Lesson 5
Did God decide who goes to hell?
The Position
God does not predetermine individuals for damnation. His stated desire is that all be saved. His oath in Ezekiel 33:11 settles it. The death of the wicked is not his pleasure. That oath is not a performance. It is a disclosure.
Ezekiel 33:11
“As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”
God swears by his own life. The content of the oath: no pleasure in the death of the wicked. You cannot hold double predestination alongside this oath. A God who decreed the damnation of specific persons before they existed and then swears he takes no pleasure in their death is not a God of integrity.
Supporting Verses
2 Peter 3:9
“not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
God's genuine settled will: that all come to repentance. Not a performance. A real desire extended to every person.
1 Timothy 2:4
“Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.”
All men. Not all the elect. All men. The scope is universal.
What They Will Say
“God has two wills. His revealed will desires all to repent. His secret will has already decreed who will be saved.”
What You Say Back
A God whose secret will actively decrees what his revealed will publicly mourns is not a God of integrity. The oath of Ezekiel 33:11 is not compatible with a secret decree of damnation. God swears on his own existence that the death of the wicked is not his pleasure. You cannot read a secret decree of damnation into a God who takes that oath. God's sovereignty is real. But his character is also real. The oath is not a performance. It is a disclosure.
The One Line to Remember
“The oath is not a performance. It is a disclosure.”