Mar 09 2009
Contradiction #5 - Does God want people to go to Heaven or Hell?
Question #5: Does God want people to go to Heaven or Hell?
Contradiction in question:
YES - “The Lord is…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9)
NO - “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned” (2 Thessolonians 2:11-12)
Correction:
The overall climate of these two scriptures really do not have much to do with one another, but I think I understand where these can be confusing, and what the possible contradiction is.
The first scripture in 2 Peter 3:9 says “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” During this time, many believers in Christ faced persecution every single day. They waited and waited to be delivered (by God) from this persecution. This scripture is simply saying that God is not slow is fulfilling his promises of deliverance, but will deliver believers on his watch. God does not wish anyone to perish or suffer persecution for their beliefs, (or anything else for that matter), but wants all of his children to come to repentance (turn from sin and accept his truth) regardless of whether or not you are being persecuted.
The second scripture in 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 says “And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” This scripture may sound like God is going to intentionally send delusions to people so that they can believe a lie and will be condemned to hell. Nothing can be farther form the truth. This scripture is describing two important key factors of life: 1) that all mankind has freewill and 2) the consequences of not obeying God. Let’s look at the verse just prior to this one (2 Thessalonians 2:10), which says: “and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved”. This entire section of scripture is referring to God granting every person the free will to either accept or reject God‘s truth. God “sending strong delusion” means that God is granting Satan the authority to deceive whomever he wishes. Ultimately, it is up to each individual person to either accept God’s truth (salvation) or accept Satan‘s deception. However, God warns us that we will suffer the consequences if we choose to reject him.
The correct answer is that God loves all of his people. He wants ALL people to repent of their sins and go to Heaven. These two passages really have nothing to do with one another. One speaks of God wanting people to repent, and the other talks of man’s free will and the consequences of not accepting God’s truth. In any event, both passages show that God wants ALL people to come into repentance and accept his truth, therefore there is no contradiction present.
