Question: Why did God previously, and still continues to, create so many souls with no chance or opportunity to hear the gospel only to be condemned to suffer for eternity?
By Cassy Benefield | FāVS News Associate Editor
The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News.
This is such a good question and one I’ve considered many times. I may word some things differently to match my understanding with what I think you are asking. Please feel free to ask any follow up questions in the form below.
I think you are seeking to know if God creates people (or souls) with no chance of salvation, or to “be condemned to suffer for eternity.” And perhaps in addition, why would a loving God, who is love, do that?
I believe you are referring to a certain Calvinist perspective called double predestination that says that God has ordained some, even before they were born, for eternal life and others for eternal damnation.
Another way to ask this question could be if God’s sovereignty is fixed and he knows all of eternity, does that mean only things can happen a certain way? And if so, can humans still truly have free will?
Can God’s sovereignty and human free will coexist?
I believe both God’s sovereignty and human free will can be true at the same time despite not fully understanding how. Because I’m finite and God is infinite, my mind can’t truly grasp this perfectly.
There are numerous Scripture passages that illustrate this exact tension. Some may call these passages contradictions of one another. I think the meaning is beyond my capacity to understand perfectly.
When I come to these tensions, I rely on what I know about God from what I read in Scripture. One verse often used to defend my position is 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
While I believe that this verse is taken out of a broader context than what I’m using the verse for, I still believe we can see God’s heart toward people. He is patient toward us in that he delays judgement, which in this passage refers to what many interpret as the end of time, so that as many people as possible can come to repentance.
Another verse that holds human free will in tension with my understanding of God’s sovereignty occurs in 1 Timothy 2, where the Apostle Paul is urging the church to pray for all people, for kings and those in authority that we may live quiet and peaceable lives in holiness. The reason the church is to live in such a way is because he “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (V. 4)
The heart of God behind this passage reflects, again, his desire that all people will come to the knowledge of him for salvation. The particular context of this verse is that God desires all people to understand that “the man Christ Jesus” is the one mediator between God and humans, “who gave himself a ransom for all people.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6)
This leads to one of my favorite concepts in the Bible that is also an important one to hold in tension with God’s sovereignty. It puts together two verses from different Gospels, which essentially says God did not send his son, Jesus, into the world to condemn the world. (John 3:17) Instead, Jesus came into the world to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19:10)
So is everyone going to be saved?
Some Christian evangelicals go to the other extreme and take these verses I shared to believe God will not let anyone perish because how could a God of love allow anyone to be eternally damned.
I disagree with that conclusion as well because on the flip side, or in tension with God’s sovereignty, I believe these verses show how God allows people free will.
I think a graphic I found online in an article on nearly the same topic has a great line describing one way someone can hold the tension of God’s love, his sovereignty and human free will together: “God sovereignly delegated free choice to his creatures. So human freedom is a God-given power to make moral choices.”
As for those who don’t grow up in Christian cultures, who may have little to no chance to hear about Jesus and the work he did on the cross to reconcile people to himself, the story in Acts 10 about Cornelius, who was a gentile officer in the Italian military is a great one to hold in tension with those realities.
Cornelius practiced his religion with a “God-fearing heart,” and through visions God sent the Apostle Peter into his home to share what is known as the good news of Jesus Christ, or the gospel.
I think it’s best not to limit God here or to at least hold with an open hand the idea that God can speak to the human heart any way he wants to, offering himself as their salvation.
And it’s in his nature to wait patiently for them to do so, and while it’s not his desire any person be eternally damned, he will not force them to become a believer.
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