Matthew 25:41
Matthew 25:41 (see also Hebrews 10:31)
“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.’”
Adrian Rogers explains: “If you go to Hell, you’ll be an intruder. Hell was not prepared for you. It was prepared for the Devil and his angels. But if you choose to follow Satan, you’ll follow him to Hell.” (Five Minutes After Death: Luke 16:19-31, emphasis mine)
According to the Calvinistic, Westminster Confession of Faith: “III. By the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto everlasting life; and others foreordained to everlasting death.” (III. Of God’s Eternal Decree, emphasis mine)
If by the alleged “decree of God,” God foreordained any of mankind to Hell, then why didn’t He instead say: Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for [you]?
Calvinist, Charles Spurgeon, comments: “What does he say to those on the left? ‘Depart, ye cursed.’ He does not say, ‘ye cursed of my father, but, ye cursed.’ And what else does he say? ‘into everlasting fire, prepared’—(not for you, but)—‘for the devil and his angels.’ Do you see how it is guarded, here is the salvation side of the question. It is all of God. ‘Come, ye blessed of my father.’ It is a kingdom prepared for them. There you have election, free grace in all its length and breadth. But, on the other hand, you have nothing said about the father—nothing about that at all. ‘Depart, ye cursed.’ Even the flames are said not to be prepared for sinners, but for the devil and his angels. There is no language that I can possibly conceive that could more forcibly express this idea, supposing it to be the mind of the Holy Spirit, that the glory should be to God, and that the blame should be laid at man’s door.” (Jacob and Esau, emphasis mine)
Spurgeon adds: “My soul revolts at the idea of a doctrine that lays the blood of man’s soul at God’s door. I cannot conceive how any human mind, at least any Christian mind, can hold any such blasphemy as that.” (Jacob and Esau, emphasis mine)
Single Predestinationist Calvinists believe in the doctrine of Preterition, which teaches that while God may not actively create people for Hell, He simply leaves them out of His will for Heaven, and thus they perish. However, this leaves very little difference with the Double Predestinationists, because if God had eternally created a class of the Calvinistically elect, then it stands to reason that all of the rest would be as equally, eternally damned as any demon.
John Calvin explains: “Though the reprobate were appointed to death by God’s secret judgment before they were born, yet as long as life is being offered to them they are not reckoned Satan’s heirs and fellows; their perdition emerges from their unbelief, it is uncovered; and before it was hidden.” (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: Matthew, Mark and Luke Vol. III, and James and Jude, p.118, emphasis mine)
When in doubt, the secret-will, always comes in handy. In other words, Hell was prepared for them! But, it’s a “secret”! While eternal life is offered to them (who of course are predestined to reject it), this alleged, eternal predetermination of making them “Satan’s heirs” is kept “hidden,” and uncovered only when they reject Christ. The problem with secret will theories is that they can be used to dismantle any Bible verse, and all that is offered for proof is mere speculation. Hence, the Double Predestinationists stand on the “secret” promises of God.
While the escape hatch for Calvinists may be a secret will, Calvinists respond that the escape hatch for Arminians is Foreknowledge. However, at least Foreknowledge is well established in the Bible as the basis for election (1st Peter 1:1-2), the basis for predestination (Romans 8:29) and the basis for the predetermined plans of God. (Acts 2:23) Can the Calvinist say the same for a secret will defense?
Obviously, some people will go to Hell, as in the “broad” road to destruction. (Matthew 7:13) The question, however, is whether that is by God’s design. Arminianism says no, as well as Single Predestinationist Calvinists. In contrast, the Double Predestinationists disagree, and teach that God, by necessity, indeed created a class of the damned, that is, the “non-elect,” who were predestined to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire:
Now comes the Double Predestinationist:
Single Predestinationist Calvinists, instead teach:
