vinc said:
Whitehorse : By saying that "only a remnant will be saved", we are limiting God's power to save. We as belonging to God ought to hope that everyone get saved thru proper repentance and faith in Jesus Christ alone. I am sure you hope the same too as a good christian.
Hi, Vinc. Thank you for your reply. It's a blessing to be able to discuss this with the Lord's people.
I certainly agree that it would be wonderful if everyone were saved, except for the worst offenders like hitler and his henchmen. Besides, it really bothers me to see people I love rejecting the Lord. I certainly agree with you that the Lord is kindly and does not delight in the harm of anyone's soul; He wants everyone to come to Him in the sense that He does not will for them to make self-destructive choices.
Take Pharaoh, for example. The Bible says the Lord hardened his heart.
However, Pharaoh made the first move to harden his own heart.
But it also helps me to remember that God's wrath is never unjust. I do take comfort in that because Hitler deserves what he gets. Stalin deserves what he gets. The underlings of both deserve what they get for their heartless, merciless, pitiless, cruel acts against God's people and the public in general. The terrorists in the middle east deserve what they get. Judas of all people deserves what he gets. I used to feel bad for Esau, but then I remembered that it wasn't his earthly inheritance that he was rejecting, but the spiritual promise that Abraham would be the father of nations. It was Esau's place in that, his role in bringing salvation to both Jews and Gentiles, an incredible honor from God that Esau threw away for a stupid bowl of soup. God has chosen his people out of all nations through Jesus Christ.
But here is what the Lord says will happen in the end:
Revelation 20:11-15
20:12And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, F109 and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
20:13The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.
20:14Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. F110
20:15And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.
God is warning us of this because it will take place.
Also:
Matthew 7:13-14
7:13"Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
7:14Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Likewise:
Matthew 7:21-23
7:21"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
7:22Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
7:23And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!
I know these are hard, hard teachings. Everyone goes through a time when we wonder whether or not this is fair, until God shows us what sin really is and does. There is a very real wickedness in sin. But God does also promise that those who believe in Him and obey Him will be saved. He promises that to those who overcome sin and unbelief. That's the flipside: when someone rejects the gospel, they are making the choice to do that. The ball was in their court when they rejected the Capstone.
I still prefer to hope the best for the whole of God's creation irrespective of that statement in the Bible "only a remnant will be saved".
However, this is my personal opinion bro. Other christians like you may differ in their opinion. You may be right in your discernment and i maybe wrong in my discernment only the eons ahead can reveal the truth.
Well, we do have scripture-the prophecies in God's word. But we all go through this time of mourning when we have a hard time grasping the reality and the enormity of hell. In time, God reveals why His plan really is best. Rejection of Christ and the repentance He bought leads to grave wickedness. But God gives us the option to repent and because He wills no one's spiritual death, He honors repentance when it is sincere.
I'm pleased for an opportunity to discuss these things more-thank you for your post. We know that all truth is from God alone. It's just a great opportunity to work through some very important doctrines collectively as the body of Christ.