omnibenevolence: to Satan?

God made man in His image. He made man totally different from angels. Angels/devils were not made with flesh and blood, and notice that Christ came IN THE FLESH to redeem those who were created flesh.

You will never see anywhere in the Bible where an angel sacrificed a lamb for continued redemption in the OT. You will never see an angel asking Christ to save them by calling upon the name of the Lord.

To compare Satan and his devils to mankind is erroneous because God had a completely different plan for mankind that is not possible for angels (like procreation and marriage Matt 22:30).

But the most erroneous part of comparing humans to angels or devils is that you would presume in order to make your argument, that since God does not offer salvation to Satan, but provides permanency for "elect angels", that such is proof that God predetermines some HUMANS to damnation, and others to eternal salvation. This is wrong in several ways, the main contention being that Satan was created perfect (as was Adam). You would have to prove that all mankind after the fall had the same opportunity that Satan did prior to Satan's fall in order to compare all mankind to Satan.

God did not need to provide a redemptive plan for angels because before he created humans, His command was simple to angels, DON'T REBEL. There are several places in the Bible where when someone hardens THEIR OWN HEART, then God continues to let them relish in their sin. The fact that God did not give Satan more chances then He gives humans does not negate the fact that Satan CHOSE to rebel when He could have chosen NOT to. That in no way proves that God determines some HUMANS to damnation and others to eternal life. The "redemption" for angels was not sinning in the first place. Thus the OFFER may be different for angels where the "offer" is simply don't rebel, that God offered differently to save angels by requiring them to be obedient in the first place, and offered salvation to humans by repentance by believing on Christ who was sacrificed in flesh does not change the nature of God's benevolence.

The devil and the angles lived in a proximity to God that no human has ever experienced. They had the ability to know God unlike any human does now. They could see the glory of God, talk to God literally, and experience the goodness of God in a way that humans will not experience until they are glorified completely in heaven. Thus humans will experience all of God's fullness in heaven in a way that angels do now, and the redemption that was paid for humans is what provided the remedy to prevent their subsequent potential falling away.

Satan having known God in all of His glory, WANTED to be more than God was and thus Satan was not ignorant in his actions toward God (as Paul says of himself as to why God had mercy on him in 1 Timothy 1:13). Satan did not ignorantly rebel. God says the same things of those in Hebrews 6 that those who were enlightened and tasted the heavenly gift IF they could fall away to renew them unto repentance. Repentance is never offered to Satan because they were in that exact position as the hypothetical persons in Hebrews 6:4-6.

Because angels are not created with bodies, there is no way TO redeem them. A sacrifice can not be provided for spirits, and thus the entire nature of angels and humans is completely different.

So no, God does NOT leave some "creatures elected to damnable fate and others to eternal life' because man never had the opportunity and intimate knowledge of God that Satan had prior to his fall.

 

The question itself is a loaded question fallacy. The question is not COULD He do it, but WOULD he and DID he. You are begging the question with a presupposition that eliminates the explanation for His plans for angels and His plans for humans. It's like asking COULD God UNELECT someone AFTER He elected them? If you apply that kind of begging the question, you could equally apply it to eternal security: COULD God cause someone to lose their salvation once He saves them? The question itself is based on a false premise. My first response adequately answers your initial post.

 

It is not just a "simple question" because you are mixing something together that does not belong in the same category with humans. Why don't we start comparing animals as well, I mean let's just take it all the way. Why do some fish get eaten for no reason at all and some other fish don't? Did God predestine some fish to die and others to live? Do the fish that died without Christ spend an eternal on sand-beach with no oxygen? Why wasn't a sacrifice made for them?

But, if you must assume that God never gave angels a chance:

"By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 20 Which sometime were disobedient, " 1 Peter 3:19-20.

Furthermore, you violated the logic of your own question. I asked if God COULD cause someone to lose their salvation once they are saved and you said no, He couldn't. For God to fit your definition of sovereignty then God MUST have the ability to do what He CAN do, and for you to say that God could not is to say He is not powerful enough to do what He can do. If God can simply choose who He wants to save and choose who He wants to damn, then who are thou to reply against God to say that God can't make a vessel of honor into dishonor? There's nothing stopping God from taking your salvation if He wants to. The only way you can escape that fact is to argue against your own question.

Thus if God is viewed simply on terms of what He COULD do, then NOBODY IS SAFE, NOT EVEN THOSE WHO ARE "SAVED".

 

If I remember correctly, some Jewish lore provides for the redemption of some angels, and Origen taught that eventually Satan himself would be redeemed.

So, this isn't a so much a slam dunk, but it is fun to watch him squirm :thumbs:

 

The most compelling evidence for arbitrary selection would be that some people were born with brains and common sense and others not so lucky.