"If Hell is not eternal and not a place of punishment eternally, then Jesus dying on the cross was in vain. There was no reason for Him to take away the sins of the world.
Why then would an atheist come to Christ if there was no punishment, no penalty for breaking God's law?"
This is a question among many, put forth by a Christian elsewhere on the board.
Discuss...
I think such a question answers the question about free will. I.e. there is none.
To ask why else would an atheist come to Jesus if not to avoid Hell, is to imply God blackmails the soul to either enter glory or suffer horribly, for not believing in him.
The impetus being the deficit of being born hell bound first as a sinner. The duty then to amend that condition by seeking to be saved from that destiny, by finding one's way to Jesus.
The proposition , the either or, being orchestrated in it's entirety by a Sovereign God. Whom the Bible says, predestined everything according to his will prior to our even being born.
So, if the atheist doesn't find their way to Jesus, God has already insured they'll see Hell simply because the atheist, through no fault of their own, was born destined for the place. And God decreed the only way to save themselves from that fate, a place he created, is to believe in him that created it, while asking to be redeemed from what he created us to be first; sinners.
Everyone is born atheist.
And everyone is born a sinner.
God asked that we have faith we can overcome that by believing in him and redeeming ourselves from what he let us be born to be. And yet, we can still sin, even though Jesus' death was to take the sins of the world upon himself on the cross.
Interesting question, this thread.
Poses a lot more questions right from the start.
Maybe it's ill founded?
