I received an email the other day from a man who was proclaiming Calvinistic views and it thus has prompted this article and it has me asking / answering the question:
Does God Really Create People to Go to Hell?
To be clear, many people have this sad theological view ( spurred on by heretic early fathers / John Calvin ) that humans have NO choice in salvation claiming that you are either created for heaven or doomed to hell, per God's choosing. I will attempt to show you here this is a wrong view of the loving God of the universe and it creates all kinds of silly and heretical theology right behind it.
I believe the Word teaches God is love and thus cannot be this evil creator making people hell bound outside of their will or choice.
“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1 John 4:8
This man had emailed me and he contested the gospel I preach, saying he believes humans have NO choice in salvation. The main verse he gave me was Romans 9 and it is the verse unbiblical people use the most to build their false doctrines upon.
Romans 9:17-21
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
It seems if we isolate those verses alone, it APPEARS God does indeed act as He wants with souls either made for wrath or grace. But is that the full truth? No, not at all and if we read this section of scripture alone and then go off and build a entire theology upon it; we are in very DANGEROUS territory!
Why?
Jesus said we are to live by EVERY Word of God Matt 4:4 not just some verses here and there. Paul says in 2 Tim 2:15 to STUDY to be approved. If we consider the rest of God's Word and we study it, you will see this ill theology of God creating and sending people to hell without a choice is NOT truth but massive deception and lies. I will show you this contradicts the rest of the Word of God and it must be rejected, if you desire truth.
A key point to start this article is this:
Is this text in Romans 9 even about a persons final fate in heaven or hell? The answer is no. It is about who God allows Himself to have mercy or wrath based on peoples lives and choices. If you have read much of God's Word you will see that often God chooses to give out wrath, but due to repentance, He pulls that back and allows for mercy. To miss this you miss who God is!
Just one such example is Moses in Exodus 32 pleading with God to spare Israel and He does! It appears they were ripe and fitted for God's wrath but God relented and in time they did repent. That theme is all over the Word of God is it not? A merciful loving God making a way for redemption as that is why Jesus came to begin with as we will show.
Also, the context of Romans 9:17 is about the Egyptian King Pharaoh. In Exodus 4 we see God telling Moses He will harden the rulers heart because God knows he wont leave Israel go! See God knows the future amen? Does this mean God created Pharaoh to go to hell? Not at all. If you know the back history; Egypt and the Pharaohs had enslaved Israel for over 400 years. This leader was already a sinful, cruel pagan man choosing evil... LONG BEFORE... God hardened his heart. It must be noted that in Exodus 7, 15, 22 and 28 we see that Pharaoh hardened his own heart against God by himself. It was a willing course he was CHOOSING and that is a key word remember choosing, as we move on.
*Keep in mind God knows the future so if a man is sinning against God, and he will NEVER repent ( God knows this ) the Lord may well turn him over to great wrath. This does not mean he was destined for this and he cannot repent? No it means he CHOSE it and doubled down in it all. The wrath he gets is his own doing the same for you and I.
Note: I also want to say that the very next verse in Romans 9 says this:
verse 22
What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Why would God be long suffering if He created men just to go to hell? We see God as long suffering over and over. It makes NO sense really when we explore this ill theology further.
Moving on; the man who contacted me also used Romans 11: 7-8
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.
Again this verse alone this looks like God harden/blinded Israel to NEVER gain eternal life. If only he would read on in chapter 11 he would see the full truth.
It says this in verse 21-23
For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
22 Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
23 And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.
So as with Pharaoh, Israel had a choice to make and could turn back in repentance to God. When they did, God allowed them back in. He is loving, just and merciful NOT a evil creator sending helpless people to destruction as Calvinism claims!
Another verse this man tried to use to show God controls people fate was Acts 16:14
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened
The verse itself says "she worshiped God" so she was CHOOSING to turn to God. It is true God sends repentance as it is good and all good things come from God. So the question must be asked here; who does God want to repent per His Word?
Acts 17:31 says:
And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
God wants ALL men...
This verse is a death blow to those who say God wants MANY to perish in hell and they cannot answer for it.
Again the fact is that not one of these verses they ever offer shows God creates anyone for heaven or hell. They only show God will pour out His wrath or mercy on men; as they CHOOSE to serve or rebel against God. God is glorified when we repent or when He judges us amen?
Do any other verses show who God wants to be saved?
Yes indeed:
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Again ALL men to be saved...
We clearly see here God wants ALL to be saved and again we see His long suffering. Why long suffer if they are made for hell anyway?
Here is another verse that makes it clear on God's intentions for ALL men.
1 Tim 2:4
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
While Romans 9 is very vague on their claim of God making men to suffer hell fire, the above verses cannot be more clear on God wanting ALL men to come to salvation. This shows what a loving and just God He really is, not the evil twisted creator making men just to fill hell up.
The question now needs to be asked, why did Christ come?
God's Word answers this:
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
This is another verse the Calvinist's twist and just cannot explain. The man who emailed me said this verse means God calls men of all kinds not just Israel-ites, but he needs to twist, add to and butcher the verse to make it that. No, Christ came to make a way for ALL who will repent, believe and seek after Him! That is the fruit of a loving Creator God, my God, praise Him!
Take a look at Romans 10:20-21 ( Paul is quoting Isa 65:2 )
But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
See God's long suffering...why if they are slated for hell?
Also in Jeremiah 18:4-11
God talks of how he remolds men as the potter and this is more evidence he does NOT mold men for hell but He desires all to be saved as the scriptures we showed clearly prove.
All of this shows again God is reaching out to rebellious people calling them to repentance and giving them chances to be redeemed and avoid wrath. That is NOT the fruit of a evil god who creates some for heaven and MOST to hell!
In scripture, hardening some and mercy on others is always tied to a persons response to God, not any set creation God has already done in them.
If you choose evil, God will use you for His glory to your demise, that we agree on but you do have to CHOOSE it.
Note: The elect/predestined are simply those God has foreseen that will be His as they choose Him.
In Ephesians 6:8-9
Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
9 And, ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening: knowing that your Master also is in heaven; neither is there respect of persons with him.
We see God rewards good ( belief ) and He is not a respecter of certain people over others.
1 Peter 1;17
And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
Romans 2:10-11 also so He is no special respecter
But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:
11 For there is no respect of persons with God
All of this builds the clear case that Calvinism and its warped view of God creating men to suffer in hell with no choice is heresy and blasphemous to my loving and just God! Their bad theology also causes them to do have unbiblical ways such as:
*Twisting / adding to the Word of God to make their views stick
*Lack of preaching the gospel to others as it does not matter
*Some even claim there is no hell so its not cruel of God ( He just destroys them at death ) All the sad fruit of this false theology.
I pray you see the weak case they have against my loving fair just God. I will leave you with this verse that covers the aspect of CHOOSING very well.
Deut 30:19-20
I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20 That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lordsware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Calvinism and the heresy that God creates men slated for hell is sinful and to be rejected as false and the doctrines of demons!
To be clear, if you CHOOSE to rebel against God, oh he will see fit to use you as a vessel for His wrath and His glory, no doubt! But it is also very clear, God is loving & just so He is ready to redeem and forgive via Christ; when you repent and CHOOSE Him.
To be clear, if you CHOOSE to rebel against God, oh he will see fit to use you as a vessel for His wrath and His glory, no doubt! But it is also very clear, God is loving & just so He is ready to redeem and forgive via Christ; when you repent and CHOOSE Him.
Who are you CHOOSING to serve today in spirit and truth?
John 4:24
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Jim
Jim
God be praised
www.dontperish.com
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