Is Everyone Given Enough Time to Repent and Come to Christ?

Question from correspondent:

I’m not certain how to word this question exactly. I really would appreciate Steve Gregg’s thoughts on the topic though.

Is everyone given enough time to repent and come to Christ?

The context of my question is: I became a Christian in my early 20s. I sometimes think about what if I would have died before then. I was in a bad car accident at the age of 19 and lived. I became a follower of Jesus a year later. If I would have died in the accident, I would have been lost forever. Someone I know passed away yesterday in a horrific car accident at the age of 22. He was not following Jesus. I viewed him as a kid still. He was still so young and seemed to be figuring life out and things concerning God. Some lost people seem to get so much more time to repent and have much longer lives. Is this something I just have to trust in God’s sovereignty over? I am just trying to reason this out in my own head as my youngest brother mourns the loss of his best friend. It has been heavy on my heart. Will God make sure to preserve the life of one who will eventually come to repentance in this life at some point down the road? Doesn’t He desire their salvation enough to preserve them if he foresees them doing so?

Response from Steve Gregg:

Evangelical Christianity sometimes gives the impression that God hates sinners, and that He looks for opportunities to condemn them, if they do not meet the strict conditions for salvation that He has set. One may almost get the impression that when a sinner dies unrepentant, God has a "gotcha!" or "snooze you lose" attitude toward him or her. The opposite is true. God has no pleasure in the death even of the wicked, and desires that all people will repent. It was because of God's love for sinners, and His determination to save all that are lost, that Christ was sent. If anyone for whom Christ died is ultimately lost, it would be a loss to God and Christ, who paid so much to prevent such an outcome.

We don't all get what we deserve, and life is not fair to us. But this is not the most important thing. The greatest injustice would be for God not to get what He deserves and for Christ not to receive all that He died for. I believe God is determined to save all that He can save, and that He will seek any valid justification for saving any person that He can possibly find. He is a legal expert and has all the data available to Him, all of which He deploys in the effort to save the lost one. I find it difficult to deny that He will ingeniously find ways of getting His way.

Oof.

What a theological misstep. It seems that Steve Gregg is open to the possibility that those who would have been saved had they not die will be saved anyway, which is totally bogus. Either that or he gave a total non-answer. Definitely concerned about this man’s theology.

Not sure where you are getting that at all.

In his famous Ten Shekels and Shirt sermon, Paris Reidhead quoted the story of the young Moravian missionaries who sold themselves into slavery in the West Indies so they could witness to other slaves on the plantation. As their ship was leaving, they yelled to their families "May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward for His suffering.” They we’re not going for the sake of the heathen but for Jesus’s sake.

God does not want anyone to perish but wants everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). It is absurd to think that God will not do all that He can to get what He wants.

havok20x,

You have good reason to be "concerned about this man's theology."

Such theology leads to statements like this;

"It is absurd to think that God will not do all that He can to get what He wants."

It's an affront to the very Being of God. It's a misrepresentation of His very Character.

________________________

"Then Job answered the LORD, and said, "I know that Thou canst do all things,And that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted." Job 42:1,2

"Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors,remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
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’" Isaiah 46:8-10

//‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose’"//

Straight from the mouth of God. He will get what He wants.

But you have to look at the question that Steve Gregg is answering. The young man literally asked what would happen to somebody who died before they had the chance to get saved. Steve’s answer is that God is going to do something to get what he wants. If you take his statement to its necessary conclusion, it can only lead to a theology in which God saves people who would have been saved had they still lived, but did not Have the "Opportunity "to actually be saved.

There is no Bible verse, descriptive passage, or even the suggestion that this will occur. The only theological system in which this works is open theism. Open theism is a heresy. TMK, I want you to know that I’m not disagreeing with you personally. I cannot recall anything you have said that would suggest that you yourself are an open theist. However, whenever you post things by this man, his errant theology is so obvious and so flagrant that it is nearly impossible to ignore. This isn’t just a matter of a difference of opinion, or an acceptable interpretation of Scripture. This is a matter of worshiping two completely different Gods. It appears after reading Steve Greg’s bio, his own words, and understanding his story , I can conclude nothing other than this man is a heretic. If he is a brother, he’s going to receive discipline from the Lord for teaching errant theology, which gives people security for eternal life when they should absolutely have none. If he isn’t receiving discipline from the Lord, he is an illegitimate son and lost.

I have not had to do any research on this man outside of his website to recognize his terrible theology. However, I do check to see if other people have agreed With my assessments of his theology. I am sad to say that they do. I have no desire to slander him. However his theology is dangerous.

I can tell you with 100% certainty that Steve G is NOT an open theist. He has disputed vigorously with those who try to convince him otherwise.

So that is not his angle in his response. I think his main point is that most evangelicals think that God is against sinners, not for them. He may send them to hell but He does not want to do so and does what He can to not do so.

Having listened to Gregg’s own words on his own program, he is not opposed to open theism nor does he believe it is a dangerous theology. He is quite fine with it.

See his debate with James White on calvinism vs arminianism. However, that debate is 7 years old, if you have any newer information to update us on Gregg’s theology, I am happy to hear it.

He probably doesn’t believe it is heresy, that is true (nor do I). But I have seen him counter the idea time and again on various platforms.

Open Theism simply holds that God does not know the future because the future does not exist *now*. There is nothing to know. Obviously there are reasonable grounds to dispute this idea. But I don’t think it is heretical to believe the future does not exist now. Nor is it it heretical to say God does not know what doesn’t exist. For example, God does not know about circles or spheres with sharp corners. It’s not heresy to say that.

"For example, God does not know about circles or spheres with sharp corners. It’s not heresy to say that."

