Are people pre-destined for hell?

Let me ask you this

A news reporter is reporting on a sports game that just took place. He the says that the ball is going to come up from the right side of the screen. Then it actually does. Of course it does

Does that now mean we must worship him and call the news presenter all sovereign because he knew where the ball would come from before? No! He just saw the clip before you did. This is the wrong way of thinking about predestination and election. Because if God already knew, then why did we have to do this earth thing? What would be the point of Jesus’ final command to go and make disciples of ALL nations by preaching the gospel? Because the gospel is how Jesus calls the elect unto himself

We all deserve to die and burn in hell! All of us and those that have lived before us! We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. God didn’t choose us because he thought “we’d get it”, that’s not predestination.

The doctrine of predestination and unconditional election is simply God showing his grace by saying “You know what, I’m gonna save some even though they don’t deserve it”. It is by Jesus’ finished work on the cross that we are made right and adopted into God’s kingdom as royal priesthood, therefore being predestined as the bride of Christ. It is not by our holiness or our works.

 

There is much we do not know. In fact, there only a very few things I can say I know for sure. One of them is this: God is unfailingly good.

Because he is good, I don't need to tie myself in knots trying to understand advanced metaphysical concepts that are simply beyond me. God exists outside of time and space; he is not bounded by reality in the same way we are. His thoughts are above ours, outside ours, and unlike ours. But, whatever else they may be, I can assure you of this: They are good.

How can I assure you of this? Because I know him. More than I know any other human being, I know God. He dwells in me, and I in him. And, where all others have failed me, he never has. He has met me and provided for me perfectly, in the right time and in the right way, consistently over all my life.

I do not know the answer to the riddle you pose, but I would guess that no one does, not really. People much smarter than me and disciples more devout than me have debated such things all throughout history. From what I understand, that debate continues in some circles of the cognoscenti to this very day.

But the answer is not all that important. Whatever our view from eternity will reveal to us that we cannot possibly understand with our finite minds today, it will not confer on us any greater truth than the one we already possess in full:

Trust and obey, trust and obey,
For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus
Than to trust and obey.

Of all persons, he is the only one worthy of our unflagging trust. As such, he is worthy of my life, my heart, my all. Onward!

 

"Christianity is one beggar telling another beggar where he found bread."
D.T. NILES

 

If God would have painted a yellow stripe on the backs of the elect I would go around lifting shirts. But since He didn’t I must preach “whosoever will” and when “whatsoever” believes I know that he is one of the elect.
Spurgeon, C.H.

 

I thought most souls would end up in purgatory rather than hell till they have attoned for there sins, can't remember where I heard it but I like that view more, still, the laws of God are not the same as the laws of men. I think I also heard it quoted by pope Francis that hell doesn't exist in a literal sense, but the Vatican then went on to deny he said such.... politics of religion hmm... Every time so far I've read Jesus talking of hell it's more of the gnashing of teeth in darkness.

EDIT: Seems to be a catholic theology thing what I just mentioned rather then being seen as true if your protestant, hurray for Catholicism

End Edit

Anyway, I'm not actually that bothered about where I end up I just want to be a better person in the now, ill worry about that whole death thing later.

 

If your trust is completely in Jesus and what he accomplished on the cross for your sins, you will no longer have to worry about where you are going. It we’ll be finished business. Then you just work in surrendering your will and walking obediently with Him in the most fulfilling relationship you could possibly have.

 

This is an interesting thread. I like some things each of you has said, especially Tao the Great
Predestination (depending on what a person believes about it) and free will can certainly seem to be polar opposites. As I see it both predestination and free will are supported by scriptures and I think it's important to believe both exist. It seems pretty clear that God is in control of everything and that's good because we can trust Him to do what He says He will do. It also seems pretty clear free will determines what is going to happen to us in the end and is a cause in what occurs in life now. Since we can't understand how both can coexist it's a paradox, simply a mystery that's important to believe is true.

 

If you think of it in terms of the sovereignty of God it makes sense. God knows, before we are created, how we will choose. He knows every decision we we’ll make. So he already knows in advance who will put their faith in Christ and who won’t.