Hope for the Lost

Dear Victorious,

Is it possible for someone to be so bad ... so sinful ... that they lose their ability to repent? I know God wants everyone to be saved. But is it possible that salvation is not available to someone because of where they've put themselves? Can my sinfulness become so severe that there is no hope for my salvation?

Tracy S. - El Paso, TX

Dear Tracy,

You're right in that God isn't willing for anyone to be lost. If He had His way, we would all choose Him and thus be "saved." But the reality in practical terms can be confusing. Hell was built for somebody. It won't go empty in eternity. So if it isn't God's choice, then how does it come about?

People can become so accustomed to doing evil or living a sinful life that they lose their ability to change. And it's not the degree of sinfulness that we're talking about here. Rather it's the degree to which they do things their way instead of doing them God's way. They could look like respectable citizens, "good people," etc. But they are so comfortable with how they're living their life, they have no desire to change or turn toward God.

God isn't willing for any to be lost. He never rejects those who sincerely turn to Him. But He has warned people in the past to repent "before it is too late." God wants us to repent before it becomes impossible to change. Our attitudes and patterns for living can become so set that we will lose all desire to change and will no longer fear the consequences of our poor choices. At that point, only a miracle could turn us around.!

So in this sense, I would say it is possible for someone to get beyond salvation, where there is little or no hope for them. But it's because they've chosen to go there. (And of course, if they somehow chose otherwise salvation would again become available to them.)