Would A Loving God Send People to Hell?

Universalist philosophy is largely built on the idea that a good and loving God wouldn't send anyone to Hell. I agree. He wouldn't, and He doesn't. In fact, Jesus says Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). "Sending" people to Hell was never part of the plan, and still isn't. However, because we have free will, we certainly have the right to choose to go there.

Now, some might argue that no one would willingly and knowingly go to Hell. No one would be foolish enough to choose Hell over Heaven with Jesus. But though Jesus and the writers of Scripture do speak of a literal, post-death Hell (Matthew 25:31-46, Mark 9:43, II Thessalonians 1:8-10, Revelations 21:8, etc.), they also spoke of a possible hellish existence in this life (Matthew 5:22, 29-30, 10:28, 23:15, 43-45, James 3:6, etc.). Living in wickedness and sin and rejecting Christ and His way of love is hell.

Consider how people today live who are severely addicted to drugs or who involve themselves in sex-trafficking or who are exceedingly violent and greedy. Imagine the worst drug dens and sex rings. If you showed up and said, "Come with me. I can get you out of here. I can help you get clean and have a good and happy and pain-free life. Just leave all of this behind." How many of them would get up and accept your offer? I bet very, very few.

Jesus did exactly that--only He was God and even rose from the dead to prove it. How many people accepted His grace and forgiveness and healing? And how many people today are STILL rejecting Him and choosing their own hellish life? If they're doing it now, they'll do it after death, too. No second chance will help. And no one will end up in Hell who doesn't want to be there.

God Hardens Hearts: Does This Mean Salvation Isn't for Everyone?

"The Bible says God Hardens People's Hearts. Isn't that Evidence that He Isn't Willing to Save All People In This Lifetime?"

The Old Testament speaks of God hardening the spirit of King Sihon (Deuteronomy 2:30) and the heart of Pharaoh (Exodus 4:21, 7:3-14, 8:15-32, 9:12, 14:8.) Isaiah wrote of the Israelites,

"And he [God] said, 'Go and say to this people: ‘Keep listening, but do not comprehend; keep looking, but do not understand.’ Make the mind of this people dull, and stop their ears, and shut their eyes, so that they may not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and comprehend with their minds, and turn and be healed" (Isaiah 6:19-20).

It almost seems to indicate that God is condemning the Israelites to spiritual blindness. However, when God "hardens" our hearts, it's only ever after we've hardened them (Daniel 5:20). In fact, He pursues us (Hosea), pleads with us to hear Him (Ezekiel 33:11), and "stands at the door and knocks" (Revelation 3:20). Both King Sihon and Pharaoh were proud, pagan men who despised God. The Israelites were sent many prophets to tell them that God loved them, to repent, and that God would save them through Jesus. What did they do? They tortured and killed the prophets. Then they tortured Jesus and crucified Him publicly.

And just to be clear, the Calvinists are wrong when they assume these are examples of how God ordained in advance that these particular people would not and could not be saved. That belief contradicts many passages of Scripture (Matthew 7:7-9, 13:3-9, I Timothy 2:3-6, John 3:16-17, Mark 13:10, Luke 19:40, II Peter 3:9, etc.) that show God's desire and willingness and offer to save all mankind. So, if God "hardens" people's hearts, it's only after they've hardened them, and it's for a specific, heavenly purpose. It's not unfair. It's not an attack on their autonomy; rather it is a reinforcement of it. God hears our thoughts, sees our hearts, and respects our decisions. (John 12:36b-43, Matthew 13:10-17, Acts 28:23-28)

"When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death" (James 1:13-15).

Does Freedom Exist?

