The Bible actually has things to say about that mindset. Namely, if you think “I can go back to sin and just get forgiven afterwards no biggie,” and then do so, you’re not going to get forgiven (Hebrews 10.) But that doesn’t get preached much, probably because it’s easy to get it twisted and think that an inadvertent slip into sin will have the same effect.
The older I get, the more dangerous I see Calvinism as being. Mind you, I believe it is true, but I see why it is difficult to explain. The child-like laws, given to literal children, seem to me to be a way of gently guiding people into the deeper waters. Unfortunately some people refuse to ever grow up, not just in Christianity but in every single aspect of life. It is so much easier to just play make-believe and spare people’s feelings (namely, probably the people doing that are attempting to spare their own). We are wounded, due to the effects of sin, and then for lack of knowledge the people perish.
The very surface level of Calvinism, being that God is sovereign in all, is something I agree with, but it includes predestination, which is where I take issue. Why would God not offer the same mercy to everyone? And when He does offer mercy to someone, why would He not let us choose? He is sovereign, yes, but He is also loving, and love is not forcing some people to become model citizens while letting others perish without ever having any hope of salvation.
I do believe predestination is technically true in that God already knows the future and knows who will or won’t ultimately be saved, but that doesn’t preclude free will being an operative part of what gets us there.
Romans 9:22 gives one possible answer to that:
What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
Like an author who makes both villains and heroes, and normies too I suppose… maybe, for the sake of the particular flavor of spice that they choose.
And Hebrews 10 also tells a bit of the story: God offers the entire world His son, and refusing that just might leave someone hopeless. Like an infant who died at birth, it’s sad but you don’t keep it in the house, give it the room and perhaps even college fund that you prepared in advance for it. It’s not its’ fault, but it’s dead so… you put it outside like trash (special trash, with a ceremony, but not like a “family member”, who gets to stay inside the house and be fed and can play with toys and such).
Setting blame aside, something either produces fruit or it doesn’t, period. When you turn on your computer, you expect it to work, not ignore you, and if it doesn’t, then after all the attempts to fix it yield no results, you throw it out and get a new one that will. All this is what we already do, here and now. Whatever He does… could very well be similar? Or not, but I have no problems with the idea that he would let some computer programs fictional characters human beings be discarded forever. The creator gets to decide, it has nothing to do with “fair”, it’s just what is.
But honestly I have no idea, beyond that it’s possible:-).
