How do you reconcile God’s character and his sovereign choice of some?

How do you reconcile God’s character and his sovereign choice of some?

Asked by Bob

Hi, I sent a question here, and I dont think it was answered. It was about
the character of a God , who creates people for eternal damnation. If it
was answered could you resend the answer if you still have it. It wasnt a
question about justice, but about Gods character, and the fact that there
is no choice in creation, so why did God, create people he knew would
become his enemies, and remain so, going to hell to suffer eternally.

Hi Bob,

Apologies for the delay, I think technology let us down, which is why you did not get the reply sooner.

This is not an easy question to answer because it defies logic. It revolves around God’s sovereignty in creation and the fact that he holds humanity responsible for their actions. How do you resolve this contradiction.

God’s character is both loving and holy. An understanding of God’s holiness, as well as an understanding that everyone deserves to be punished and so for God to save some is amazing. Both these understandings allow me to reconcile God’s loving character with his sovereign choice of some (and not all).

It is amazing that God decides to save some. We all deserve death and punishment for our rebellion and ignoring of God. If I had one million dollars, that I decide to give it away, is amazing, but whether I distribute it to one or more people is a side issue - the miracle is that I may decide to give it away.

God loves all he has made and desires relationship with us all, yet God is also holy - so all who refuse to honour him and his son must be punished. Even on the final day, when the saints are in heaven around the throne of Jesus, there is still a concept of rejoicing when all who ignore God will be punished. This seems unfathomable to us now, as we do not know everything of God. But now is the time for people to repent, ready for when we meet our creator.

While God is sovereign, the Bible also speaks about humans being responsible for the decisions that they make. There is human responsibility within God’s sovereignty. We are not just “mere puppets” of God.

‘If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord an believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved’ (Romans 10:9). We do not know whom God has chosen to respond to Jesus in this way, only God knows. So we must assume that whomever we speak to has been chosen by God to respond to the good news of Jesus being sent to save us. If people do not respond positively, then we pray for them, and entrust them to God to save them.

We cannot know all the reasons and ways of God, or why some will not be saved. We just don’t know. But as I said before, that some people go to hell is part of God’s holiness.

In the end, distributing invites for people to come into relationship with him, is God’s concern. We each need to ensure we respond in the right way to God’s offer of eternal life. I pray that as you read this, you may know how deep God’s love is for you, and that those close to you may also come into relationship with God through Jesus.

Polly

Answers are kindly provided by our friends at Christianity.net.au

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