If God is all-powerful and all-loving, it would seem inconsistent with His nature to allow anyone to be lost. Here again we rationalize because we do not understand the nature of God. God cannot go against His own laws and against His own nature. God is holy. He cannot tolerate sin in His presence. He created us free to choose how we would live. He invites us to come His way, but leaves us free to pursue our own ends with tragic, natural consequences. We glibly say, “Surely a loving God would not allow a person He loves to be lost. He just wouldn’t allow it.” Far from allowing it, God has done everything He can to prevent it! Talk about love! “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son . . . ” This is good news. Because of what God in love has done for us, we need not be lost.

From Day by Day with Billy Graham, © 1976 BGEA