Nothing can thwart the will of God

[Amanda_B]

Reading the Diary of St. Faustina and in need of some help from anyone who can enlighten me.

Perhaps this is a rather juvenile question but in the Diary of St. Faustina, she states a couple times that she came to understand that nothing can thwart the will of God. In addition, it is the will of God that all souls be saved, correct? So if this is the case, then how is it that anyone ends up in hell?

 

[balto]

Reading the Diary of St. Faustina and in need of some help from anyone who can enlighten me.

Perhaps this is a rather juvenile question but in the Diary of St. Faustina, she states a couple times that she came to understand that nothing can thwart the will of God. In addition, it is the will of God that all souls be saved, correct? So if this is the case, then how is it that anyone ends up in hell?

I think you are correct to say that the will of God cannot be thwarted and that God desires that all souls are saved. But I think we’re missing an important piece of the puzzle, which is that God desires that His love, which is freely given to us, is freely accepted by us. It might be more like God wills that we love freely, knows that the only proper object of our love is Him, and gives us everything we need to return to Him in heaven. This is not to say that God is somehow “selfish” because He purposefully created us to love Him. It’s actually in our best interests to love Him because that would be keeping with our natural purpose. People end up in hell because they choose to love something that is not God over God Himself. So in the end everybody ends up with what they love, it’s just that people in hell suffer eternally because they are eternally struggling against their natural end, which is God, for something infinitely lesser. Does this help?

 

[Cricket2]

Reading the Diary of St. Faustina and in need of some help from anyone who can enlighten me.

Perhaps this is a rather juvenile question but in the Diary of St. Faustina, she states a couple times that she came to understand that nothing can thwart the will of God. In addition, it is the will of God that all souls be saved, correct? So if this is the case, then how is it that anyone ends up in hell?

We all have a free will and can choose between God and other things, idols, money, power, sin. We can choose between life and death, eternal life or eternal death or hell. And only we as individuals can separate ourselves from God which is hell.

How horrible it must be to finally know that God exists, that he loves us and that we, through our own fault choose something less than Him and that love.

 

[Bob_Crowley]

Reading the Diary of St. Faustina and in need of some help from anyone who can enlighten me.

Perhaps this is a rather juvenile question but in the Diary of St. Faustina, she states a couple times that she came to understand that nothing can thwart the will of God. In addition, it is the will of God that all souls be saved, correct? So if this is the case, then how is it that anyone ends up in hell?

There’s a difference between will in the sense of desire, and will in the sense of naked power.

Suppose I’m the commander of a heavy tank, and in front of me is an enemy machine gun nest.

I’d much prefer that they surrender and save their lives, but if not, then they will have to be destroyed.

If I send out an offer with a white flag, and they respond to that, my will has been satisfied in the sense that I have achieved my desire.

But it they don’t surrender, and ignore my desire, then I would no choice but to use my irresistible power to destroy them.

One way or the other, my will shall be fulfilled, although it would be better if they surrendered, and saved their lives.

 

[Amanda_B]

Thank you Bob Crowley, I think that is where I was confused- distinguishing between will as desire and will as power, as you said.

Makes more sense now.

 

[hicetnunc]

Reading the Diary of St. Faustina and in need of some help from anyone who can enlighten me.

Perhaps this is a rather juvenile question but in the Diary of St. Faustina, she states a couple times that she came to understand that nothing can thwart the will of God. In addition, it is the will of God that all souls be saved, correct? So if this is the case, then how is it that anyone ends up in hell?

Theologians distinguish between God’s antecedent will and consequent will. God’s will that all people be saved (expressed in 1 Tim 2:4) belongs to his antecedent will, which is his will independently of the circumstances which may interfere with his will. According to his antecedent will, God gives that human person everything sufficient for salvation through grace. God’s consequent will however takes into account human freedom which often interferes with his antecedent will. Consequently, it is also God’s will that human persons respond in freedom to his will that each be saved. There is no conflict then between his antecedent will that all people be saved, and his consequent will that all people be free, including being free in choosing total separation from God.

 

[DanAl]

Reading the Diary of St. Faustina and in need of some help from anyone who can enlighten me.

Perhaps this is a rather juvenile question but in the Diary of St. Faustina, she states a couple times that she came to understand that nothing can thwart the will of God. In addition, it is the will of God that all souls be saved, correct? So if this is the case, then how is it that anyone ends up in hell?

God could, if he so wished, take everyone to heaven. But would this fair to those that want nothing to do with God? I am not sure about it.

 

[empther]

God’s will for our salvation cannot fail if it is our will to be saved.

Romans, chapter 8

37
No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.c
38
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things,* nor future things, nor powers,d
39
nor height, nor depth,* nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.