We’ve all heard the comforting side of predestination—that God lovingly chooses His people for salvation. But what about the flip side? What about those not chosen? If God predestines some to salvation, does He also predestine others to damnation? And if so, how is that even fair?

These questions touch on one of Christianity’s most difficult doctrines: reprobation. While many Christians prefer to avoid this topic altogether, we do ourselves and our faith a disservice by ignoring what Scripture teaches, even when it challenges our sensibilities.

 

WHAT ARE WE ACTUALLY TALKING ABOUT?

Before diving in, let’s clarify what we mean:

Reprobation is God’s eternal decree regarding those not chosen for salvation. In Reformed theology, it’s understood as God’s decision to pass over some individuals, leaving them in their sins and ordaining them to face the consequences of their rebellion.

Double predestination refers to the view that God actively chooses some for salvation (election) and, in some sense, others for condemnation (reprobation).

In traditional Reformed teaching, reprobation involves two aspects:

• Preterition: God’s “passing over” or not choosing some for salvation
• Condemnation: God’s judicial act of condemning sinners for their sins

 

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE ACTUALLY SAY?

The doctrine of reprobation isn’t built on a single proof text but emerges from several key passages:

• Romans 9:14-23 presents the potter’s absolute freedom with the clay: “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy…?” (vv. 22-23)
• Jude 4 mentions certain people who were “long ago designated for this condemnation.”
• 1 Peter 2:8 speaks of those who disobey the word as being “destined to” or “appointed to” stumble.
• Proverbs 16:4 states plainly: “The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble.”
• In Matthew 11:25-26, Jesus Himself thanks the Father for hiding things from some and revealing them to others, saying this was the Father’s “gracious will.”

The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (Exodus 9:16 & Romans 9:17) serves as a paradigm of God raising someone up specifically to display His power through judgement.

These passages, taken together, strongly suggest God’s active role not just in salvation but also in those who’re not saved.

 

HOW IS GOD ACTIVE IN REPROBATION?

Here’s where we need careful precision. Reformed theologians have historically emphasised an asymmetry in double predestination:

• In election: God actively intervenes to save sinners who deserve condemnation, changing their hearts and drawing them to Himself.
• In reprobation: God justly passes over sinners, leaving them to their freely chosen rebellion.

God doesn’t actively create evil in the reprobate. Rather, He decides not to grant them the saving grace He freely gives the elect. The reprobate are condemned for their own actual sins, not simply because they weren’t elected.

Think of it like this: All of humanity has fallen into a pit of sin. God, in His mercy, reaches down and rescues some (the elect). Those left in the pit (the reprobate) can’t complain about injustice—they’re simply receiving what their sin deserves, while others receive unmerited mercy.

There’s a distinction between direct and indirect causality here. God directly causes salvation in the elect through His Spirit’s work. But in reprobation, God’s action is more indirect—He withdraws restraining grace, leaves people to their own devices, and permits the consequences of their choices to unfold.

 

BUT ISN’T THIS HORRIBLY UNFAIR?

This is where many of us instinctively recoil. How can this be fair? Let’s address the common objections:

“This makes God unloving”: God’s love is magnificently displayed in salvation, but God is not only love—He is also holy and just. His justice demands sin be punished. The wonder isn’t that some receive justice, but that any receive mercy.

“This removes human responsibility”: No one is forced to sin against their will. The reprobate freely choose evil in accordance with their fallen nature. God’s sovereignty doesn’t eliminate human responsibility; mysteriously, it establishes it.

“This makes God the author of sin”: God ordains all things that come to pass, but He does so in ways that preserve the responsibility of moral agents. God can decree what He doesn’t desire or approve. He permits evil for His greater purposes without being implicated in its guilt.

“This doctrine is pastorally harmful”: When properly understood, the doctrine actually provides pastoral comfort by assuring us evil and unbelief aren’t outside God’s control. Nothing happens by mere chance or fate, but according to God’s wise purposes.

 

WHY THIS MAKES BIBLICAL SENSE

The doctrine of reprobation coheres with the Bible’s consistent emphasis on God’s sovereignty. Ephesians 1:11 tells us God “works all things according to the counsel of his will.” Psalm 115:3 declares, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”

This view preserves the mystery of divine election without diminishing God’s character. It acknowledges the tension we see throughout Scripture between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility without resolving it in overly simplistic ways.

Most importantly, it maintains the entirely gratuitous nature of grace. Salvation is truly unmerited—no one can claim God owed them salvation or that they somehow earned or deserved it more than others.

