Questions

[LightTheWay]

1) Why has god hardened my soul? He had a believer before.
2) If god's plan was for me to be a Christian, then an atheist, then die and go to hell, why bother?
3) How can I possibly have free will if the only choice is follow god or burn in hell? That's not free will, that's a dictatorship.

 

[lforrest]

1) Why has god hardened my soul? He had a believer before.
2) If god's plan was for me to be a Christian, then an atheist, then die and go to hell, why bother?
3) How can I possibly have free will if the only choice is follow god or burn in hell? That's not free will, that's a dictatorship.

I don't know what has happened, but God often feels distant in times of trials. Yet he is still there and still loves you.

We don't always know God's plans, trusting him implicitly through the ups and downs takes perseverance.

Think of it another way, Jesus is like the Ark in the story of Noah. You can enter in and be safe from the flood, but outside nothing will survive. God's plan to restore all things under the Lord Jesus is complete. Jesus is indeed King of Kings, and he will rule with an iron scepter.

 

[Dan57]

1) Why has god hardened my soul? He had a believer before.
2) If god's plan was for me to be a Christian, then an atheist, then die and go to hell, why bother?
3) How can I possibly have free will if the only choice is follow god or burn in hell? That's not free will, that's a dictatorship.

Why blame God for hardening your soul? A person freely chooses to believe or freely chooses not to believe.

God's plan was for you to choose. Whether your a Christian or an atheist is up to you.

Your choice is to choose eternal life or death. A dictator doesn't give you that choice.

 

[LightTheWay]

Thank You both for replying.

btw Im still a believer. These are just questions I was asked and wanted to see how other followers of Christ would've replied.

 

[pom2014]

We have to have choice. If we don't we're just machines programmed to do as told. Nothing is justified without choice.

 

[Blake Bailey]

1) Why has god hardened my soul? He had a believer before.
We first have to examine whether or not we have quenched the Spirit of God by our non-repentant lifestyle. If this is true, we have hardened ourselves and have grieved Him, and He has turned His face from us, until we are willing to take up our cross once more. If we are truly walking in a repentant lifestyle and not abiding in sin, but we find ourselves seemingly far away from the Lord, we have to remember Jeremiah 17:9 -- "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?" Feelings and emotionalism should never be the foundation of whether or not God is close to us, or whether our soul is hardened. Sometimes the Christian lifestyle is hardship, sacrifice, pain, martyrdom. It is not always easy. We will not always enjoy it. But we must remember, there is no valley that is not for our endurance, there is no fire that is not for our purification, there is no pruning of our dead branches that is not to make ourselves once again fruitful... we sometimes find ourselves feeling tightly cornered on all sides, in utter darkness, tossed to and fro by the ebb and flow of life... but those were the exact conditions Moses was in as an infant in a basket, the Lord uses unusual conditions to manifest our calling and our destiny in Him. Amen.

2) If god's plan was for me to be a Christian, then an atheist, then die and go to hell, why bother?
The Lord never plans for us to be atheist. He desires us to have abundant life in His name. We ultimately become atheist in one way only, and it stems from the sin of pride: We exalt our own logic and reasoning over the word of the Lord. Once we allow our personal understanding and our egotism to become an idol over what God has said, what hope is there for us? We will be delivered over to a reprobate mind, satisfied only in itself and its own reasoning, because we have chosen it against His written word and the testimony of His holy ones.


3) How can I possibly have free will if the only choice is follow god or burn in hell? That's not free will, that's a dictatorship.
This question is easier to answer when you fully affirm yourself in the understanding that God does as God does. He shall do whatsoever He chooses to do, and we are subject to that -- the real question here is do we truly believe that He is God? If so, we trust in His mercy and His judgment alike. If you do believe He is God, it doesn't matter if hell exists or it doesn't in your mind, you trust in His will, and you seek to be with Him, and to pull others away from that end.

 

[Phoneman777]

1) Why has god hardened my soul? He had a believer before.
2) If god's plan was for me to be a Christian, then an atheist, then die and go to hell, why bother?
3) How can I possibly have free will if the only choice is follow god or burn in hell? That's not free will, that's a dictatorship.

LTW, the method by which we reach those who doubt or reject truth is by first prayerfully appealing to the intellect, then to the emotions, and finally through them both, to the heart. Here's how I would appeal to their intellect:

1) The sun hardens clay but melts butter through no fault of the sun, but by the material upon which it acts. We need to exchange our stony, rebellious heart for a surrendered heart which melts whenever the warmth of God's love acts upon it.

2) Critical examination of Bible prophecy and the theory of evolution can only lead to the conclusion that only an Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God could reveal the future and explain the past, and that His Word is true when He says that His will is that all be saved and abide in Him as the branch abides in the vine.

