- Jan 4, 2019
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I think that there is a difference between the sovereignty of God and what we call "Predestination." If God had predestined those who would be saved and those who would go to Hell then that means God would also have predestined the fall of mankind which would mean that he not Satan is the true author of evil. If God is the author of evil then that means he cannot be an all loving God. That would mean God created an amoral word.
I agree that in order for God to predestine some individuals to eternal life and others to eternal damnation, then he must have predestined Adam to fall. However, I don't agree that this makes God the author of evil. He can predestine the event to happen, but he doesn't have to be responsible for the creature's actions.
Scripture is quite clear though in many instances that Jesus died for all of mankind and that while salvation is for all God in his omniscience knows who will and who will not accept the gift of salvation. God in the beginning allowed this creation to have free will because he wanted his people to choose to love him willingly just as he chose to love us. The only way love can exist is in a world that allows the freedom of choice and to experience the world as it is and as it can be. This is the only kind of world where evil can truly be held accountable and where people can know the difference between right and wrong. This means God created a moral world and this is the world that we live in today.
If Jesus died for all individuals, then there will be no one in hell. You must believe in some sort of limited atonement, that only those who believe and repent are saved. Jesus did not die for an anonymous group, hoping that one day they will receive him.
Yes, we did have "free will" prior to the fall, not after. Once we plunged into a state of sin and death, our will was enslaved to our corrupt desires. We are naturally corrupt in our choices, and we do not willingly want to receive Jesus. We need the divine act of regeneration to bring us from spiritual death to spiritual life and behold him as he is under the faithful preaching of his gospel. Without regeneration, we would never understand or believe the gospel.
God is not the sadistic monster that Calvinism and the Augustinian school of thought portray him to be. God loves all and extends salvation to all who will listen and accept.
This is the charge of the atheist who cannot accept the concept of an actual hell, where many will suffer for all eternity in punishment for their sin.
This is the charge of the atheist who misreads the biblical histories and prophets, and looks at God as a hot-tempered, sadistic, emotionally-driven monster.
If you actually study this, you will realize how unfitting such a description is for God.
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