God's Greatest Priority (and why there's a hell)
Calvinists believe that God's greatest priority - His primary reason for making people - is to get more glory for Himself, and that He gets it through ordaining sin and predestining people to hell. They think that this is why people are in hell: for God's glory, that He gets glory when He shows off His justice by punishing sin and evil. And so He needed sin and evil and non-elect people to punish or else He couldn't fully display all His attributes to get praise and glory for them.
[But remember that - in Calvinism - people don't actually get to choose whether or not they want to believe in Jesus. God decides for them. He decides who won't believe and prevents them from being able to believe, and then He punishes them for not believing, even though they never had the chance or ability to believe, by God's decree. This is a far different kind of "justice" than punishing people who actually deserve it, who had a choice. In fact, it's no justice at all. It's injustice passed off as justice.]
The Westminster Confession of Faith: "The rest of mankind [the non-elect] God was pleased... to ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their sin, to the praise of His glorious justice."
John Piper ("How does it glorify God to predestine people to hell?"): "How does God get glory? He gets glory because his grace and mercy shine more brightly against the darker backdrop of sin and judgment and wrath..."
John Piper (Is double predestination biblical?): "... God plans the destiny of each person, whether judgment or salvation... God prioritizes something above his desire for all to be saved... what restrains God from saving all is that he prioritizes the glory of the freedom of his sovereign grace above saving all. Better that some perish than that the freedom and greatness of God’s grace be diminished..."
Jim Hamilton, 9Marks ("How does hell glorify God?"): "Hell is about God keeping his word... If he does not send the wicked to hell, he has not upheld his own righteous standard and he has not been just... Hell glorifies God. Do you object to this?... You are a creature in the Creator’s work of art. Accept it. He is the Creator, not you..."
Greg Morse ("What does hell say about God?", Desiring God): "Hell, like all of creation, tells of the glory of God... The Almighty is not embarrassed by it... He shows his wrath and makes known his power. Why? In order to communicate the full riches of his glory to his children..."
John Piper ("Has God Predetermined Every Tiny Detail in the Universe, Including Sin?"): “Has God predetermined every tiny detail in the universe, such as dust particles in the air and all of our besetting sins? Yes… Yes, every horrible thing and every sinful thing is ultimately governed by God… He controls everything, and he does it for his glory and our good.”
John MacArthur (Romans 9-16, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary): "God demonstrates His attributes for the sake of His own glory. Without sin, God's wrath would never be on display. Without sinners to redeem, God's grace would never be on display. Without evil to punish, God's justice would never be on display. And He has every right to put Himself everlastingly on display in all the glory of His attributes."
Wayne Grudem ("Election and Reprobation" in Systematic Theology): “... there is something else that God deems more important than saving everyone. Reformed theologians say that God deems his own glory more important than saving everyone, and that (according to Rom. 9) God’s glory is also furthered by the fact that some are not saved.” [FYI, Romans 9 has nothing to do with God predestining who goes to heaven and who goes to hell. See "When Calvinists say, 'But Romans 9!'"]
Vincent Cheung (The Problem of Evil): "God controls not only natural events, but he also controls all human affairs and decisions… God controls everything that is and everything that happens... Since this is true, it follows that God has decreed the existence of evil, he has not merely permitted it... God decreed evil ultimately for his own glory..."
John MacArthur (Divine Providence: The Supreme Comfort of a Sovereign God): "Every single movement, as R.C. [Sproul] said, of every molecule is controlled by God, and a whole lot of it is evil... I think God, in putting Himself on display for His own glory, necessarily had to allow for evil, or a whole aspect of His nature would never have been manifest...and He would never have been praised for it... It’s only when you have sin, it’s only when you have fallen people that God can show His wrath—which is an essential part of His nature for which we give Him glory."
Combined comments from my Calvinist ex-pastor and his adult son (paraphrased summary): "God shows His love by saving the elect. And He shows His justice by damning the non-elect to hell... People's salvation is not of primary importance to God. His focus is on being worshipped. And predestining people to hell is how God worships Himself for how just He is... And we should all be singing God's praises for doing this, since it's all about God getting more glory and worship."
