![\"\"](\"http:\/\/godslovewins.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/Fire-2-300x168.jpg\" "\\"Fire")
<\/a><\/div>\nHave you ever had an experience similar to mine?<\/p>\n
I talked with a man who told me that he stopped believing in God and going to church when he heard that most of his friends, and a lot of people in other parts of the world who had never heard of Jesus were going to go to Hell. He decided at that time that he just couldn\u2019t believe in a God who was that uncaring! He now professes to be a Buddhist.<\/p>\n
Although we would prefer not to acknowledge it, the concept of Hell as a place of never ending, conscious suffering for the majority of the human race poses several significant problems that have caused many people to reject Christianity \u2013 not the least of which is how this teaching relates to who God is and what He has revealed about Himself in Scripture.<\/p>\n
Is God Partial?<\/strong><\/p>\n Does God show favoritism? Has He deliberately chosen to extend His love and grace to some of His creatures while intentionally withholding it from the rest? Has He purposely selected some for salvation while passing over others? The Westminster Confession of Faith \u2013 the guiding document for the Presbyterian and Reformed churches \u2013 seems to be very clear in answering \u201cyes\u201d to that question. Chapter III, Article III, Of God\u2019s Eternal Decree says:<\/p>\n By the decree of God, for the manifestation of His glory,\u00a0some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life; and others foreordained to everlasting death<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n In contrast to the above, however, Scripture tells us that God is fair and impartial. We are specifically told in Deuteronomy 10:17,<\/p>\n For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome,who shows no<\/strong>\u00a0partiality<\/strong>\u00a0and accepts no bribes.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The apostle Paul tells us in Romans 2:11 that\u00a0\u201cGod does not show favoritism<\/strong>,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and charges his readers in I Timothy 5:21\u00a0\u201cin the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructionswithout partiality<\/strong>, and to\u00a0do nothing out of<\/strong>\u00a0favoritism<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Likewise, James exhorts us,\u00a0\u201cas believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ,\u00a0don\u2019t show favoritism<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n Is God Mutable?<\/strong><\/p>\n Does God\u2019s nature change from one age to another? Is He in some way bound by time? Does He act graciously toward sinners while they are alive on earth, but withdraw His hand of mercy at death?<\/p>\n If you ask Christian believers if God would have fully forgiven Adolf Hitler for his horrendous atrocities if he had sincerely repented of his sins just prior to his death, most would say,\u00a0\u201cYes, of course.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0But, if you ask if God would offer the same forgiveness in a coming age, most would say that is not possible.<\/p>\n And, yet, Scripture clearly indicates that God does not change, and that His grace extends to the coming ages.<\/p>\n In Malachi 3:6, God tells His people,\u00a0\u201cI the LORD do not change<\/strong>. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0The writer of the book of Hebrews tells us that \u201cJesus Christ is the\u00a0same<\/strong>\u00a0yesterday and today and<\/strong>\u00a0forever<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0In countless passages in the Old Testament we are told that God\u2019s love\u00a0\u201cendures forever.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n On earth we are told to\u00a0love our enemies<\/em><\/strong>. Jesus asked the Father to\u00a0forgive those who crucified Him<\/em>.<\/strong>Paul told us that\u00a0while we were yet sinners<\/em><\/strong>, Christ died for us. And, in Ephesians 2:7, he tells us that the incomparable riches of God\u2019s grace\u00a0extend to the coming ages<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Is God impotent?<\/strong><\/p>\n The apostle Paul told his readers that God wants all to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Is He powerless to accomplish this desire? Jesus said He came to seek and to save that which was lost. Did He fail in His mission? Is mankind\u2019s free will greater than God\u2019s sovereign will?<\/p>\n Most Christians would not hesitate to acknowledge that God is all-powerful and able to accomplish all that He desires \u2013 except in the matter of mankind\u2019s salvation. But, Scripture indicates that absolutely nothing is able to thwart God\u2019s ultimate will \u2013 including the will of man.