Many people mistakenly think that anything that makes you experience more freedom must be a good thing. This faulty reasoning is used as the justification for all kinds of harmful practices. Unlike truth, freedom is a relative thing. There is no such thing as absolute, total freedom. People are not designed, either physically, emotionally, spiritually or otherwise, to be capable of experiencing such a thing. Let me explain why:

Freedom is not a self-defining thing, nor is it self-sustaining. In order to be free, you must be free "of something". For example, even though our country offers us many freedoms, we are still not free from our obligation to its laws. In a sense, we are held captive by the laws of this nation. If we decided we wanted to be free from the laws of America and overturned the goverment until there only anarchy remained, would we then be finally free? Certainly not! It would be then that the freedoms that matter would be stripped from us--such as the freedom to enjoy security, orderliness and a life free of fear. Freedom, then is relative. Being "captive", then is also relative. What matters most is this: To what are we being held captive?

Let's bring this onto a spiritual plane. Is spiritual freedom possible? Is it more "free" to believe in a God to whom you dedicate your entire existence, or more "free" to choose not to believe in God and lead your own life? I can certainly see the reasoning behind the argument for the latter and have heard it often. Starting from a point of non-belief, it would seem much more freeing to believe in no God. Also, if one was following a religious system and became disillusioned with it, choosing to deny God would also feel very freeing. However, again we must ask ourselves, what am I being freed from? And, having made my choice, what am I now captive to?

If God exists, made us, loves us and desires a fully, open, dynamic, growing relationship with us--one in which we give Him our complete love and trust--what would that mean? Would this be freeing or enslaving? Well, is marriage freeing or enslaving? It greatly depends on the marriage, I would say. I was once in a relationship that was all about enslaving. It was unhealthy and there was no freedom in it. Now, however, my relationship with my husband gives me a great abundance of freedom. I am free to laugh, love and be who I am--knowing that he will always love me, too. The knowledge that he is my support and my provider and my security is also greatly freeing--I am no longer captive to fear or worry about the future. The knowledge that he is my lifelong companion is also immensely freeing--I don't have to worry about loneliness or having to go through future struggles alone.

It stands to reason then, that if God made us and loves us, it would be more freeing to follow Him, rather than our own limited knowledge and corrupted reasoning. After all, if He designed our makeup--the intricasies of our thought patterns, the infinite variables of our spiritual and emotional needs, and every other minute, seemingly unimportant fraction of our essense--who better to guide us into the best path for our ultimate, holistic well-being?

Spiritual Thought 8: Is Freewill Possible If God Knows the Future?

I've come across this discussion several times lately. I've heard people say that if God knows the future, then there couldn't be any such thing as free will. If He already knows what we're going to choose before we choose it, and bases His plan for our lives accordingly, then we didn't really have a choice at all. However, this logic is faulty, and here's why:

Consider a similar example:
I know my 9-year-old daughter very well. I know that she doesn't like gravy on her meat or mashed potatoes and she doesn't like dressing on her salads. She eats them both dry. Don't ask me why; it's strange, I know. (But it's more healthy, so I don't push it.) Still, whenever we have salad or mashed potatoes, I ask, "Do you want gravy?" or "Do you want some dressing?" It's on the table and it's available to her if she chooses to have it. I know, though, that she will say, "No, thanks." So, if she chooses against the dressing or the gravy, does that mean she wasn't excersizing free will, just because I knew in advance what she was going to do? Certainly, not! She always has the option of choosing differently than she normally does. If she, one day, said, "Yes, I think I'll try some Ranch dressing today," would I say, "Oh. Actually, you can't have any. I was just joking."? Of course, not. I would pass her the dressing with my compliments.

Knowledge does not equal choice. It never does. Can you come up with an example of when knowing something equals choosing something? I can't. They are two completely different mental functions. Even in extreme cases, they are different. If you are standing next to a bomb that is about to explode, you have a choice: run or stay put. Just because we know most people would run, doesn't mean that a choice wasn't made in that instant.

So, knowing that my daughter will turn down the dressing, does that mean I'm choosing not to allow her to have it? No. Just because God knows the future doesn't mean He's making our choices for us. Even by making a plan in accordance with our choices, He still is allowing us free will. I still have a wide variety of salad dressing choices in my frig. If she ever changes her mind, I'm prepared.

