One of the most perplexing questions in Christian theology is how to reconcile the existence of an all-good, all-knowing God with the reality that many people will never accept Him and will suffer eternal damnation. How can God be perfectly benevolent if He creates individuals knowing they will ultimately reject Him? Is He not then responsible for their eternal destiny and suffering? These are weighty issues that strike at the heart of our understanding of God’s nature and the human condition. We cannot fully solve this puzzle. But, the Bible offers some principles to guide us.
Understanding God’s Attributes
To properly frame this discussion, we must first understand the key attributes of God in question:
Omnibenevolence: This refers to God’s perfect goodness and love. The Bible resoundingly affirms that God is fundamentally good (Psalm 145:9) and that His very nature is love (1 John 4:8). Throughout Scripture, we see God’s benevolence on display. He provides for His creatures (Psalm 145:15-16). He is kind and compassionate to sinners (Ephesians 2:4-5). As Jesus declared, God is so good that He blesses both the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). His lovingkindness knows no bounds.
Omniscience: God’s omniscience means He is all-knowing. His knowledge includes all things past, present, and future, including humans’ free choices (Psalm 147:5, 1 John 3:20). Nothing escapes His notice or falls outside His wisdom (Hebrews 4:13). He knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10) and determines all things according to His perfect purposes (Ephesians 1:11). This applies even to the contingent, free actions of creatures. As Jesus told His disciples, God’s knowledge is so exhaustive that He numbers the very hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30).
The difficulty comes in understanding how these attributes fit together. How can God be perfectly good and create people He knows will reject Him and suffer eternally? It seems to call into question either His love or His power. But Scripture consistently affirms both God’s goodness and His sovereignty over all things. Let’s look at some key biblical and philosophical principles that shed light on this mystery.
The Sovereignty of God
The starting point is to recognize the Bible’s teaching on God’s absolute sovereignty over His creation. As the all-powerful Potter, God has the right to do with His creatures as He pleases (Romans 9:20-21). This is the consistent drumbeat of Scripture:
"Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases." (Psalm 115:3)
"All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, 'What have you done?'" (Daniel 4:35)
"In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will." (Ephesians 1:11)
These passages, and many like them, stress God’s total sovereignty. It extends to all things, including nations (Job 12:23) and our personal lives (Proverbs 16:9, James 4:13-15). No molecule in the universe falls outside the orbit of His authority. This includes allowing His image-bearers to have free will. They can accept or reject Him, even if it has eternal consequences. While we may struggle to fully understand it, God’s sovereignty is the bedrock of a biblical worldview.
The Necessity of Free Will
This brings us to the critical concept of human free will. The Bible shows that humans are morally responsible. They can choose whom to serve (Joshua 24:15). For our choices and relationship to God to have any meaning, they must be freely made, not coerced or pre-programmed. Genuine love always requires the ability to not love.
This is the key argument of philosopher Alvin Plantinga’s famous “free will defense.” He contends that it is logically impossible for God to create free creatures who are incapable of choosing evil:
“To create creatures capable of moral good, therefore, He must create creatures capable of moral evil; and He can’t give these creatures the freedom to perform evil and at the same time prevent them from doing so. As it turned out, sadly enough, some of the free creatures God created went wrong in the exercise of their freedom; this is the source of moral evil. The fact that free creatures sometimes go wrong, however, counts neither against God’s omnipotence nor against His goodness; for He could have forestalled the occurrence of moral evil only by removing the possibility of moral good.”
In other words, the potential for sin and rebellion is baked into what it means to be a creature with authentic free will. This idea matches the Bible’s view of humans as morally responsible. They will be judged for their choices. Consider:
Adam and Eve's fateful decision in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3)
Moses' challenge to Israel: "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19)
Joshua's charge to the people: "Choose this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" (Joshua 24:15)
The repeated calls in the prophets for Israel to turn from their rebellion and return to the Lord (Isaiah 55:6-7, Jeremiah 3:22, Ezekiel 33:11)
Paul's warning that God "will render to each one according to his works" on the Day of Judgment (Romans 2:6)
The Bible paints a picture of a God who values human freedom. He allows people to choose their eternal fates based on their response to Him.
C.S. Lewis captures it well:
“The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they must be free.“
The Origin of Suffering
But what about the problem of suffering and eternal damnation? How is God not culpable for this if He knowingly created people who would reject Him? The key here is to recognize that all suffering is ultimately rooted in creaturely rebellion, not God’s character.
Scripture is clear that God originally created the world good with no death, pain, or suffering (Genesis 1:31). All of that was alien to God’s original design. Evil only entered creation through the rebellion of Satan and mankind’s willing participation in sin (Genesis 3). Adam’s disobedience brought corruption and death upon himself and the entire created order. As God warned Adam:
"Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life." (Genesis 3:17)
"For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." (Romans 8:20-21)
In other words, human sin – not God – unleashed natural evil, suffering, and death on the world. As Romans 5:12 says, “Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” The fault lies squarely at our feet, not God’s. He is not the author of evil; we are.
