People who disagree with limited atonement/reprobation are accused of going by "their own" sense of justice or "fairness", "emotive arguments" etc. but it is based on the idea, presented in scripture of God's justice. Scriptural principle shows that punishing someone eternally because of nothing they themselves did, but only because of who they are, is just not the way God will judge, and it is not accepted in civil human societies (e.g. racism). And the same argument used to show God could do this because of His "rights" could also be extended to say that He could lie if He decided to, and still be just. (e.g. "You're saying that He CANNOT do things? That destroys His 'sovereignty'!"). I don't know how Calvinists can so boldly claim He cannot lie, then turn around and use "He does as He pleases" to justify another act which is just as much contrary to His revealed will as lying. It's an endless round of conjectural assertions. If we insist on God doing whatever He will, just because He can, because He owes nobody anything, then how do we know that God hasn't been telling us all this time that we are going to Heaven, and then send us to Hell anyway? Remember, He doesn't OWE us anything. He would still be right and just because of who He is. "But He promised us...". So? He isn't bound by any promise. Remember, He's sovereign. "But, He said He wouldn't lie...". Oh, who are you O man, to charge God with "lying"? Your limited mind is judging by your fallible notion of "truth". I repeat, God owes you nothing!
So you see here, that this hypothetical logic's natural conclusion completely erodes away not only "our limited sense of justice", but also our eternal security, God's trustworthiness, and the entire Gospel message. There are scriptures that seem to lead to one teaching, and there are others that seem to lead the other way. To resolve this, we must take the scriptures as a whole, and God gives us our rationality to comprehend scriptures, so just snatching up one or two chapters and then doing away with all human reason is setting us up for any heresy to charge into our midst and reign unchallengeable.
Even though God "has the right to do whatever He wants", He is still revealed as one who does not do harm to anyone unless they are sinning against Him. That is the only thing that ever brings His wrath, and He does not conceive of a person from eternity and charge him with sin just so the person could "condemn himself", which is basically sheer entrapment. This is what people oppose, and it becomes more a defensive argument about what scripture does not teach, than about what it does teach. This is then interpreted as simply a human objection of "that is not fair".
"God is love" means that God's primary moves are of benevolence, in creating, and to Creation. He created a beautiful realm for us to enjoy, and I've always said that He could have created a colorless stick figure world, and we would have had to appreciate that and try to make the best use of it we could, and still praise Him for creating it. But instead, it seems He went if it were possible, "out of His way" to provide a magnificent universe for us. Yet Calvinists consistently fail to see where their opponents get their idea that "God wouldn't do that" [i.e. trap people with preterition] from; as if we just made it all up off the top of our heads out of pure "emotional sentiment", based on "the way we think God should be", in total contrast to scripture!
Furthermore, just think about how relatively safe we have been kept from all of the dangers in the universe. How more than half of His Laws protect us from the sin of other humans so we can live together with some semblance of peace. When someone steals from another, or hurts another, God is just as offended as we are, or as He is of someone worshipping other gods. When the Israelites worshipped other gods such as Molech, God was just as upset that they were making their children pass through the fire as He was at the fact that it was another god. He forbade copying the practice even if they were using it to worship Him. (Deut 12:30-31), which He probably wouldn't have done if receiving undivided worship was all He cared about. He is not selfish like we are, but it appears that this is what Calvinists are projecting onto Him under the premise of "sovereignty". Imagine if He only gave the first four commandments, because our worship of Him was all He was concerned about! The whole point of the Christian life is for us to "become like Christ"; to "develop God's character", etc.; and what are we always commanded? Goodness, peaceableness to others, etc. No one is encouraged to raise children badly, so they can bring wrath on themselves and thus "deserve" it. God may exercise the right to do things He has commands us not to (such as taking a life), because of His supreme wisdom, but still, in general, the principles we see Him working in us are a far cry from what Calvinism attributes to Him. Calvinists point out, "no all of this goodness to man is only for His glory", but His glory obviously is beneficial to us. Once again, His glory, or "love for Himself" is not in opposition to our well-being or pleasure. You could say, He has tuned our senses to perceive the wonders of His creation pleasurably. He most certainly did not have to do this. Yet because of sin, it's man (and certain angels) who have set themselves in opposition to God. Calvinists try to argue that "if God allowed sin and the Fall, and foreknew that people would end up in Hell, then you are in the same predicament you say we are in". But not really. The difference is in the orientation. That is not the same thing as Him unconditionally hating people, and then fixing life so that they would be born in sin, die in sin, and go to Hell for that sin.
