Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Is God Sorry That He Can’t Save Everyone?

 


The answer evidently is yes! I found the above short clip from James White, but wasn’t able to find the original video from which it was taken to be able to link to it. It is a short, low res, one minute clip, in which he is advocating and justifying the typical Calvinistic doctrine of divine predestination and predetermination to salvation or damnation—thus denying human freewill. Here is the transcript:


“Do you really want a God who is doing the best he can, but he is going to fail over, and over, and over again? I mean, if he really is trying to save every person equally, then doesn’t that mean in heaven, that God is going to be extremely disappointed with his results? I mean, think about it, that would basically mean God is good to have to be standing on the parapets of hell, going, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry; I tried, I tried my best! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we did our absolute best for you!’ Do you see that picture in Revelation anywhere? I don’t see a picture in Revelation anywhere. I hear about God’s justice, and I hear about the recognition of the fact he is accomplishing his purposes; but I don’t get the idea that God is going to be eternally bummed at how many people he wasn’t able to get saved.”


The answer to that is, Yes! I do find exactly that picture in the Bible. Here is one:


Matthew 23:


37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.


Luke 13:


34 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.


Luke 19:


41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city [of Jerusalem], and wept over it,

42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.


The problem was not with God’s inability or unwillingness to save them. God was both willing and able to save them. But they had the choice. The problem was with their unwillingness to receive salvation from God; not with God’s inability or unwillingness to provide it for them. Here is another, from the Old Testament this time:


Ezekiel 18:


23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return [repent] from his [evil] ways, and live?

• • •

31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.


Ezekiel 33:


11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his [evil] way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?


So both the OT and NT agree on this one. God does indeed weep and mourn over the loss of the damned—not due to his unwillingness or inability to save them, but because of their unwillingness to receive salvation from him. Mankind are not zombies, deprived of freewill, as the abominable heresy of Calvinism makes them out to be. They are not robots, automatons, puppets on a string. They have God given freedom to choose between good and evil, right or wrong; to obey God or not to—and be rewarded or punished accordingly. So the bottom line is that Calvinism is unbiblical, heretical, and false. It is a damnable heresy; and those who advocate it, knowing full well that it is unbiblical, heretical, and false, will have to answer for it on judgment day.


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