THE SINCERITY OF GOD’S INVITATION
When we speak of the goodness of God, we must be honest enough to let Scripture define that goodness—and bold enough to reject any system that makes the Lord appear arbitrary or unjust. Many claim that God, from all eternity, unconditionally decreed some people to salvation and others to damnation, allowing no real possibility for repentance among the non-elect. But if this is true, then every call to repentance becomes little more than a hollow echo—an offer made to those who, by divine decree, cannot possibly respond. And no matter how it is dressed up, that does not reflect the God revealed in Christ Jesus.
If God commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30), and if He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked but desires the wicked to turn and live (Ezekiel 18:23; 33:11), then we must take those words seriously. We cannot claim that God “wants” men to repent on the one hand while saying He withholds from most the very ability to do so on the other. That would make His commands a form of judgment rather than an expression of mercy, and His invitations a form of condemnation rather than grace. The Scripture never presents God that way.
If the gospel invitation is universal—and the New Testament declares that it is (Mark 16:15; Revelation 22:17)—then it must be sincerely extended to all. A real offer requires a real possibility. Otherwise we are forced to believe that God laments the destruction of sinners He Himself rendered incapable of responding. This is not the God who so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). This is not the Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to pursue the one (Luke 15:4). This is not the Christ who wept over Jerusalem because they would not, not because they could not (Luke 19:41–42).
The character of God matters. His goodness matters. His trustworthiness matters. Any theology that portrays Him as double-minded in His invitations or selective in His mercy must be weighed carefully against the revelation of God in Jesus Christ. And the Christ we meet in the Gospels is earnest in His calls, sincere in His compassion, and genuinely willing that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
Therefore, we must hold firmly to what the Bible actually teaches: God desires salvation for all; Christ died for all; the Spirit convicts all; and whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:13). Anything less diminishes the goodness of God and misrepresents the gospel.
BDD