While the Bible teaches that we inherit a sinful nature from Adam, it also says we confirm our corrupt status through our own sinful choices. The Bible universally indicts humanity as sinful and deserving of judgment:
"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God." (Romans 3:10-11)
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
"Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins." (Ecclesiastes 7:20)
No one is innocent. We are all active participants in the rebellion against our Creator. As Plantinga argued, the misuse of our free will “counts neither against God’s omnipotence nor against His goodness.” A perfectly good God can permit suffering caused by free creatures without impugning His character. The fault lies not in our Maker, but in ourselves.
Understanding Eternal Damnation
But what about eternal damnation? How can a loving God consign people to hell? Several important biblical principles help us here.
First, we must remember that because of the fall, the default human condition is one of sinful rebellion and just condemnation before a holy God. As Paul writes in Ephesians 2:1-3:
“You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
All of us rightly deserve God’s judgment because of our sin. We are not innocent victims, but guilty rebels against our King. The wonder, then, is not that God condemns some, but that He chooses to have mercy on any. As Paul marvels in Romans 9:14-16:
“What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, ‘I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”
God is not obligated to save anyone. We all deserve condemnation. So saving some is purely an act of divine grace, not injustice toward the lost. We must never forget that “Salvation belongs to the LORD” (Psalm 3:8).
Second, the Bible says that the eternally lost confirm their fate by their ongoing sins and choices. Damnation is not an arbitrary sentence, but a reflection of the settled disposition of the unrepentant heart. Consider Romans 2:5-8:
“But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.”
Notice the emphasis on the individual’s “hard and impenitent heart” that is “storing up wrath.” This passage teaches that God’s judgment is in accordance with the person’s works and the direction of their heart. Those who persistently reject the truth and pursue self will receive wrath. But those who seek God and follow His ways will receive eternal life. The difference is not arbitrary, but based on the person’s free response to God.
This helps us understand a key point: in a sense, hell is simply God honoring the creature’s free choice to live autonomously apart from Him forever. Those in hell will be there because they have willfully rejected God, not because God delights in their suffering (Ezekiel 18:23,32). As C.S. Lewis eloquently puts it:
“There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened.“
The lost will tragically receive what they have always wanted – a final existence away from their Creator. This is the end result of a lifetime of saying to God, “Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways” (Job 21:14). It is not God, but sinners who prepare themselves for destruction (Romans 9:22). As C.S. Lewis insightfully observes:
“I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside.“
This is deeply sobering. But, it helps us understand. An all-good God can righteously judge rebels for their choices. As Romans 9:22-23 hints, the “vessels of wrath prepared for destruction” serve to magnify the glory of God’s grace to “vessels of mercy.” The damned provide a dark backdrop against which the jewels of God’s undeserved mercy shine even more brightly. As Jonathan Edwards writes, reflecting on Romans 9:22-23:
The view of the misery of the damned will double the ardour of the love and gratitude of the saints in heaven. The sight of hell torments will exalt the happiness of the saints forever. It will not only make them more sensible of the greatness and freeness of the grace of God in their happiness; but it will really make their happiness the greater, as it will make them more sensible of their own happiness; it will give them a more lively relish of it; it will make them prize it more. When they see others, who were of the same nature, and born under the same circumstances, plunged in such misery, and they so distinguished, oh, it will make them sensible how happy they are. A sense of the opposite misery, in all cases, greatly increases the relish of any joy or pleasure. The sight of the wonderful power, the great and dreadful majesty, and awful justice and holiness of God, manifested in the eternal punishment of ungodly men, will make them prize his favour and love vastly the more; and they will be so much the more happy in the enjoyment of it.
We may recoil at such a thought. But, Edwards is drawing out a truth. A terrible final judgment will vindicate God’s holiness and grace. We must be careful not to exalt our own moral intuitions above the revelation of Scripture.
Living with the Tension
At the end of the day, we must humbly accept that our minds are too finite. We cannot fully resolve the conflict between God’s goodness and omniscience and the eternally damned. As Paul bursts forth in Romans 11:33-36:
“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ‘For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?’ For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.”
There is holy mystery here that should move us to worship, not accusation. We can trust the proven character of our good and holy God as demonstrated most fully in Christ, even when we don’t understand all His ways. While some things remain opaque to us this side of eternity, we can rest in the revealed truth that in the end God will be shown to have done all things well. As Abraham declared when God revealed His plan to judge Sodom, “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” (Genesis 18:25).
