Reference: II Peter 3:9
Reading the above verse of scripture thatis found in the epistle written by the apostle Peter, we find that it mostcertainly is not Almighty God's will that any person be lost and end up beingdestroyed in the lake of fire. God is more than a thousand times more thanwilling to save a person from a life of sin than just to let them die in a lifeof sinful living and be completely destroyed in what the Bible terms as beingthe second death of the lake of fire.
Nowthere are many people who get the mistaken idea that God is not willing to savethem, but this is only a preconceived idea of Satan that he tries to use on aperson trying to discourage them. Almighty God will save any person who iswilling to come to him and Satan cannot do one thing to stop them, but hecertainly will put forth an effort and try his best.
Repentance itself is a total gift from Godthat he himself offers to every individual born into this world from the wombof their mother. There will of course be just a few who will accept the call torepentance as Jesus tells us in his word. God does not force anybody to servehim, but he does offer all the opportunity. There are many people that are toldthat God will hate and destroy them if they fail to serve him and obey hisword, but they are not being told the truth about this as the word of Godreveals it.
God does not destroy a person if theyrefuse to serve him. If a person refuses to obey the word of God this simplymeans that they love the pleasures of sin more than the things of God. Now tolove the pleasures of sin automatically means that a person loves the verythings that will utterly destroy them. We are told that the wages of sin isdeath. What this simply means is that a life of sinful living willautomatically lead a person to total destruction.
This total destruction consists of a verydissatisfied life in this present world and eventually the total destruction ofthe person in the lake of fire which is termed as being the second death tothose who refuse to obey God and his word. Our refusal to obey the gospel ofJesus Christ will automatically leave us prone to the power of sin that willabsolutely destroy us, body, soul, and spirit.
God's word of the Bible lets us know thesethings, but Satan keeps a person blinded from the truths of God's word thatwill set us free and give us eternal life. Satan cannot keep God from lettingpeople know that he has provided a means of escape from a destructive life ofsin. This way of escape from a life of sin was brought down to man by the LordJesus Christ and is revealed in the gospel.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only waythat man can come back to God, but Satan is forevermore keeping man blindedfrom it. The world of course knows about the gospel and how that Christ cameand died for the sins of mankind, but Satan is deceiving man through and by histactics causing man not to come to the knowledge of the truth revealed in thegospel. Satan has thousands of his false preachers in the world today preachinghundreds of false doctrines that is leading man astray from the truth. Only thetruth can set a person free from sin's powerful influence and destruction, butSatan has inspired his ministers to teach falsely to what the word of Godreveals and teaches. Sad to say there are no doubt many thousands of people whoare sincere in what they believe thinking that they are obeying God and hisword, but millions are being deceived without them being aware of it.
Jesus said that he would send wise men andprophets unto them, but he also said that these wise men and prophets would berejected and persecuted. There are no doubt many people who don't want nothingto do with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ thus proving that they love thepleasures sin and want absolutely nothing to do with God whatsoever. These typeof people are placing themselves in a position where God will turn themcompletely over to Satan for the destruction of themselves. God does notdestroy them, but rather he turns them over to Satan who is the destroyer.
Satan is the god of this world and anybodywho wants nothing to do with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, then God hasno alternative but to turn them over to Satan for their own destruction. Aperson who hates and despises to do what's right is of no benefit to God oranybody else. These type of people are a menace to mankind so God absolutelywill see to it that they will be destroyed.
We are told in the word of God that wehave the mind to choose life or death. Now everybody was born into this worldpossessing a carnal nature meaning that they will automatically obey and lovethe pleasures of sin, but when we come in contact with the gospel of JesusChrist and we are offered repentance from a life of sin, then we areresponsible for what we do from then on.
If we refuse to obey the gospel then weourselves are choosing the way of death. God does not send a person todestruction in the second death of the lake of fire, we do, if we fail to obeythe word of God revealed in the gospel. God does not hate nobody, but when aperson rejects the word of God and fails to do what's right then God turns awayfrom them and Satan will then have complete dominion over them. If a person hasaccepted God's way of redemption from sin through the knowledge of Christ andwas a partaker of the things of God and then turn their back on God and take upa life of sin again, then according to God's word there is no more chance forthem.
To go back into a life of sin can only bedone by a person's own decision. This is what Satan did when he rebelledagainst God. He chose the way he went and refused to obey the word of God. Weare not responsible for our sinful condition from birth, but we are when wecome to know that God has provided a way of our escape from a life of sin.Christ came to this earth and died for every person born into this world. Hisdeath and resurrection provided the way of escape from a life of sin and toreject this way will cause God to allow Satan to destroy us.
Millions of people are allowing Satan todeceive them thinking that sin cannot be completely overcome in our life, butaccording to God's own word his way is perfect and will absolutely redeem manfrom a complete life of sin. (Psalm 18:30)
People who are not willing to walk in thetruth of God's word as it is stated is not truthfully willing to serve God andcome out of a complete life of sin. The word of God very plainly reveals thefact that sin will be completely eraticated in the life of those who are trulyborn again of the water and the Spirit, but very few people there are that iswilling to accept this as the truth contained in the word of God. These type ofpeople are allowing their own hearts to deceive them thinking that God willoverlook their little white lies and their not-so-bad- sins, but a lot ofpeople are in for a great surprise....