service until I know they are de-energized. Furthermore, I go to great lengths to warn others about the two potential sources of pain, discomfort and even possible death. The penalty does not have to be fatal, in order to have a corrective effect, nor to inspire me to warn others against the consequences of careless behavior. When my children (or apprentices) don’t heed the warnings, and touch the hot burners or energized wires, they get judged, but the judgment serves to deter such foolish behavior, thus it is merciful judgment, for it makes them wiser and more disciplined in the future. Our loving God has established these loving judgments. They are written into the very laws of nature.
The spiritual application is easy. All sin is harmful to the sinner, it brings consequences. The consequences are designed to curtail the sin, to make the perpetrator wiser and more disciplined. All God’s judgments for sin are designed to eventually lead the sinner to the place where Jesus lived. The place of perfect surrender to His will.
Joh 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
It is consistent with Love to discipline and judge to bring about correction. It is not consistent with love to hurt with no hope of benefit. If an all wise and loving being saw fit to create those who would never be fit to be in His company forever, He could simply make a place of isolation in which He cared for them in the best way they could receive. There is no point in tormenting them if they cannot benefit.Even the judgment of death has a remedy and benefit. (Ecc 7:1;Rom 6:7)
What would you think of a dog lover who had a pack of dogs, some that were loyal and disciplined and loving, and some that were vicious and untrainable. Suppose He gathered up all the untrainable dogs and placed them in a pit where they could bite and devour one another, where they were subjected to sub- zero temperatures at night and unbearably hot temperatures in the day, fed just enough putrid meat to keep alive though it made them vomit, which they then ate. What would you think of him if he did everything he could to make them suffer? Infested their pit with fleas, and ticks, taunted them, burned them, harassed them continually?
Could you think of a better way to treat bad dogs? Apparently the SPCA is kinder to vicious dogs than the majority of today’s “Christians” think God is to human beings who simply don’t believe in Him.
Is the “church” today just like the Israel of Jesus day? We have placed “tradition” above the word of God, and as a result, we are preaching a false “Gospel” and we have accused those few who are preaching the true gospel of heresy. Are we also exclusivists. Just like Jonah, who didn’t really want Nineveh to repent and be saved? Like the Pharisees who went wild when Paul informed them He was sent to show that salvation is for the Gentiles as well as the Jews? (Acts 26:20,21) Do we reject and persecute those who teach God is the savior of all? (1Ti 4:10) Like the Pharisees persecuted the disciples of Jesus.
Today, God is still working His salvation for the entire world, but the traditional churches have clung to the tactics of fear which guarantee power and control for them, regardless of the logical fallacies, regardless of the blot it puts on God. Logical fallacies like Love that isn’t loving. Like power that can’t deliver. Like an all powerful being who wants to save all but chooses to create a world in which He can’t get what He wants.
Fear of God may be the beginning of wisdom, but perfect love casts out fear. The kingdom of God is about love not fear. Listed among those who are going into the Lake of Fire is the fearful. (Rev 21:8)
The only true indication of being delivered is love. (1John 2:5 and 1John 3:14) Love is the first fruit of the Spirit. Ro 13:10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Surely God is Good enough, powerful enough,(Mark 10:27) loving enough,(Jn 3:16) merciful enough,(2Cor 1:3) willing enough,(2Pet 3:9) smart enoughand wise enough,(Rom 11:33) to save all those whom He has created.(2Cor 5:19) He will use the laws He has created to teach us to be like Jesus. (1Co 15:22-27)
