Direct Examination

"And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.

When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.


Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:1-15, NIV)

The End of Forgiveness

A friend of mine (who recently became a Christian) has two adult sons who profess to be atheists. In October 2009, one of the woman's sons became curious about her new found faith and began asking her questions about God. Many of his inquiries were paradoxical in nature, intended (I suspected) to expose contradictions about God and, thus, argue for the impossibility of God (as presented by Christianity.) At her request, I spoke with her son by phone for about one half-hour and answered his first round of inquiries to the best of my abilities.

The gist of his questioning centered around the issue of forgiveness. Assuming God was (and is) as Christianity presents Him, could Satan apologize to God before the end of time and, if Satan did so, would God forgive him and then receive Satan back into Heaven? After all, if God is a god of love, wouldn't He pursue Satan and continue to offer forgiveness in the hope Satan would turn back? The second turning of the issue came in the person of Jesus and the atonement for all sins. If Jesus truly died for the sins of the whole world, who will Jesus have left to judge on Judgment Day, since the slate was wiped clean for everyone by the sacrifice God sent?

Both of these questions were well-worded and thoughtful. I commended the inquisitor for his excellent supposition. Here, in brief, is my response to his question:

Scripture reveals that angels are created spirit-beings whose primary purpose is to serve God. The first of those created spirit-beings was an angel named Lucifer, who fell from God's favor by way of open rebellion. In fact, Lucifer convinced one third of the angels to follow him in revolt against God.

'His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born.' (Revelation 12:4, NIV)

In other words, Lucifer's defection from Heaven was much more than a disagreement with the Creator over personal differences. It was a declaration of independence by Lucifer that he would no longer abide with the rule of the King. As such, Lucifer declared God to be his enemy and made a violent attempt to overthrow God. Hence, God had a fight on His Hands.

'And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.' (Revelation 12:7-9, NIV)

It is pointless to speculate what the "god of love" might have done under the circumstances. The account clearly indicates God was not about to allow Lucifer to succeed. Not only did Lucifer lose his standing in Heaven, he was immediately expelled and exiled to Earth as a punishment. The record of Scripture reveals the fallen angel Lucifer (referred to on Earth as Satan) was unrepentant for his blasphemous attitude toward God. So it is not surprising to discover Satan lurking about the Garden of Eden, intent on ruining anything God found joy and pleasure in: especially mankind.

From the beginning of Satan's descent from Heaven through the evils of the present day and into the future, Satan will never repent. God knows it. Satan confirms it. Meanwhile mankind bears the brunt of Satan's destructive drive to discredit and disparage God. By all accounts, Satan is Hell-bent on taking as many human souls down into the darkness as possible before Judgment Day arrives. As the account of Revelation, Chapter 20 predicts, Satan will never repent.

So the answer to the first part of the question is a resounding, "No!" God cannot forgive Satan because Satan does not want God's forgiveness. Satan's exercise of free will by way of open rebellion and intransigence has no point of return, nor any possibility of forgiveness by God. Period.

Which brings us to the second part of the question concerning Jesus and the atonement: if, as the gospels declare, Jesus already died for the sins of all mankind, whom will Jesus judge come Judgment Day? The answer is all humanity. If Jesus died for the sins of all the world, then Jesus is compelled by the Law of God to judge everyone for whom Christ suffered and died. Every human being from Adam and Eve to the last living human on Earth will stand before the mercy seat of God, at the end of time. All accounts will be opened and reviewed. Jesus will be the arbiter and will determine who stands in the Presence of the Living God and who will fall away to join Satan in eternal torment.

Forgiveness will be granted to those who believed in God, heard his message of salvation, and responded affirmatively to it. The end of forgiveness will come for those who held God at bay, refusing to accept his atoning sacrifice and offer of reconciliation. Those who will be judged as "forgiven" will no longer have need of forgiveness, for their faith and trust in God (at His word) was already secured in the person of Christ though the cross and resurrection.

The free will choice of each human being, while they walked upon this Earth, has and will determine the measure of forgiveness they will receive from God come Judgment Day. Jesus holds the power of resurrection and reckoning. It is incumbent upon each human being, therefore, to choose well.

(copyright 2009, Gregory Allen Doyle)