I have never read in scripture where Jesus or any of His apostles says to a lost person “You were born destined for hell, and there’s not a thing you can do about it. You were eternally decreed for hell and you cannot change the outcome. You do not have the right or the opportunity to be saved, because I want you to be lost in hell for all eternity. My foreknowledge prevents you from being saved. The Lord’s omniscience has blocked you from responding to the gospel call of salvation, so your eternal fate is sealed in stone”
Instead, I find the opposite. I find where Jesus says
“Follow me”
“If any man hear my voice..”
“Whosoever”
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
“Enter ye in at the strait gate…”
“Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
“And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”
“Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.”
“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
Jesus made salvation available “among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem”
“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem”
The Lord says through His disciples/apostles:
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent”
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
“And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.”
“Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.”
“Understandest thou what thou readest?”
“And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord”
“Whosoever”
Whenever a lost individual is wondering how to be saved, is wondering how to be born again, we do not read where the individual questions God’s omniscience, wondering if it’s hopeless due to wondering if the outcome cannot be changed.
Instead, we read where they either asked or said
“Men and brethren, what shall we do?”
“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
“Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God”
“We will hear thee again of this matter.”
“How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.”
“See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?”
Even those who we read about rejecting the gospel when it’s first presented to them, none of them use God’s foreknowledge as an excuse to not be saved, or question whether they can be.
Instead, we read where they either said or was said to have reacted in this manner below.
“Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.”
“some mocked”
“ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye”
“When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth”
In all these instances, not a single one was told by Jesus and His disciples “You were born destined for hell, and there’s not a thing you can do about it. You were eternally decreed for hell and you cannot change the outcome. You do not have the right or the opportunity to be saved, because I want you to be lost in hell for all eternity. My foreknowledge prevents you from being saved. The Lord’s omniscience has blocked you from responding to the gospel call of salvation, so your eternal fate is sealed in stone.”
Instead, they were told how to be saved, beginning on Pentecost, just as the Lord said.
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”
And not a single one of the lost individuals who were seekers and got saved questioned God’s omniscience of wondering if their salvation is hopeless, due to wondering if the outcome could not be changed.
“But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
Instead, the reason people are lost is not due to God, but due to people receiving not the love of the truth.
But notice something important in that verse I quote from. Paul says “that they might be saved.” Paul didn’t say they cannot be saved, or they cannot choose to be saved, or they were decreed to be lost. He said “that they might be saved”. This shows salvation was/is genuinely able to be received for those who love the truth.
And because God does not change, the OT confirms the same principle as the NT: foreknowledge does not set in stone one’s fate. God warns, humans respond, and the outcome is conditional. Ezekiel 18 and Jeremiah 18 show this clearly.
