Answering 439 Bible Contradictions

Answer: God decrees all things that come to pass, including unbelievers spending eternity in hell.

Problem: Some Scriptures say God wants all to be saved and is not willing that any should perish, while other verses say He hardens sinners and creates them for destruction.

Explanation: These apparent contradictions are not difficult to reconcile if the student of Scripture maintains honesty with each text. We’ll address two important theological principles first and then apply these principles to the individual passages.

Two Principles

The first principle is that the word “all” in Scripture may mean “all without exception” or “all without distinction”. It depends on the context. When the Lord told Noah to take “all” of his household into the ark, He meant all without exception. But when Romans 11:32 says God would have “mercy on all”, it doesn’t mean all without exception (mercy on every single person) but all without distinction (both Jews and Gentiles). He shows no partiality (Ac. 10:34). Colossians 3:11 says Christ is “in all”, certainly not meaning that Christ is in every single person.

Imagine a boy returning home from an orchard. His mother asks: “Which fruit did you eat?” He says, “I ate them all.” He doesn’t mean all without exception; there are ten thousand trees on the property. No, he means all without distinction. He ate every kind: oranges, lemons, bananas, and tomatoes.

The second principle is that in God there are two wills. Some theologians distinguish three wills in God, but we’ll address only two here. First, there is God’s decretive will, meaning all that God decrees will come to pass and cannot be thwarted. Isaiah 46:10 is an example of God’s decretive will. “Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’”

Also, Lamentations 3:37 says, “Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?” The WCF says, “God, from all eternity, has, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and unchangeably ordained whatever comes to pass.”

God’s second will is called his permissive will, that which God desires in some sense but can be thwarted. Anytime a person sins he breaks God’s permissive will, as God doesn’t want His creatures to lie, steal, or cheat but he allows this to happen. God’s permissive will is subservient to His decretive will. For a thorough treatment of God’s two wills, read John Piper’s article called “Are There Two Wills in God?”

The Passages

Now it’s time to apply these principles to passages that appear to contradict. First Timothy 2:4 says, “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” The word “all” means all without distinction not all without exception. We know this because the word “all” is used three other times in the surrounding verses, each meaning all without distinction. For example, in 2:1, we are to pray for all kinds of people (men, women, black, white, short, tall), not for all eight billion people on earth. Others apply the second principle to this verse, saying that God “desires” all to be saved in the permissive will sense, not the decretive will sense.

Second Peter 3:9 says that God is “not wishing that any should perish”. Some apply the first principle to this verse, while others apply the second principle. Either way, we know it does not mean that God decrees every person to go to heaven (Mt. 7:13-14). We also know that no one can be saved nor wants to be saved unless God unilaterally changes his heart (Ac. 13:48; Jn. 6:65).

Similarly, Ezekiel 18:32 says: “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” On one level, God takes no pleasure when people die without salvation and longs for people to repent (Mt. 22:37), just as he takes no pleasure when Bob cheats on his taxes, Susan sleeps with her boyfriend, Thabo prays to his ancestors, and Bruce divorces his innocent wife.

But there are other passages that speak clearly about God’s decretive will. What God has ordained cannot happen otherwise. God “hardens whom he wills” (Rm. 9:18). He ordained that Judas would betray him (Jn. 12:4). Proverbs 16:4 says, “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.”

Some closing lessons are as follows. (1) The breaking of God’s permissive will (which happens every second) cannot overcome God’s declarative will. Joseph’s brothers disobeyed God by lying and stealing and selling their brother into slavery, but in the end, God’s will was accomplished. “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Gn. 50:20).

(2) Sinners go to hell because of their rebellion. The wages of sin is death (Rm. 6:23). No man can blame God for the condemnation he faces. Scripture says every guilty sinner will be “inexcusable” (Rm. 2:1), speechless one day before God (Rm. 3:19). (3) God’s highest desire is not that every person be saved but that He showcase the full scope of his glory (Rm. 9:23-23).