Why doesn't God directly stop the evil of others?

[VCR-2000]

It says that God doesn't stop the free will of people who impose things on others because He wants us to be able to learn and that one day at the end times he will directly intervene and settle his scores with the evil and sinners. But this sounds little more than the equivalent of building a very good house and not stopping the bands of people that are coming in to your beloved house to steal, plunder, and smash everything to the point that when they do get punished in the end, there is literally no more house left to enjoy.

I think this makes the idea of patience worthless to because life and events do not wait. We are always told we need to be patient. If we have free will, then the least that can be is that God can bend his rules once in a while if people beg of him. I'm sorry, but it's just so frustrating. And if he did stop one person's free will to sin against 1000 other people, how does this necessarily imply that free will permanently breaks?

 

[A_Thinker]

It says that God doesn't stop the free will of people who impose things on others because He wants us to be able to learn and that one day at the end times he will directly intervene and settle his scores with the evil and sinners. But this sounds little more than the equivalent of building a very good house and not stopping the bands of people that are coming in to your beloved house to steal, plunder, and smash everything to the point that when they do get punished in the end, there is literally no more house left to enjoy.

I think this makes the idea of patience worthless to because life and events do not wait. We are always told we need to be patient. If we have free will, then the least that can be is that God can bend his rules once in a while if people beg of him. I'm sorry, but it's just so frustrating. And if he did stop one person's free will to sin against 1000 other people, how does this necessarily imply that free will permanently breaks?

Because otherwise we wouldn't be convinced that evil needs to be vanquished.

We have to see it, feel it, know it ... to be convinced of its utter destructiveness ...

 

[VCR-2000]

PS I don't know if this was necessarily the proper section, so move if more appropriate.

 

[VCR-2000]

Because otherwise we wouldn't be convinced that evil needs to be vanquished.

We have to see it, feel it, know it ... to be convinced of its utter destructiveness ...

But there are also billions of people that fall to despair of it in the process. We could also beg, why allow evil to begin in the first place? God can do literally everything possible and impossible and he could have even shown us in a different way without people having to suffer first-hand by it. Why must humans knowing evil be necessary in God's context? When God first created Adam and Eve, before the fall they had no prior knowledge of what the concept of sin or evil was and God seemed okay with that. He could even "reset" mankind to that state right now faster than an eye blink if he wanted to.

 

[disciple Clint]

It says that God doesn't stop the free will of people who impose things on others because He wants us to be able to learn and that one day at the end times he will directly intervene and settle his scores with the evil and sinners. But this sounds little more than the equivalent of building a very good house and not stopping the bands of people that are coming in to your beloved house to steal, plunder, and smash everything to the point that when they do get punished in the end, there is literally no more house left to enjoy.

I think this makes the idea of patience worthless to because life and events do not wait. We are always told we need to be patient. If we have free will, then the least that can be is that God can bend his rules once in a while if people beg of him. I'm sorry, but it's just so frustrating. And if he did stop one person's free will to sin against 1000 other people, how does this necessarily imply that free will permanently breaks?

God has promised that all things will turn out for good.

 

[A_Thinker]

Why must humans knowing evil be necessary in God's context?

Perhaps it wasn't necessary, but we (through our representatives Adam/Eve) CHOSE to know GOOD and EVIL.

When God first created Adam and Eve, before the fall they had no prior knowledge of what the concept of sin or evil was and God seemed okay with that. He could even "reset" mankind to that state right now faster than an eye blink if he wanted to.

God desires our loving fellowship. To have us choose to LOVE Him, He also had to allow us the option to NOT choose to LOVE Him. Such rejections of God are the roots of sin and evil ...

 

[BobRyan]

It says that God doesn't stop the free will of people who impose things on others because He wants us to be able to learn and that one day at the end times he will directly intervene and settle his scores with the evil and sinners. But this sounds little more than the equivalent of building a very good house and not stopping the bands of people that are coming in to your beloved house to steal, plunder, and smash everything to the point that when they do get punished in the end, there is literally no more house left to enjoy.

I think this makes the idea of patience worthless to because life and events do not wait. We are always told we need to be patient. If we have free will, then the least that can be is that God can bend his rules once in a while if people beg of him. I'm sorry, but it's just so frustrating. And if he did stop one person's free will to sin against 1000 other people, how does this necessarily imply that free will permanently breaks?

We know from Gen 7 that the "evil of others" came to a crash-and-burn jolting end at the flood. And we know from 2 Thess 1, and from Rev 19:17-21 that the "evil of others" comes to a crash-and-burn jolting end at the appearing of Christ in Rev 19 - at the end of the Rev 16 seven last plagues and the start of the 1000 year millennium.

