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Chapter: 14.39
(Section 14: Selective Salvation)
Copyright © Michael Bronson 1998 - 2005
BibleHelp.org

According to selective salvation, God randomly selected people to go to Heaven and Hell. That’s not a bad deal if you are one of the people selected to go to Heaven, but it’s devastating for the people selected to go to Hell for all eternity.

This latter part is what has caused so much trouble for Selective Salvationists. It has caused so much trouble that many Selective Salvationists now deny it’s part of this doctrine. They willingly admit God has arbitrarily predestined certain people to Heaven, but they adamantly deny He has predestined others to Hell. They say the Bible teaches only predestination to Heaven, not predestination to Hell. They say we have no right to read anything more into this doctrine.

They willingly admit these other people are going to Hell. They admit these people have no say in the matter and have no chance of going to Heaven. Yet, they say we have no right saying God predestined them to Hell. They say it is one of those matters for God, and God alone to resolve, and we have no business implying something the Bible does not clearly state.

Selective Salvationists find it awkward to explain how a loving and fair God could condemn a person to never ending misery and punishment when he hasn’t even done anything wrong. They find it awkward to explain how a person can be condemned before he was created. This part of the doctrine has become quite an embarrassment to these people.

Despite their protest, the facts are inescapable. If God has predestined some people to Heaven and is sending the rest to Hell with no say in the matter, we have no choice but to conclude He has predestined them to Hell. There is no other way to look at this.

This denial of the obvious reminds me of the selective blindness used in the "Separate but Equal" doctrine. In the late 1900s, Homer Plessy (who was 1/8 th black) was arrested for riding in a railroad car reserved for whites. He was charged with violating an 1890 Louisiana law separating railroad cars by race. He fought his arrest all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court (Plessy v Ferguson). In 1896 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Plessy and established a new era of discrimination. A new legalized form of slavery was created.

Plessy v Ferguson legalized the separation of races in public accommodations. It legitimized the "Separate but Equal" philosophy. Blacks were considered equal, but different. Justice Henry Brown wrote, "We consider the underlining fallacy of the plaintiff’s argument to consist in the assumption that the enforced separation of the two races stamps the colored race with a badge of inferiority. If this be so, it is not by reason of anything found in the act, but solely because the colored race chooses to put that construction upon it." This ruling made it legal to give whites luxurious accommodations (in railroads, bathrooms, etc.) and give blacks significantly inferior accommodations.

Basically, the court was saying if these laws made blacks feel like third class citizens, it was only because the blacks incorrectly perceived it this way. Many people were shocked and outraged with this ruling. If you follow this line of thinking, the blame of any offense lies with the victim, not the aggressor. For example, the only reason a mugging victim would feel victimized is because he chose to incorrectly perceive it this way.

Not all Selective Salvationists take this evasive stance. Some Selective Salvationists come right out and say God, in His sovereignty, chose certain people to go to Heaven and the remainder to Hell. In fact, they are a little puzzled why these other people are embarrassed by this part of the doctrine. Although I strongly disagree with their doctrine of selective salvation, I respect their honesty in being straightforward about their views.

Other Chapters in this Section

Home
Up
PART 1: What is Selective Salvation?
PART 2: What Does the Bible say about Selective Salvation?
PART 3: Problems with Selective Salvation

How do you KnowYou are Saved?
Are We Lying when We are Witnessing?
Children of the Elect
Statistics do not Support Selective Salvation
Why are there so Many Religions?
Can We Resist God's Call to Repentance?
Can We Seek the Lord?
Why was Hell Created?
Has God Really Selected People at Random to go to Hell?
Why did the Reformation take place?

PART 4: “Choice” –The Achilles’ Heel of Selective Salvation
PART 5: Difficult Questions Answered
Appendix: Foundational Documents used by Selective Salvationists

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