Calvinism assumes Hell is some sort of desired goal of God, just like Heaven. But like here on earth, jail and other forms of punishment aren't desired by anyone. They are necessary accommodations for people who will not obey the law, not ends in themselves. Likewise, Hell was not a desired end in itself, but was first created for rebellious angels. Then when man fell, those who refused to repent would also end up there. The Calvinist will argue that if He didn't decree all of this, then He was "helpless" as sin crept in and "took Him by surprise". But this is when we confess "our inability to comprehend the infinite perfection of God". [note how this concept is used when convenient to silence the other side, while the ones using it has been using their "reasoning" (based on misinterpretations of scripture) all along]
http://members.aol.com/etb700/predestination.html
So you see here, that this hypothetical logic's natural conclusion completely erodes away not only "our limited sense of justice", but also our eternal security, God's trustworthiness, and the entire Gospel message. There are scriptures that seem to lead to one teaching, and there are others that seem to lead the other way. To resolve this, we must take the scriptures as a whole, and God gives us our rationality to comprehend scriptures, so just snatching up one or two chapters and then doing away with all human reason is setting us up for any heresy to charge into our midst and reign unchallengeable.
Even though God "has the right to do whatever He wants", He is still revealed as one who does not do harm to anyone unless they are sinning against Him. That is the only thing that ever brings His wrath, and He does not conceive of a person from eternity and charge him with sin just so the person could "condemn himself", which is basically sheer entrapment. This is what people oppose, and it becomes more a defensive argument about what scripture does not teach, than about what it does teach. This is then interpreted as simply a human objection of "that is not fair".
"God is love" means that God's primary moves are of benevolence, in creating, and to Creation. He created a beautiful realm for us to enjoy, and I've always said that He could have created a colorless stick figure world, and we would have had to appreciate that and try to make the best use of it we could, and still praise Him for creating it. But instead, it seems He went if it were possible, "out of His way" to provide a magnificent universe for us. Yet Calvinists consistently fail to see where their opponents get their idea that "God wouldn't do that" [i.e. trap people with preterition] from; as if we just made it all up off the top of our heads out of pure "emotional sentiment", based on "the way we think God should be", in total contrast to scripture!
Furthermore, just think about how relatively safe we have been kept from all of the dangers in the universe. How more than half of His Laws protect us from the sin of other humans so we can live together with some semblance of peace. When someone steals from another, or hurts another, God is just as offended as we are, or as He is of someone worshipping other gods. When the Israelites worshipped other gods such as Molech, God was just as upset that they were making their children pass through the fire as He was at the fact that it was another god. He forbade copying the practice even if they were using it to worship Him. (Deut 12:30-31), which He probably wouldn't have done if receiving undivided worship was all He cared about. He is not selfish like we are, but it appears that this is what Calvinists are projecting onto Him under the premise of "sovereignty". Imagine if He only gave the first four commandments, because our worship of Him was all He was concerned about! The whole point of the Christian life is for us to "become like Christ"; to "develop God's character", etc.; and what are we always commanded? Goodness, peaceableness to others, etc. No one is encouraged to raise children badly, so they can bring wrath on themselves and thus "deserve" it. God may exercise the right to do things He has commands us not to (such as taking a life), because of His supreme wisdom, but still, in general, the principles we see Him working in us are a far cry from what Calvinism attributes to Him. Calvinists point out, "no all of this goodness to man is only for His glory", but His glory obviously is beneficial to us. Once again, His glory, or "love for Himself" is not in opposition to our well-being or pleasure. You could say, He has tuned our senses to perceive the wonders of His creation pleasurably. He most certainly did not have to do this. Yet because of sin, it's man (and certain angels) who have set themselves in opposition to God. Calvinists try to argue that "if God allowed sin and the Fall, and foreknew that people would end up in Hell, then you are in the same predicament you say we are in". But not really. The difference is in the orientation. That is not the same thing as Him unconditionally hating people, and then fixing life so that they would be born in sin, die in sin, and go to Hell for that sin.
Calvinism assumes Hell is some sort of desired goal of God, just like Heaven. But like here on earth, jail and other forms of punishment aren't desired by anyone. They are necessary accommodations for people who will not obey the law, not ends in themselves. Likewise, Hell was not a desired end in itself, but was first created for rebellious angels. Then when man fell, those who refused to repent would also end up there. The Calvinist will argue that if He didn't decree all of this, then He was "helpless" as sin crept in and "took Him by surprise". But this is when we confess "our inability to comprehend the infinite perfection of God". [note how this concept is used when convenient to silence the other side, while the ones using it has been using their "reasoning" (based on misinterpretations of scripture) all along]
http://members.aol.com/etb700/predestination.html
1 KI 22:23 "So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you."