3) Sin is like cancer and must be eradicated for the same reason. If we fail to choose life, we have by default chosen to be blotted out of existence in Annihilation.

 

[KingJ]

1) Why has god hardened my soul? He had a believer before.

2) If god's plan was for me to be a Christian, then an atheist, then die and go to hell, why bother?
3) How can I possibly have free will if the only choice is follow god or burn in hell? That's not free will, that's a dictatorship.

1. You need to think about the prayer Jesus taught us ''deliver us from temptation''. When scripture says God hardens the heart of the evil, it does not mean He literally hardens their hearts against Him! Rather it means He has stopped ''delivering them from temptation''. Giving them over to their desires of their heart. God is actively working on each of us. Some of us just go so evil that we push Him out and all He can now do is knock on the door to our hard hearts Rev 3:20. So ''hardened hearts'' is evidence of our free will to hate Him and kick Him out. The irony .

2. The fact that He has bothered, should make you grasp that our ''logical'' understanding of Him being....omniscient + omnipotent = no free will = just robots.... is shortsighted. We cannot grasp Him Job 9:3. We can ONLY look at where the evidence points. The evidence points to you and I right now being able to pull the middle finger. The evidence points to the wicked still living and being preached at.

Of course realizing that the maximum of our minds capacity is still a limiting factor... requires us to think outside the box more then the ungodly care to do in defense of God.

As for hell, God loves His enemies. Don't for one second think God hates the devil. Don't for one second think that if you love what is wicked think God will put you with lambs in heaven. God's enemies will be separated and left to torment of their own doing. God does not torture. Hell is a home that many will approve of over heaven. The devil hates God. We HATE God when we love darkness John 3:19.

3. God describes things from His vantage point. He says the wicked love death. He says the wicked are dead in their sin. He says they are lost. When the wicked would not agree with any of that. All scripture on hell says eternal torment awaits them. Torment is NOT the same word as torture. God is NOT evil. God tells us to love our enemies Matt 5:44....and we all assume God will do differently??? God does not change.

The evidence current and past does not suggest God will be a mad nutcase on hell. The devils presence was entertained by God of the universe in the wilderness on more then one occasion. God spoke politely to him. God hated pigs more then the devils He cast into them... and God loves pigs. The devil is not currently suffering. Yet he has more then sinned / eaten of the forbidden fruit and entered eternal punishment.

God is sane and just. Each will get their just reward Rom 2:6. All the evil get eternal banishment though as they love darkness > love light John 3:19 vs Rom 12:9.

LTW, the method by which we reach those who doubt or reject truth is by first prayerfully appealing to the intellect, then to the emotions, and finally through them both, to the heart. Here's how I would appeal to their intellect:

1) The sun hardens clay but melts butter through no fault of the sun, but by the material upon which it acts. We need to exchange our stony, rebellious heart for a surrendered heart which melts whenever the warmth of God's love acts upon it.

2) Critical examination of Bible prophecy and the theory of evolution can only lead to the conclusion that only an Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God could reveal the future and explain the past, and that His Word is true when He says that His will is that all be saved and abide in Him as the branch abides in the vine.

3) Sin is like cancer and must be eradicated for the same reason. If we fail to choose life, we have by default chosen to be blotted out of existence in Annihilation.

Excellent explanation of 1 and 2!! I disagree with 3 though .

 

[ATP]

3) How can I possibly have free will if the only choice is follow god or burn in hell? That's not free will, that's a dictatorship.

Did your free will not bring you to a Christian forum and ask questions about life? Jesus is the dictator of life, and Satan is the dictator of death.

James 1:13-15 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

 

[KingJ]

15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

That is an excellent verse.

 

[bling]

1) Why has god hardened my soul? He had a believer before.
2) If god's plan was for me to be a Christian, then an atheist, then die and go to hell, why bother?
3) How can I possibly have free will if the only choice is follow god or burn in hell? That's not free will, that's a dictatorship. [/size]

1. Most of the times the same thing that hardens one person’s heart will help soften the next person’s heart so it depends on their receptiveness to the truth.
Just “believing” God exist without partnering with God to grow will allow you to wither.

2. God is not the one changing His mind.

3. If you are an atheist you do not believe in hell so why would that “bother” you?

If you do believe in the Biblical hell, would you not also have to believe in God?

Hell only has benefit to the believer to help the believer respond to his believe without hesitation.

 

[ezekiel]

Being a atheist was a good start because the atheist among all will know for sure what Christ has said when he said YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN that being born of his spirit. This spirit is that we fear God and love one another. If we mess up we ask for forgiveness. His way is low and easy carry no burden or worry about tomorow is not today plenty. See the one comming his likeness is atheist and speaks against God saying we are from his flesh but he is flesh and not spirit. You will soon understand the fullness of the words ye must be born again.