We know that Satan comes to a lake of fire end in Rev 20 after the 1000 years and so also all the wicked who have ever lived in all of time to that same fiery end.

And aside from examples such as Sodom and Gomorrah coming to their own fiery end as "examples" for the rest of mankind according to Jude 1 - it is not often that God sends a bolt of lightning for each person doing wrong.

 

[BobRyan]

It says that God doesn't stop the free will of people who impose things on others because He wants us to be able to learn and that one day at the end times he will directly intervene and settle his scores with the evil and sinners. But this sounds little more than the equivalent of building a very good house and not stopping the bands of people that are coming in to your beloved house to steal, plunder, and smash everything to the point that when they do get punished in the end, there is literally no more house left to enjoy.

More like - God hands over a very good house to his very good son and daughter (Adam and Eve) - but they choose to invite a hardened criminal (satan) into their home - choosing rebellion over family unity and obedience. Satan then accepts the invite and proceeds to lead Adam and all of his offspring into rebellion -- ripping up various parts of the house. God sends corrective judgments at times but over all lets his children observe the full enormity of the choice of allowing axe-murderer Satan's word to be held high and followed - while God's Word is ignored.

 

[Ivan Hlavanda]

It says that God doesn't stop the free will of people who impose things on others because He wants us to be able to learn and that one day at the end times he will directly intervene and settle his scores with the evil and sinners. But this sounds little more than the equivalent of building a very good house and not stopping the bands of people that are coming in to your beloved house to steal, plunder, and smash everything to the point that when they do get punished in the end, there is literally no more house left to enjoy.

I think this makes the idea of patience worthless to because life and events do not wait. We are always told we need to be patient. If we have free will, then the least that can be is that God can bend his rules once in a while if people beg of him. I'm sorry, but it's just so frustrating. And if he did stop one person's free will to sin against 1000 other people, how does this necessarily imply that free will permanently breaks?

Because God can do whatever He pleases and everything He does is for His glory. God is an active God, He governs things in a way that His perfect will is fulfilled. Don't forget that God has all the wisdom, all the knowledge, He knows far better than you.

Besides, why should God help us and do good to us? Does He own us anything? Have we ever given anything to God? He created us to love and obey Him, we rejected Him, He has every right to send the whole humanity to hell and it will be just, but God chose to show His mercy on us, and thus has not yet judged us according to our sins. But that day is coming.

Why does God do this and that...who are we to question Him. Why did He allow satan to tempt us and us to fall? So He can display His mercy and forgiveness, and that the Son can glorify the Father on the cross. Be assured that everything God does is just and He will glorify Himself. If He does things a certain way we do not understand, just trust Him, He has no need to explain Himself to anyone. He is good and just and is in full control of everything.

P.S. we do not have a free will and we never had it, only God has a free will.

 

[disciple Clint]

Because God can do whatever He pleases and everything He does is for His glory. God is an active God, He governs things in a way that His perfect will is fulfilled. Don't forget that God has all the wisdom, all the knowledge, He knows far better than you.

Besides, why should God help us and do good to us? Does He own us anything? Have we ever given anything to God? He created us to love and obey Him, we rejected Him, He has every right to send the whole humanity to hell and it will be just, but God chose to show His mercy on us, and thus has not yet judged us according to our sins. But that day is coming.

Why does God do this and that...who are we to question Him. Why did He allow satan to tempt us and us to fall? So He can display His mercy and forgiveness, and that the Son can glorify the Father on the cross. Be assured that everything God does is just and He will glorify Himself. If He does things a certain way we do not understand, just trust Him, He has no need to explain Himself to anyone. He is good and just and is in full control of everything.

P.S. we do not have a free will and we never had it, only God has a free will.

Some of us have free will.

 

[Sophrosyne]

If you take away the free will of anyone to do evil..... for the reason of the "greater good" where do you stop? The problem with society today is an example of why your argument against God fails because we have people that think certain things are evil and are doing everything in their power to stop people from their idea of evil. Examples are canceling, accusing people of hate speech, and a lot more actions as these people have taken upon themselves the notion that they are the authority of what is "good" and "evil" and in some cases they magnify the tiniest of instances to attack people for what they consider "evil".

God has already done his deed at addressing evil...... he has drawn a line in the sand and that line was drawn in the blood of Jesus by his works on the cross. Mankind throughout history written in the Bible has shown that he rejects God's rule over mankind and his mandates for reducing evil and had gone to extremes even to try and give man a "do over" by the actions involving Noah and the Ark where God stopped almost all evil in the world. There is the Tower of Babylon where God thwarted Evil yet again. God also had Israel attack an evil nation to wipe their eveil out for good and Israel botched the job thinking that they knew what was evil better than God does.