R.C. Sproul ("The reformed view of predestination"): "God grants the mercy of election to some and justice to others... We rejoice that God’s glory and honor are manifested both in His mercy and in His justice."
Jenny Manley ("Evangelists, let the doctrine of predestination batter your heart"): "[God] sovereignly reigns over people and their eternal destinies as well.... Some people were created to be a display of God’s glory as recipients of his grace, and some were created to display his glory and holiness through judgment... Something better and more important [than people's salvation] is at stake—God’s glory."
[Oh goodness, I can't read a bunch of these without getting angry and heartsick. Okay... deep breath... calming down... plugging my nose and diving in again...]
Greg Morse ("What does hell say about God?", Desiring God): "Hell, like all of creation, tells of the glory of God... The Almighty is not embarrassed by it... He shows his wrath and makes known his power. Why? In order to communicate the full riches of his glory to his children..."
James White (in this Leighton Flowers- James White debate, starting at the 1:27:12-minute mark, answering Leighton's question "Why can't [the reprobate] believe and why are they being judged for their unbelief if that's a default condition from birth that they have no control over?"]: "God is demonstrating to the entire universe His justice... God is demonstrating the praise of his glorious grace...in both the salvation of undeserving people and in the condemnation of people who love their sin and remain in rebellion [by Calvi-god's decree]."
Vincent Cheung ("The Problem of Evil"): "God is the only one who possesses intrinsic worth, and if he decides that the existence of evil will ultimately serve to glorify him, then the decree is by definition good and justified. One who thinks that God's glory is not worth the death and suffering of billions of people has too high an opinion of himself and humanity." [Can a God who predestines and causes the sin and unbelief of billions of people so that He can punish them eternally for it, for His glory, really be considered a good God worthy of glory and worship?]
R.C. Sproul (start at the 4:45-minute mark in the Idol Killer video "James White Responds - Infant Salvation?"): "Don't you know that when you're in heaven, you'll be so sanctified that you'll be able to see your own mother in hell and rejoice in that, knowing that God's perfect justice is being carried out."
The Calvinist pastor at my ex-church (paraphrased): "God ordains the wickedness that wicked people do, for His purposes and His glory."... And "God ordained everything that happened in your life, even all the tragedies, even childhood abuse. It was His 'Plan A' for your life. For His glory and His purposes, for your good, and because He knew what it would take to humble you. So you just have to trust Him."
Robin Schumacher (The Christian Post article "If God wants everyone saved, why isn't everyone saved?"): "God’s passion for His glory takes priority over the salvation of everyone... God gets glory when He showcases His justice and wrath... [God] desires to put His justice on display with those He allows [predestines, according to Calvinism, not just "allows"] to continue in their chosen sin. He receives glory in this as well... This is the answer, then, as to why everyone is not saved and what God desires more than everyone’s salvation... what God desires most – His glory that comes from displaying both His mercy and justice on those He chooses."
Randy Alcorn ("Hell: Eternal sovereign justice exacted upon evildoers"): "Hell is morally good, because a good God must punish evil. [Yes, but is Calvi-god really "good" if he first preplans and then causes that evil?] Hell will not be a blot on the universe, but an eternal testimony to the ugliness of evil that will prompt wondrous appreciation of a good God’s magnificence... It saddens me to think of people suffering forever. But if there were no Hell, that would diminish the very attributes of God that make Hell necessary and Heaven available... Just because I don’t like the idea of Hell doesn’t make Hell unjust." [Yeah, but the problem in Calvinism is how people end up in hell. That's what makes it unjust! And the bigger problem is the damage it does to God's character and Truth, how untrustworthy, unrighteous, unloving, unjust, and evil it makes Him!]
David Mathis, 9Marks ("Hallelujah over hell? How God's people rejoice while their enemies perish"): "Some Christians today may reluctantly think about hell, Well, God said it. I’ll believe it, but I don’t like it... While we might admirably profess to hold to God’s Word, our 'not liking it' is no evidence of maturity. In fact, it’s an expression of moral immaturity, if not error or sin... When we get to glory, we’ll find eternal joy in the God of lavish mercy and uncompromising justice... While we may struggle now with how the eternal destruction of the wicked [whom Calvi-god ordained to be wicked] could be a cause for joy, we won’t struggle forever... [In the end] We will not cringe. We will cry hallelujah."
