(This is a follow-up to “Finding The Narrow Gate”)

I have to disagree with you on the narrow gate subject.  You wrote:

 

"God says that everyone has the opportunity and freedom to choose Him – regardless of what background we come from.  The very universe screams of the nature of God, so all are without excuse (Rom 1:20).

There are tribes out there who either do not know of Jesus or believe in a different god.  Some of these tribes are small, isolated, little communities.  The children are brought up believing what the parents tell them to believe; the cycle continues, and they all go to hell.

Jesus says: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting FIRE, prepared for the devil and his angels..." (Matthew 25:41).  If I do not accept Jesus, I will burn in hell for all eternity because God’s justice demands it. You say God is trying to keep us from hell by accepting Him when He CLEARLY has the power to just cast us into non-existence.  With God, all things are possible.  It seems like He is trying to scare us into loving Him… kind of like a parent spanks their child to get them to obey.  He is the one who chose to send the wicked, disobedient, and nonbelievers to hell.  Was it not God’s idea for this?  He’s not doing anything to stop it, even if He does not approve of it.  Apparently, He does approve of it because He’s not changing it when He has the power to do so.

Sincerely,
Justice League

Dear Justice League,

When we begin to talk about hell and the judgment of God, we must be very careful to not speak about what we don’t understand.  Why God chose to create hell along with heaven is like trying to comprehend the length of infinity… only God knows.  We must be very careful to not overstep our bounds and make the mistake of speaking about things too wonderful for us (Job 42:1-3).  God is just (Rev 16:7), and we may not understand why He created hell, but we can know that He made the right decision.

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God, I think, had predestined Judas' path from the foundation of the world.  Afterward, he hung himself.  Why is he called a traitor?  How else would Jesus have died on the cross for our sins?  This is hard to digest.   Help.

Sincerely,
Flummoxed

Dear Flummoxed,

There is a difference between knowing what someone will do and making them do it.  If you see a baseball player hit a ball high into the air, you know that it will eventually come down – and you might even be able to predict fairly accurately where it will land.  Wisdom and experience allow us to predict quite a few things… now imagine how accurately God can predict things (Pr 2:6)!

Judas had a choice just like all of us do (Deu 30:19).  Jesus died for the sins of the whole world (Jhn 3:16) – even Judas could have taken advantage of it.  Jesus warned Judas of the consequences of betraying Him at the Last Supper (Matt 26:24-25).  Even as Judas betrayed Jesus to the mob, Jesus pleaded with him (Lk 22:48).  If Judas had no choice, then Jesus’ admonitions make no sense.

If Judas hadn’t betrayed Christ, God would have still caused His plan to come together… just like Mordecai said in Esther 4:14, “Deliverance would have arisen from another place”.  If Judas had done the right thing, God’s plan wouldn’t have been stopped.

My wife of thirty-five years has been battling cancer since 1998.  In 2007, she was told that she was terminal.  She has recently lost over 120 pounds, has no desire to eat, then loses what she does eat.  Doctors have tried everything; two doctors have recommended that she smoke marijuana.  Besides it being illegal in Florida, spiritually, she feels uncomfortable.  We have searched through the Scriptures with no avail. Please help.

Sincerely,
Struggling Spouse

Dear Struggling Spouse,

We are so very sorry for your suffering; we here at AYP cannot imagine how difficult this trial is for you and your wife.  We will do our very best to give you the Bible answer to such a sensitive question.  There are two things to consider:

1. The Bible says that we should obey the laws of the land (Rom 13:1-4).  If something is illegal – it is illegal.  The Lord would have us abide by the laws of the government, even when those laws are difficult to follow.
2. There is nothing inherently wrong with trying to reduce your wife’s discomfort.  Pr 31:6 specifically said that it is appropriate for a dying person to receive ease from their pain.  You can feel completely comfortable giving legal painkillers to your wife as she endures these difficult final stages of suffering.

We know that these two principles do not necessarily make your choices easier, but hopefully, that clarifies the doctrinal struggle you have been having.

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