Look for the evil in you and ask yourself..... should God not allow you to be evil.... in any way or fashion? Evil in God's eyes is not having faith in him because without faith it is impossible to please God. Those who have no faith in God are damned in the next life for their evil. Evil is not God's invention but man's partaking and choice and God allows people to not have faith in him in order for some to have great faith in him....forever.

 

[Ivan Hlavanda]

Some of us have free will.

How do you define free will and who has it besides God? Because God is sovereign and He controls everything, including all the circumstances in our lives that influence our decisions. God does whatever He wants, He gives authority to whom ever He wants, He can lean our heart one way or another, He can harden hearts so He glorifies Himself, He can send evil spirits to deceive us. We cannot do that. We never had free will, not even in garden of Eden before we sinned, if we did have a free will, we would not have been influenced by satan, God cannot be influenced by anything, neither anyone or anything can change His will.

 

[disciple Clint]

How do you define free will and who has it besides God? Because God is sovereign and He controls everything, including all the circumstances in our lives that influence our decisions. God does whatever He wants, He gives authority to whom ever He wants, He can lean our heart one way or another, He can harden hearts so He glorifies Himself, He can send evil spirits to deceive us. We cannot do that. We never had free will, not even in garden of Eden before we sinned, if we did have a free will, we would not have been influenced by satan, God cannot be influenced by anything, neither anyone or anything can change His will.

several denominations have free will, not every Christian has the same theology that you have.

 

[Ivan Hlavanda]

several denominations have free will, not every Christian has the same theology that you have.

Ok, but in your point of view, since you say we have free will, how do you define it? I am not here to argue, just want to know why some think that, I gave my explanation why I believe we don't.

 

[trophy33]

It says that God doesn't stop the free will of people....
...But there are also billions of people that fall to despair...

There are several wrong presuppositions in your post.

1. God stops any evil that is not necessary. Its not about our free will.

2. Billions do not fall to despair. People tend to exaggerate evil, because evil is more visible than good. Most people live absolutely fine.

God allows necessary evil because the world would not be the best one without it (or would not exist at all).

 

[Ivan Hlavanda]

God allows necessary evil because the world would not be the best one without it.

I hope that you are not implying that good cannot exist without evil, or that the more evil there is the more good there is because that is absolutely wrong. Jesus will come soon and He will destroy all the evil, and there will be a perfect good like before sin entered the world. (If this is not what you implied then I apologise).

 

[trophy33]

I hope that you are not implying that good cannot exist without evil, or that the more evil there is the more good there is because that is absolutely wrong. Jesus will come soon and He will destroy all the evil, and there will be a perfect good like before sin entered the world. (If this is not what you implied then I apologise).

Maybe there can be some hypotethical "good" world without evil (perhaps not, its not logically possible), but not the best one. By world I mean the whole creation of the Universe. If God created a world without any evil, it would be worst than ours.

Some evils are necessary, for example mistakes - no created being is omniscient.

 

[disciple Clint]

Ok, but in your point of view, since you say we have free will, how do you define it? I am not here to argue, just want to know why some think that, I gave my explanation why I believe we don't.

I am not here to argue either everyone gets to select what theology they believe. (call that part of having free will)
Do human beings truly have a free will? | GotQuestions.org

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

It says that God doesn't stop the free will of people who impose things on others because He wants us to be able to learn and that one day at the end times he will directly intervene and settle his scores with the evil and sinners. But this sounds little more than the equivalent of building a very good house and not stopping the bands of people that are coming in to your beloved house to steal, plunder, and smash everything to the point that when they do get punished in the end, there is literally no more house left to enjoy.

I think this makes the idea of patience worthless to because life and events do not wait. We are always told we need to be patient. If we have free will, then the least that can be is that God can bend his rules once in a while if people beg of him. I'm sorry, but it's just so frustrating. And if he did stop one person's free will to sin against 1000 other people, how does this necessarily imply that free will permanently breaks?

Actually, in the long run, no one will get away with anything, because God has reserved a day of judgment in which every person who has ever lived, good or evil, will stand before the throne of Christ and give an account of their lives.

At that point, no one will be going anywhere, and there will be no escape. Once we as believers know that, we can patiently wait until God, in HIs time, winds everything up, resurrects the dead, catches up the living in Christ to meet the Lord in the air, and brings all to the place of judgment.

Then the righteous in Christ will be rewarded, and those who have rejected Christ will be banished to the outer darkness where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth for the rest of eternity while being under the eternal, continuous wrath of God.

 

[Presbyterian Continuist]

God has promised that all things will turn out for good.

Only for those who love God and who are called according to HIs purpose. Things certainly will not turn out for good for those who reject Christ.