In Calvinism, in order to be fully glorified, God needed to fully demonstrate all of His attributes, including His wrath and justice, so that He could get praise and worship for it... and so that's why He made non-elect people to punish. And so, essentially, He couldn't be perfectly and fully God - or perfectly satisfied and glorified - unless and until He demonstrated His wrath and justice against sin.
[But this makes me wonder then: Was God not fully God, not fully glorified, not fully satisfied, in the garden of Eden before mankind fell, before there was sin to punish? Was God lying when - after creating man in the garden of Eden but before there was sin to punish - He called it "very good"? How could it be "very good" if God didn't have enough glory in those conditions, if He needed sin to punish in order to show off His wrath and justice so that He could get the most glory possible and be the most "God" possible? And doesn't this - Calvinism - just make God's "God-ness" dependent on sin, on humans? Talk about reducing God and elevating man! A man-centered theology!
And let's remember what God Himself says about how He chose to demonstrate His justice: “God presented [Jesus] as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished- he did it [sent Jesus to the cross for our sins] to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:25-26, emphasis added)
God Himself tells us that He sent Jesus to take our punishment in order to demonstrate His justice, to satisfy His wrath... and yet Calvinists would have us believe that God created people to be non-elect so that He could punish them in hell to show off His justice and wrath.
What a horrible misunderstanding of God's justice! What a horrible twisting of God's Word and character! (If we end up in hell, it's by our choice to reject God's offer of salvation, not because God predestined anyone to go there.)]
Anyway, I, however, tend to think that God has a different "greatest priority, primary reason for making people." I don't think it's to "get more glory," as if He doesn't have all the glory already, as if He's like some insecure king who needs to walk around seeking and demanding more glory because he's unfulfilled with the amount he already has, creating opportunities to show off his wrath and power - at the expense of others - to get people to praise him for it.
The way I see it, He is the highest Being there is, the most glorious and powerful, and He will be glorified no matter what... and He knows it. And so He doesn't have to walk around proving it to Himself or others. And so "getting more glory" isn't what He truly wants, because He already has it all.
And so what I think He truly wants - His great priority - is to love and to be loved (which is also reflected in the two greatest commands: love God and love others). This is something He didn't already have: love relationships with people, an eternal family that included more than just the Trinity. It's like the best reason we get married: It's not because we want someone to rule over, control, get praise from, or who will "complete" us, but it's because we love them and they love us and we want to be with them for life and create a family together to enjoy.
I think God wanted this too. But how often we forget that He is a Relational Being who loves and wants to be loved, not just an All-Powerful Force in the sky doing what He wants for Himself.
What is it that Paul prayed for the Ephesians?
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19)
God is not just about using us to get more glory. God was completely complete in Himself before we ever came along. He needs nothing from us.
But He does want us! He wants us to know His love fully, deeply. Knowing His love is what will fill us completely with the fullness of God. God made us because of love, and He wants us to spend eternity with Him because of love: 2 Cor. 5:4-5: "... we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who made us for this very purpose ..."
He made us for the purpose of being in heaven with Him - of loving us and being loved by us - not to put people in hell to get more glory for Himself (as Calvinists would say).
"For God so wanted to get more glory for Himself loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life..." (John 3:16)
"But God demonstrates his own glory love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
"But because of His desire for more glory of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:4-5)
"But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness except to the non-elect whom You hate and predestined to hell to get more glory for Yourself." (Psalm 86:15)
"Jesus replied, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (or if you're non-elect, hate God with all your heart so that He can put you in hell for His glory. Either way, it's good, and it's what God wants.)... Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40)
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus... who for the glory He'd get for damning the non-elect to hell the joy set before him endured the cross..." (the joy of having an eternal relationship with people, not the joy of watching people burn for His glory, Hebrews 12:2)
I think God created people not for more glory but because He is a relational Being who wants an eternal family of people who want to be with Him, who choose to love Him, and whom He can love in return. And in order to have this - to have genuine love-relationships that are truly meaningful, valuable, enjoyable, joy-filled, and glorious - He needed to allow people to decide for themselves if they want to love Him and accept His love for them, or not. We wouldn't find any joy in being married to robots who were forced to love us, and neither would He.