 

WHY THIS MAKES SENSE OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE

Look around. We observe persistent unbelief despite clear gospel presentation. We see patterns of hardening in those who continually reject truth. We witness the disparity of gospel reception across history and cultures.

Without some doctrine of reprobation, these realities become harder to explain. Why do some respond to the gospel while others, hearing the same message, remain unmoved? Why do some cultures widely embrace Christianity while others remain largely resistant? These patterns point to something deeper than mere human choice.

The doctrine of reprobation acknowledges the limits of human understanding when facing divine sovereignty. As Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

 

CONCLUSION: DOES GOD CHOOSE WHO GOES TO HELL?

The doctrine of reprobation will never be popular. It confronts our human pride and autonomy. It humbles us before divine mystery. It reminds us salvation belongs to the Lord entirely.

Yet it also offers profound comfort. The God who rules over salvation also rules over damnation. Nothing happens outside His control or beyond His purposes. Even the darkest realities of human experience—persistent unbelief, hardened hearts, rejection of truth—fall within His sovereign plan.

Is it just? Absolutely. No one receives injustice from God’s hand. Some receive mercy; others receive justice. No one receives injustice.

 

DOES GOD CHOOSE WHO GOES TO HELL? RELATED FAQs

If God chooses who goes to hell, why evangelise at all? Evangelism matters because God has ordained not just the ends (who will be saved) but also the means (how they will be saved). God has chosen to use human messengers as His primary instrument for calling the elect to salvation, making our evangelistic efforts the very channel through which His predestination is fulfilled. Far from making evangelism pointless, the doctrine of election provides the only guarantee that evangelism will bear genuine, lasting fruit.

• How can we know if we’re elect or reprobate? Doesn’t this doctrine lead to paralysing doubt? Scripture never encourages us to begin with the question of election but rather with the finished work of Christ and His free offer of salvation. The evidence of election isn’t found in speculating about God’s hidden decrees but in responding to His revealed commands: repent and believe the gospel. Those who’ve placed their faith in Christ can have assurance of their election based on the Spirit’s work in their lives, manifested in faith, love, and growing holiness.
• What about children who die in infancy? Are some of them reprobate? Reformed theologians have historically affirmed God graciously receives into heaven those who die in infancy. While Scripture doesn’t explicitly address this question, passages speaking of God’s particular care for children (Matthew 19:14) and the basis of judgement being according to deeds (Revelation 20:12) suggest those who die before moral accountability may be specially dealt with in God’s mercy. We can entrust such little ones to the just and merciful Judge of all the earth.

If reprobation is real, how do you explain deathbed conversions? Deathbed conversions actually affirm rather than contradict the doctrine of election. The timing of one’s conversion—whether early in life or at its very end—is irrelevant to the eternal decree of God. A person converted in their final moments was no less elect from eternity than one saved in childhood; God simply appointed different moments for their effectual calling.

• Doesn’t reprobation make God appear cruel and capricious? God’s decision to save some and not others is neither cruel (as no one deserves salvation) nor capricious (as it serves His wise purposes). We must remember God was under no obligation to save anyone; all have sinned and deserve judgement. The wonder isn’t that some receive justice but that any receive mercy. Moreover, God’s decisions are never arbitrary but always according to His perfect wisdom, even when that wisdom remains mysterious to us.
• How can God hold people responsible for rejecting a salvation they were never chosen to receive? The non-elect aren’t condemned for rejecting a salvation never offered to them but for their actual sins against God’s law. Every person who hears the gospel receives a genuine offer of salvation; the fact that only the elect will respond to this offer doesn’t make the offer itself insincere. The inability of fallen humans to respond to God stems from their own sinful nature, not from any impediment placed by God, making their rejection truly culpable.

Does the doctrine of reprobation mean some people’s prayers for salvation will never be answered regardless of their sincerity? The prayers of those truly seeking God are themselves evidence of God’s prior work in their hearts. Scripture promises, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13) and “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). No sincere seeker is reprobate; the very desire to know God and be saved by Him is already evidence of His electing grace at work. The reprobate, by definition, have no genuine desire for God on His terms.

 

DOES GOD CHOOSE WHO GOES TO HELL? RELATED

• Unveiling Reprobation: Does Scripture Truly Teach This Difficult Doctrine?
• Why Does God Show Grace to Some Sinners and Send Others to Hell?
•  If God Ordained Evil, Why Am I Accountable? Find Bible Answers
• The Calvinist View of Human Free Will: Are We Truly Free?