A very non-sensical example Todd. These are things which can never exist. They're not only unscientific but illogical as well. And also, since you know about them, and the stupidity associated with such, God certainly knows about them and their utter stupidity as well.
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Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding." - Job 38:4

God is an eternal God, and he knows all things as present. In God’s mind, all things are one point, not a succession of things. God’s knowledge does not depend upon the revolutions of time. His knowledge is outside of years and days. He comprehends the past and the future as one. He considers all things of eternity as one simple knowledge. God’s knowledge is co-eternal with him. He is the first and the last, the beginning and the ending. Compared to God, all creation is reduced to nothing. The variety and changes in the world make no new objects in the mind of God. He does not know one thing now and another later. Though there is a succession of events as they are brought to pass, there is no succession in the mind of God. God knows what shall happen and the order that it will be brought upon the stage of the world. If God is eternal, how bold and foolish it is for a mortal to question his counsels and actions. How can we who are so weak creatures that we cannot understand yesterday, presume to measure the motions of eternity by our scanty intellects? We are not able to foresee an unexpected accident that falls to blast a well-laid plan. If we cannot understand the motions of the sea or the nature of light, how shall we dare to censure the actions of an eternal God that is so infinitely beyond our reach? The counsels of a boundless being are not to be scanned by the brain of a silly worm that breathes but a few minutes in the world. How can eternity be judged by a creature of time? Whenever, therefore, any unworthy notion of the counsels and works of God is suggested to us by Satan or our own corrupt hearts, let us look backward to God’s eternal existence and our own short duration, and silence ourselves as did Job.
(Stephen Charnock)

I just bought Charnock’s book on the attributes of God a few weeks ago. I hope that quote is in there! So good!

Here is a link that defines open theism: https://www.theopedia.com/open-theism

While Gregg certainly does not say everything in this article, he does use the same lingo and he does espouse some of those positions, and that is important. It is hard to find him saying much on the topic. What I have heard seems to say otherwise.

Back to the original post: If someone was 3 days from hearing the Gospel and being saved but they died, would God send them to hell or would something else happen? Steve Gregg seems to indicate something else. (As a note, I do not believe that the above situation is even a possibility .)

I guess I’m just not reading his response that way. I think he’s just saying that God is more fair than we can hope to imagine. It doesn’t mean that everyone will be saved. Abraham asked the rhetorical question "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” I certainly think He will.

" He will seek any valid justification for saving any person that He can possibly find. He is a legal expert and has all the data available to Him, all of which He deploys in the effort to save the lost one. I find it difficult to deny that He will ingeniously find ways of getting His way.”

That was in response to a young man asking about his brothers friend who did not have the opportunity to be saved but who seemed to be investigating the claims of Christianity. The above response is absolutely inappropriate to tell that young man. He gives him a sense of hope that is not there. TMK, you don’t have to debate me on whether or not you think that’s what Steve Greg is saying. I appreciate your responses. Again, My comments aren’t a reflection of you. If Steve Greg does not believe the things that I think he does, then this statement needs to be revisited and adjusted, because if the boy did not come to know the Lord, there will be no heaven for him. To give anyone a sense of hope when there is none is a terrible trick.

I too find the scriptures to declare Gods desire to seek and save His lost sheep. To this end, I also find the scriptures to plainly even pointedly demonstrate Gods willingness to exhaust Himself in the crucifixion of His only begotten Son- He will give all the grace one could ever hope to use.

Can we all agree, that one must see clearly in the light of Christ their own sin/self before they are willing to repent (die to self) and obey the gospel that they heard ?

When Christ was crucified there were two others one heard the gospel in the blessings Jesus spoke over those whom were killing Him and that one believed and realizing his own wretchedness in the light of truth, he repented and humbled himself and he received grace and a promise.
The other had the exact same opportunity, yet he was not prepared... he simply would not humble himself even after the first of the two cried out to him in an attempt to draw his attention to the reality of the situation in hopes he too would realize and seek mercy,... but he didn’t.

(For me) it has little to nothing to do with who wrote or said what outside the scriptures.. and they contain everything needed for life and godliness so the question itself (the OP), is an affront to the mercy of God- full stop
How can anyone suggest that God should do more than give His only begotten Son on behalf of those whom hated and ultimately killed Him!??
,... it’s incredulous to even suggest such a thing.could be possible🤷🏽”â™‚️

Having said that, for a person take such a position where we the body are somehow exempt and the onus is on God alone is not only obviously ineffective regarding the advancement of the kingdom (where people will increase in opportunity to repent) but in fact sabotages those very ends in that they downplay the reality of eternal separation from God and the reality that millions die and go to hell every day on our watch!! You may not can earn grace but it is 100% conditional according to scripture meaning we can and often are failing Gods grace as we act all too confident in our own salvation yet have no concern for those round about us ?!! It’s not about how much time we get to repent, if it were then indeed the onus would fall to God,... but I submit to you that our very salvation is expressed in our obedience to the command to preach the gospel and make disciples ie; concern for the salvation of the lost... which means it is us who have failed to humble ourselves before God and offer ourselves as living sacrifices. Instead we play the laodiceans part and are all too confident in our own standing while we are blind, naked, poor - we are deluded by the cares and concerns of the world, we have been brought into bondage by comforts and conveniences and are too satisfied to tend to the dirty work of a servant of God but are all too willing to be a servant of this world - facts 🤷🏽”â™‚️
So the question isn’t wether God is giving His best effort to give us enough time, He demonstrated that on the cross,...
the question is wether we can testify that we gave our best in the time we had to share what we had received...??
You know,... the ten talents 🙏🏻