Friday, January 21, 2011

False Teaching re The Problem of Suffering, Evil and Hell

False Teaching #6 – A loving God would not allow suffering and evil, and He would not send people to hell.

People who make such statements totally disregard the fact that God chose to give man the freedom to make his own choices regarding living in the safety and security of obedience to Him or deciding to disregard God’s one command of prohibition to him and suffer the consequences. I believe the purpose of that instruction was to provide a basis through which man could show his love for God through obedience. Jesus was very clear in declaring obedience as evidence of such love.

John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.”

The Apostle John faithfully echoed this truth as taught to him by the Savior. The language used in the Complete Jewish Bible translation is very clear.

1 John 5:2–3 “Here is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God, we also do what he commands. For loving God means obeying his commands.”

People who hold to this reasoning are basically stating that a loving God would only have created men to function as robots, a being that could not in effect truly love Him. Even from a perspective of human reasoning, that would be like creating toys to play with.

Those who hold to this reasoning also discount the character of God. Not only is God love, but He is also righteous and just. The one character trait does not preclude possession of the other as an attribute of God. Webster defines righteousness as “Doing, or according with, that which is right; yielding to all their due; just….” In other words, God’s righteousness demands that unrighteousness be judged.

Deuteronomy 32:4 “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”

Jeremiah 9:24 “But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.”


Righteous judgment demands that sin have consequences. God warned man from the beginning that sin would result in death. Scripture gives clear warning that judgment awaits the wicked and resurrection to new life awaits those who choose to accept God’s gift of salvation in Jesus.

Psalms 9:16–17 “The LORD is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.”

Matthew 10:28 “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”


Jesus was very clear in declaring very different future for the good (those declared righteous in Christ) and the wicked.

John 5:28–29 “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”


Our Creator, a God of love and righteousness, sovereignly chose instead to give man the freedom to make his own choices with the ability to truly love and in His omniscience (knowing before creation that man would choose to disobey Him) provided for man to be restored to righteousness and escape the judgment of sin through the willing sacrifice of His precious Son, Jesus Christ, who suffered that judgment for them.

Romans 5:17-18 “For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He
[God the Father] hath made Him [His Son Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” [brackets mine]

As our Creator, He had the right and authority to determine the appropriate judgment for sin and wickedness as identified according to the standards He established. Those who hold to the claim that God is not loving for allowing man the freedom to make his own choices refuse to accept that man is accountable for those choices—not God. God works within His creation through the choices of man. When He used evil kings to judge His people, those kings were acting in accordance with their own desires. Does this mean that God cannot choose to act supernaturally within His creation to accomplish His plans and purposes? Of course not.

Isaiah 64:8 “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.”

Isaiah 29:15–16 “Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?”


God is sovereign in power and authority and His character assures those actions to be loving and righteous. The problem for man is our limited ability to think and reason in light of those actions.

Isaiah 55:8–9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

It’s always interesting to me that people are very passionate about holding God accountable for His actions according to their own standards without regard to the accountability of man before God according to His standards.

As to why God allows sin and suffering, my simple explanation can be found at http://momsbiblejournal.com/Pages/topicalstudies.html.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You didn't address the suffering of the innocent such as children. I would like to read your thoughts on this.

Sharon said...

The suffering of those we consider "innocents" is always hard to understand. Bottom line is that man's choice to sin is the cause of sin and suffering in this world. Disease is just as much a consequence of that choice as are sin and evil. I also believe that the things we term as "natural disasters" are also a direct result of the effect of sin on the creation.

First of all, no one is "innocent" before God. That being said, I believe that God works through the suffering of those that fall in this category. I think sin is allowed to take its natural course except regarding as it touches the lives of people of faith. The promise of Romans 8:28 can only be claimed by those that love God.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

That being said, the determination of what is good becomes the issue, and only God can make that determination in holy righteousness. For example, when the children of true Christian parents are confronted with terrible disease, I believe God has a purpose for allowing that disease. Sometimes it is part of the process of growing the faith of the parents, sometimes it is showcasing the testimony of the parents/family regarding God's sufficiency to the lost and/or encouraging the faith of other believers, etc. I can't begin to get into all the possibilities, but I do know that God is love and God is truth. Therefore, everything that He allows to touch His children is allowed from a heart of love and the word of God is true and trustworthy.

By the way, I believe scripture reveals that God has a very tender heart for children; and I do not believe they are held eternally accountable until the time that only God knows they can and should be. Remember--God did not hold the children accountable for the sins of their parents when determining who was to enter the Promised Land.

Matthew 18:3–6 “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

I believe He provides for these children in a very special way through His Spirit just as He provides for the believer. When they die before their time, I believe they enter the presence of God--and no place is better. David knew that he would one day get to go to his child.

2 Samuel 12:23 “But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”

We are so limited in our ability to understand from a heavenly perspective as we wade through life with an earthly perspective. The Lord never promised us that we would not suffer, but He did promise that He would be with us at all times.

Matthew 28:20 “...lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

John 14:16–18 “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”

I hope this answer encourages your thinking in some way.