<\/p>\n The\u00a0heart of the king<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is in the hands of the LORD, and\u00a0He turns it as a watercourse\u00a0wherever He pleases<\/em><\/strong>. There is\u00a0no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD<\/em><\/strong>. He is the Most High God who\u00a0rules over the kingdoms of men<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and sets over them anyone He wishes. The LORD doeswhatever pleases Him<\/em><\/strong>, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. He can do all things;\u00a0no plan of His can be thwarted<\/em><\/strong>.\u00a0Nothing is impossible with God.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Is God cruel?<\/strong><\/p>\n We rightly look with contempt on earthly rulers who either torture their subjects or sit by idly and watch them suffer. Does the Ruler of all things do the same on a scale so vast that it dwarfs the imagination? Has He purposely chosen to consign the vast majority of the human race to endless, conscious suffering?<\/p>\n Scripture is very clear that God is loving. In fact, He is not simply loving, He\u00a0is\u00a0<\/strong>love!<\/p>\n The LORD is\u00a0good to all<\/em>; He has\u00a0compassion on all He has made<\/em><\/strong>. The Most High is\u00a0kind to the ungrateful and wicked<\/em><\/strong>. He does not stay angry forever, but\u00a0delights to show mercy<\/em><\/strong>. Men are\u00a0not cast off by the Lord forever<\/em><\/strong>. This is good, and pleases God our Savior,\u00a0who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Is God Good?<\/strong><\/p>\n Sincere Christians differ in their understanding of ultimate destinies. But, whatever our view, we must make sure that it is in line with what Scripture teaches about who God is and what He is like.<\/p>\n God is good! In fact, no one is truly good, except God alone! A problem presents itself, however, when people try to redefine the meaning of \u201cgood\u201d to fit their theological framework.<\/p>\n The Pharisees are a clear example of this. They prided themselves on their knowledge of the Law and their desire to defend the holiness of God. When they saw Jesus perform \u201cgood\u201d works of healing on the Sabbath, they said what He was doing was evil. They had redefined \u201cgood\u201d to mean insensitivity to the needs of others. Jesus told them to\u00a0\u201cgo and learn what this means: \u2018I desire mercy, not sacrifice.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n People who maintain that Hell is a place of unending, conscious suffering often say,\u00a0\u201cGod\u2019s ways are different from our ways,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0and ask,\u00a0\u201cHow can we, as finite mortal creatures, judge God?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Those statements are obviously true. God\u2019s ways are different from our ways, and we finite creatures are not able to judge God. But, God has revealed what His ways are, and they are not\u00a0baser<\/strong>\u00a0than ours, they are\u00a0higher<\/strong>. Notice the context of the verses of Scripture where Isaiah tells his readers about God\u2019s ways differing from our ways.<\/p>\n Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and\u00a0he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon<\/strong>. \u2018For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,\u2019 declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:\u00a0It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n God is not more vindictive or judgmental than we are. He is far more compassionate and far more powerful than we are. He desires to show mercy and freely pardon, and His desires and purposes will be accomplished!<\/p>\n John Stuart Mill, nineteenth-century British philosopher and economist, observed,<\/p>\n . . . I know that infinite goodness must be goodness, and that what is not consistent with goodness, is not consistent with infinite goodness. . . . To say that God\u2019s goodness may be different in kind from man\u2019s goodness, what is it but saying, with a slight change of phraseology, that God may possibly not be good? To assert in words what we do not think in meaning, is as suitable a definition as can be given of a moral falsehood.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n God is not partial \u2013 favoring some over others. God is not mutable \u2013 changing His disposition toward humanity by acting graciously toward sinners while they are alive on earth, and then withdrawing His hand of mercy at death. He is not impotent \u2013 desiring to save all, but ultimately powerless to do so. And, He is not cruel \u2013 able to save all, but choosing rather to consign most of the human race to endless, conscious suffering.<\/p>\n God is good!<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Used by permission: George W. Sarris<\/p>\n Have you ever had an experience similar to mine? I talked with a man who told me that he stopped believing in God and going to church when he…<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.christianpost.com\/Admin\/tiny_mce2\/themes\/advanced\/img\/trans.gif\"){kind=spacer}
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