Hebrews 10:31
Hebrews 10:31 (see also Matthew 25:41)
It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
John Calvin writes: “Solomon also teaches us that not only was the destruction of the ungodly foreknown, but the ungodly themselves have been created for the specific purpose of perishing (Prov. 16:4).” (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: Romans and Thessalonians, pp.207-208, emphasis mine)
Calvin adds: “At this point in particular the flesh rages when it hears that the predestination to death of those who perish is referred to the will of God.” (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: Romans and Thessalonians, p.208, emphasis mine)
Calvinism teaches that by decree, God created a class of the damned, that is, those who were “predestined to death,” allegedly for the glory of God the Father. However, Hebrews 10:31 proves otherwise. This verse says that if you exhaust God’s patience, you will “fall into the hands of the living God.” If you are not supposed to be there, and you end up there, and if predestination works as Calvinism teaches, then predestination isn’t working the way it’s supposed to work, or else there is flawed logic in Calvinism.
John Calvin comments: “He concludes from this that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, because mortal man, however inimical he may be, cannot carry his enmity beyond death, but the power of God is not confined to such narrow limits. We often escape from men, we cannot escape the judgment of God.” (Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries: Hebrews and I and II Peter, p.150, emphasis mine)
Pity the poor soul who was “created for the specific purpose of perishing.”
Falling into the judgment of God is not by His design, but by our “neglect” for so great a salvation (Hebrews 2:3) that He offers to all by having sent His Son to die on a cross for the sins of the “whole world” (1st John 2:2), having “taste[d] death for everyone.” (Hebrews 2:9) If we do fall anywhere, let it be into the hands of Jesus who will never let us go. (John 10:27-30) 2nd Samuel 24:14 states: “Then David said to Gad, ‘I am in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the LORD for His mercies are great, but do not let me fall into the hand of man.’”
Matthew 25:41: “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.’”
Question: How is it possible to “fall” into God’s hands, if that’s exactly where God allegedly, predetermined that the vast majority of mankind would end up?
Answer: If the Calvinist doctrine of Unconditional Election was true, then the verse should have stated: “It is a terrifying thing to be destined by God to be unwanted for salvation.”
Question: What does falling imply?
Answer: An accident. For instance, if you fall into money, it implies that you were not supposed to have the money, but you accidentally ended up with it. The opposite is also true. If you fall into a mud hole, you ended up in the wrong place by accident. Good or bad, you ended up in a place you were not supposed to be.
Question: If the Calvinistic doctrine of Unconditional Reprobation was true, shouldn’t this verse read: “Prepared for the devil and his angels and those who are predestined to death by the eternal good pleasure of God”?
Answer: God “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1st Timothy 2:4) Don’t exhaust God’s patience for you (2nd Peter 3:9), and “fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31), and end up in a place that was prepared for someone else, namely, for “the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41)
