Does God love everyone equally; don’t be one of the bad kids!

God bless you! He will help you go through your years, and may He give you strength, and cloth you with the image of Christ!

Hi Derek,

Yes, Jesus came to heal the sick, not the well, and he would leave behind the ninety-nine sheep who do not need further attention just to save the one who does

I took your point to heart and re-read the article with that eye, and even changed a few things to make the point clearer, but the reality is, we shouldn’t sugar coat God’s personality or misrepresent it because it doesn’t feel “right”

Also, God definitely has his favorites, I am not sure why you think he doesn’t, ie: Enoch, Noah, Abraham, David, etc…

These people all walked with God in a way that delighted him, and God had a very special place of friendship reserved for them

Regarding favoritism, God doesn’t show favoritism when it comes to judging sin, the Bible is clear on that, as God does not lower or raise his righteous standards for any reason; sin is sin

Hi Kate,

Thank you for taking the time to come by and write, you have some good points, and I appreciate keeping things calm even though we have a different point of view

Beyond that, I am really sorry to hear that you have had negative experiences with people who did not love God enough to love those whom they wanted to reach–that is the very type of attitude and personality type that we are undoubtedly against

I have led a life of extreme sin, digging deep into drugs, bad relationships, pornography, greed, deceit and outright lying, not to mention all the time I wasted in the process, but people look at me now and would never see any of that

It is really weird that people judge books by their cover and I am sorry to hear that it has happened to you in such a negative way

Regarding the way people react to hearing statements like the article title, I have thought a lot about this, and I look to the authors of the Bible, and even Jesus himself, as a pattern for conduct, as I know that not everything they said pleased the people around them, ie:

James 4:4
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God

Mark 7:18
“Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’?

1 Corinthians 3:1-3
Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men?

Matthew 7:21
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

And to be totally up front, a little controversy isn’t a bad thing as long as it isn’t hurtful or contradicts scripture, and we wouldn’t be having this discussion without it!

Hi Frank,

Some interesting points, thank you for taking the time to write everything out, let’s dig in!

The first point I want to clarify, is your quotation of Romans 9 and 1, and your assertion that God’s wrath is only for the living–this point is completely false, and I would like to know where your scriptural basis is coming from

Jesus was slain before the creation of the world, and his sacrifice was for all, not just those who are dead or living at a particular time

As noted below, the same standard of judgment will be used for both the living and the dead, his wrath is not selective based on whether someone is currently living in sin or someone has died in it–these are not separate cases as you can see below, and it says Jesus even went and preached to the dead (a bit of a mind-blower) because of this fact

Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse

Revelation 13:8
All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world

1 Peter 3:18-20
For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built

1 Peter 4:6
For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit

The last two passages are important, as Jesus did not hop into a time machine to preach “to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah”, he literally went and preached to the dead!

Psalm 68:18
When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even from the rebellious—that you, O LORD God, might dwell there

Also, I agree that sin is sin in the eyes of God, but it is important to note that people who are going to heaven and hell will be rewarded according to the things they have done in life, so even if someone was “good” but did not accept Jesus, they are going to have a different experience in hell than someone who lived a life of perpetual sin and was given over to wickedness–not that there is a “fun” version of hell waiting for anyone, but there is a distinction of punishment/reward in eternity based on people’s lives, otherwise God would not be just as giving the same punishment or reward to all makes no sense

Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books

For those who do not know God either as part of the Christian or Jewish covenant, they will be judged according to their consciences, so just because someone did not hear about God does not mean they are automatically going to hell–this is one of the biggest errors in modern Christian theology

Romans 2:12-16
All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares

For the point about some people not being destined for hell, the references you cite are not relevant to your point, as God still destroyed Sodom, and because he spared the Israelites it did not mean they went to heaven or hell–God may have changed his mind in the moment about their earthly existence, but these passages give no information as to what impact his decision had on their eternal dwelling place

However, just as food for thought, God can change his mind even about those whose names are written in the book of life as well, as Jesus himself promised that those who overcome sin have his personal guarantee that their names will not be blotted out of the book of life, which shows that it is indeed possible to be removed from among those who will enter God’s eternal reward

Revelation 3:5
He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels

Revelation 20:12
And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

Revelation 20:15
If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire

Hebrews 6:4-6
It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace

Also, regarding your notion that we should not hate sinners, we are not supposed to judge people outside of the church, but speak firmly to those within, and I have not read anywhere where we are supposed to hate people outside the body of Christ that sin or reject God, disregard maybe, but not hate

Based on this, the paradox you suggest is non-existent, as trying to line up God’s behavior with ours in this particular area is something we are specifically told not to do anyways

1 Corinthians 5:12-13
What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside

Matthew 10:14-15
If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town

I really enjoy your point of view, it made me think!