Here's another example: Let's say you are a new student looking for a college to attend. Both Yale and Harvard accept you into their schools. You have a choice to make. Let's say that God knows that you are going to choose Harvard. He also knows that there is a wonderful person there that you are going to meet and eventually marry. So, does that mean that you don't have a choice? Does that mean that if you chose Yale, that they'd say, "Oh, whoops! The letter we sent you had a typo. We meant to say, 'You're NOT accepted.' Sorry." No. So, what if you chose Yale and ended up going to Yale? Did you thwart God's plan? No. He knew you'd choose Yale, in that case, and there's probably a special person waiting for you there, instead. Just because our choices don't derail God's plan doesn't mean that we're not really choosing. Neither does it mean that God is choosing for us.

I think, possibly, one reason we don't like the idea of God's foreknowledge is because we feel trapped into a certain path--like if someone knows what we're going to choose, our choices don't really matter. This is a limited way of thinking--learned through our dependence on our linear existence. It is uncomfortable and confusing to try to think of anyone, even God, living outside of linear time. It's time, though, to stop trying to limit God. If you're going to understand anything about Him, you have to allow for His biggness--that He is not held within our limits.

I think we also don't like the idea that our poor choices rest solely on our own shoulders. We kindof like the idea that God planned for us to make the mistakes we're making, thus eliminating any personal responsibility. We think, "If God is to blame for my poor choices, then He couldn't punish me for them." Two problems here: 1, God's purpose is not to punish, but to save. 2, Freewill is possible; therefore, our choices are ours alone. No one else can be blamed for them. It's time we own up to our own failures. It's the only way we will ever learn to see our lives from a right perspective, and it's the first step towards finding forgiveness, peace and hope.

Can I Convert You?

Recently I have been dealing with a misconception that I think is circulating in both Christian and non-Christian circles. (That Christians have the power to convert people to their belief system.) It was brought to mind poignantly by a recent question addressed to me by one of my blog visitors. He asked, "...how do you know that you could tell them [unbelievers] the one thing that would bring them closer to God?"

There are three problems here: 1, I never said I could do such a thing, 2, I don't beleive I could ever do such a thing, and 3, that was never the purpose of my "spritual thought" entries or for anything else I've said on this blog.

As a Christian, I study and believe the Bible as the Word of God--His message to men (and women). So, here's how I back up my stance on this particular issue: The Bible states, "Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will perish." (Isaiah 29:14, NIV)

I Corinthians 1:18 through chapter 2 also has a lot to say about this concept--the idea that spiritual wisdom is from God, not from man. It is very clear to point out that what we consider to be a wise, eloquent or convincing arguements have absolutely no power unless the Spirit of God reveals Truth to the individual whose heart is seeking.

I Corinthians 2:10-11 states, "...The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of man except the spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God."

If there is something in what I write that touches you, speaks to your heart, makes you curious to learn more about God or, even, convicts you--PLEASE MAKE NO MISTAKE--It has absolutely nothing to do with me! I know this fully. That is God speaking to you, trying to get your attention. My words are fallible, God's spirit is not. My words are, of themselves, powerless, God's Spirit is all-powerful. My words, left on their own, are foolishness, but God's Spirit reveals wisdom.

So, what is my purpose for drumming up spiritual thoughts to chew on? My purpose is three-fold: 1, to obey God--to do what I believe He wants me to do as He told me through the Scriptures (spread the gospel of Christ-Matthew 28:18-20 & John 4:35), 2, use my writing for what I believe God's purpose was for giving me the talent and, 3, give you something to think about, wonder about & discuss. Since the Bible tells us that those who seek will find (Matthew 7:7-8), if I can help you to actually start seeking, God will lead you through the rest of the process.

So, can I covert you?
Absolutely not! Conversion is a change of heart. I can't change hearts, no matter how much I might wish I could sometimes. If there's any converting, changing, learning, gowing, etc. to be done, that's between you and God.

So, please don't assume that I expect to convert you or even change your mind on a particular issue just because I speak in a confident voice about what I believe. Be secure in the fact that I don't expect you to change your mind just because I told you to. If you read something here that softens your heart or opens your eyes to a new spiritual truth, please blame God for that, not me. Don't accuse me of such a thing; go take it up with Him.