Indeed, God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). As Deuteronomy 29:29 reminds us, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever.” We can trust that the Lord of all the earth will do right.
In the meantime, this stark reality should sober us and drive us to earnest evangelism and discipleship. If eternal destinies really do hang in the balance based on a person’s response to the gospel, then we must be urgent and diligent in our witness. We cannot be content to keep this glorious message to ourselves. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” The reality of hell should ignite our hearts with a holy passion to snatch people from the flames (Jude 23).
At the same time, we should be utterly astonished that God would bestow saving grace on any rebel sinner, including ourselves. That He does so is cause for infinite praise and thanksgiving. As Paul marvels in Ephesians 2:4-9:
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved…so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
To God alone be the glory! His grace toward undeserving sinners like us should be our constant theme now and for all eternity.
Conclusion
It’s a tough question. How can we reconcile God’s perfect goodness with creating people He knows will reject Him? It takes us into the deep mysteries of divine sovereignty, human freedom, the origin of suffering, and the nature of eternal damnation. While we cannot exhaustively solve this issue, the Bible does give us important guardrails for our thinking:
- We must affirm the absolute sovereignty of God over all things, including the free choices of His creatures.
- We must recognize that, for a true love of God, we need genuine freedom and moral responsibility. They carry the risk of sin and suffering.
- We must trace all evil and suffering back to the rebellion of creatures, not the character of the Creator.
- We must see hell not as an arbitrary divine punishment, but as God honoring the creature’s willful choice to reject Him forever.
- And we must humbly acknowledge that there is mystery here that should drive us to worship, trust, and bold witness.
While we cannot know all the secret things of God, we can rest in the revealed truths of God. The Judge of all the earth will most certainly do what is right. With that confidence, we can go forth bold in evangelism, extolling the infinite mercy of our Savior toward undeserving rebels like us.
Ultimately, we must anchor our hearts in the cross of Christ. At Calvary, we see the definitive display of both God’s holy justice against sin and His unfathomable love for sinners. At the cross, God’s goodness and severity converge in brilliant glory (Romans 11:22). As John Stott profoundly writes:
“I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross. The only God I believe in is the One Nietzsche ridiculed as ‘God on the cross.’ In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? I have entered many Buddhist temples in different Asian countries and stood respectfully before the statue of the Buddha, his legs crossed, arms folded, eyes closed, the ghost of a smile playing round his mouth, a remote look on his face, detached from the agonies of the world. But each time after a while I have had to turn away. And in imagination I have turned instead to that lonely, twisted, tortured figure on the cross, nails through hands and feet, back lacerated, limbs wrenched, brow bleeding from thorn-pricks, mouth dry and intolerably thirsty, plunged in God-forsaken darkness. That is the God for me! He laid aside his immunity to pain. He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in the light of his. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross which symbolizes divine suffering. ‘The cross of Christ… is God’s only self-justification in such a world’ as ours.”
Grasping the wonder of God’s self-giving love in Christ is the ultimate antidote to our doubts about God’s goodness. If He did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him graciously give us all things (Romans 8:32)? The cross assures us that God is for us, even when life is painful and confusing. As we look to Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2), we find strength. As Spurgeon coined: when we can’t trace His hand, we can trust His heart.
We may not resolve the tension between God’s goodness, omniscience, and the reality of hell this side of heaven. But, the gospel gives us solid anchor points. It calls us to bow before our sovereign, merciful Savior. It moves us to proclaim His glorious grace to all who will hear. It stirs us to long for the day when God’s secret ways will be vindicated. Then, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10-11). Even so, come Lord Jesus!
Works Cited
- Plantinga, Alvin. God, Freedom, and Evil. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1977. Kindle Edition, p. 30.
- Link to Book: Amazon Kindle Edition
- Quote Location: Page 30 in the Kindle edition.
- Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. Kindle Edition, p. 48.
- Link to Book: Amazon Kindle Edition
- Quote Location: Page 48 in the Kindle edition.
- Lewis, C.S. The Problem of Pain. Horizon Ridge Publishing, Kindle Edition, p. 107.
- Link to Book: Amazon Kindle Edition
- Quote Location: Page 107 in the Kindle edition.
- Lewis, C.S. The Great Divorce. New York: HarperCollins, 2001. Kindle Edition, p. 33.
- Link to Book: Amazon Kindle Edition
- Quote Location: Page 33 in the Kindle edition.
- Edwards, Jonathan. “The End of the Wicked Contemplated by the Righteous.” In The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 2. Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth Trust, 1834, pp. 209–210.
- Link to Exact Quote: Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) (Scroll down to find the section containing the quote.)
- Stott, John R. W. The Cross of Christ. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2006. Kindle Edition, p. 368.
- Link to Book: Amazon Kindle Edition
- Quote Location: Page 368 in the Kindle edition.
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