Forced love is no love at all. Forced praise and worship is empty, unfulfilling, and meaningless. And so He had to make people with free-will, the ability to decide and choose for themselves. (Calvinism actually cheapens the love, glory, worship, and praise of God by making it compulsory, instead of truly voluntary.)
God didn't create people so that He could get glory by predestining the damnation of most of them.
[Not to mention that Matthew 25:41 tells us why hell was created: "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'" Hell was created for the devil and rebellious angels, not for people. And so if hell wasn't created for people, how could people be created for hell (especially if everything was preplanned by God from the very beginning, as Calvinists say)? We choose to follow the devil to hell if we choose to remain part of Satan's kingdom instead of joining God's kingdom, but hell was not originally intended for people.]
God created people because He wants to love and be loved, voluntarily, which is the most satisfying and glorifying way. (This is something that sets Him apart from the all the narcissistic, self-absorbed, power-hungry, glory-hogging "gods" out there.)
People are in hell (and it breaks God's heart that they are) not because His greatest goal is glory but because His greatest goal is love: the joy, pleasure, and glory that comes with voluntary love.
God's glory is most evident in and most elevated by His love of us and our voluntary love of Him. And so He didn't predestine anyone to hell for His glory. He wants all of us in heaven with Him and Jesus paid the price for everyone's "ticket to heaven"... but He lets us decide for ourselves.
And sadly, many will decide that they don't want Him in their lives, that they want to be their own god. And so, as much as it pains Him, God will give them what they want and what they chose: life without Him. Eternally.
He will not force Himself on anyone nor force anyone to love Him. He offers Himself to us freely - His love, healing, forgiveness, grace, mercy, eternal life - and all He asks is that we open our hands willingly and accept it, that we love Him in return. (A God who allows Himself to be rejected by His own creation... because love matters so much to Him... can you even imagine!?!)
That's a God I want to love! That's a God worth all the praise, worship, and glory we can give Him!
"But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions..." (Ephesians 2:4. We believe first, as He commands us to... and then He gives us new life and makes us born again, as He promises He will.)
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1)
"God is love.... There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear ..." (1 John 4:18)
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
"Now, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons ... neither anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:37-39)
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us...." (1 John 3:16)
"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10)
"He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2)
"This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, who gave himself as a ransom for all men..." (1 Timothy 2:3-6)
"For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all." (Romans 11:32)
"... He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)
"... 'As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live...'" (Ezekiel 33:11)
"Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized every one of you ...'" (Acts 2:38)
"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved... Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:9,13)
"For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life..." (John 3:16)
Some excellent songs worth watching again and again: Anne Wilson's "Living Water," The City Harmonic's "O What Love," Jeremy Riddle's "Sweetly Broken," Crowder's "I AM," Michael W. Smith's "Secret Ambition", and Cloverton's "Christmas Hallelujah."
[If Calvinists can show me one verse - just one - that clearly says that God created non-elect people to predestine to hell so that He can get glory for showing off His wrath and justice against sin, then I'll start to believe them. And Proverbs 16:4 doesn't count: "The Lord works out everything for his own ends - even the wicked for the day of disaster." Because, first off, it's a Proverb, a wise saying, not hard-core, bottom-line, biblical theology. If it was, then all Proverbs would have to be, including ones such as 23:2: "and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony" and 23:14: "Punish [your child] with the rod and save his soul from death" (which would have to mean, what, that salvation can come through beating your child!?!). And secondly, 16:4 just means that God can work the self-chosen evilness of people into His plans for good and for justice (kinda like how undercover cops work the self-chosen actions of criminals into their plans for good and for justice), not that He makes them be evil or created them that way.]
