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You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Still ahead, Dave and Tom continue their weekly in-depth study of the Doctrine of salvation, please stay tuned. Now,
CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH
In this regular feature Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call. Here’s this week’s question: Dear Dave and TA, I’ve been told by evangelicals that on the one hand it’s God’s desire that everyone would be saved, yet there may be millions, and perhaps billions who won’t be with God in heaven. If God wants everyone to be saved, and He knows the future, meaning He knows who won’t be saved, why would He allow them to be born, and then separated from Him forever? Sounds like He’s contradicting what He wants.
Dave:
Well Tom, I guess we’ve been over this a few times, but this goes way back to—I used to have a ministry on campuses and we had more meetings in our home than most churches have, and I used to deal with a lot of very bright young people. I can remember the guy on the college campus one day says to me: How do you know you’re not something in a jar? I get all kinds of questions, but this was one of them. Well, why would God create people that He knew were going to go to hell, that’s not kind. So I would liken it to this, billions of years ago pre-existent souls, if you can picture that, carrying placards of protest having staging a protest before the throne of God. And they are saying: God, we demand the right not to be created. God says: I’m going to bestow my love upon you, I want to bless you, I want you to be in heaven with me. No, but we’re not going—we know that there’s this gospel out there and we’re going to be sinners and Jesus is going to die for our sins and we’re going to reject Him, so you’re going to have to send us to hell if you are a just God. But I don’t want you to go to hell. Christ is going to die for you, He’s going to pay the penalty for your sins. Yeah, but we’re going to reject Him, so you don’t have the right to create us because you shouldn’t create people that are going to go to hell. What does God say? Well, guys, I don’t want you to go to hell. My Son is going to pay the penalty for your sins. I want to welcome you into heaven, but if you are such stubborn idiots you are going to refuse the salvation that I offer you, you’re going to refuse to go to heaven, you’re going to send yourselves to hell. Yes, you will send yourselves to hell because the human race comes as a package. Some of you will be the brothers or sisters or mothers, fathers, children, cousins, aunts, uncles of those who will receive Christ and who will spend eternity with me, and I can’t create them without you. I can’t selectively choose to not create you, it doesn’t work that way, guys. So, I’m sorry, I don’t want you to go to hell. My Son is going to die for you, going to pay the penalty, but if you are so stubborn you are going to reject me, well, you are bringing this upon yourselves.
Tom:
It’s like saying they don’t want to be with God forever, so they have to be somewhere else, in other words, separated from Him forever, because they don’t want to submit to Him.
Dave:
Yet, Tom, that’s a good statement you made, “forever” why should we last forever then, why can’t God just snuff us out. People who reject Him when they die why can’t He just let—that will be the end, when you’re dead you’re dead. Because God made man in His image, man is an eternal being. Now why would God do that? Because He loves us so much He wanted us to be capable of eternally experiencing His love and His blessing. We’ve got to be eternal beings to be capable of eternally enjoying His love and fellowship. Look the Bible very clearly says, the lake of fire is the final destination for people like these who are protesting before the throne of God. What does the Bible say about it? The lake of fire was prepared for the devil and his angels, never prepared for man, but we are eternal beings. He breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. So, there is not just a physical part to us, but there is the soul and spirit, they are not subject to the physical laws. When the body is rotting in the grave, soul and spirit are still in the image of God they were originally made, they have the breath of life, they are eternal beings. God loved us enough to give us this ability. So Tom, you’re going to be eternally somewhere.
Tom:
Dave, you know we object to the Calvinist view that God had predestined some to heaven and some to hell, never having the opportunity to respond, they didn’t have a prayer in other words. Yet the Calvinist would say you have the same view by saying that God foreknew, if He foreknew somebody who was going to be in hell why would He create them? But it’s not the same.
Dave:
I just explained that, that God did not predestine them for hell, as you said. No, He predestined them, He wanted them to be in heaven, He made every provision. I go back to—
Tom:
And foreknowledge is not foreordaining, which they would say.
Dave:
No, no, foreknowledge He knew the ones who would respond to Christ, but I just take it back quickly to Isaiah chapter 5, God says: Israel, you’re my vineyard, and He says, What more could I—I hope some Calvinists are listening and I’d like to hear, if we’ve got a Calvinist out there, please give us your answer to this and we will discuss it. —What more could I have done to my vineyard that I haven’t done, and why do they bring forth sour grapes? Well, God, you could have given them irresistible grace, you could have predestined them to heaven, a lot you could have done. No, God says, it’s your choice, okay, I’m doing everything I can. This is the God of the Bible.
