As I drive to work and listen to the King of Kings radio station and the preachers, it got me to thinking about this.

 

What would happen to the world?

Satan could not ask for forgiveness. His fate is sealed and his trial is over. This is not directly stated in the scriptures, but the general idea about angels is that their time of testing is complete.

1) God often uses sin to achieve his will.

2) Without Satan, man would not have free will to reject God.

 

God uses Satan to achieve his will. So, are we so sure that Satan is indeed an adversary of God, or his tool (servant)?

1) God often uses sin to achieve his will.

2) Without Satan, man would not have free will to reject God.

 

God uses Satan to achieve his will. So, are we so sure that Satan is indeed an adversary of God, or his tool (servant)?

 

I disagree about Satan's necessity in free will. Evil is not a thing unto itself; it is an absence of goodness. God is the essence and source of all goodness but Satan is not the same for evil.

 

To be sure, he is the tempter-in-chief, for lack of a better word, but free will is a gift from God, given to us at the moment of our creation. Satan is not necessary for us to exercise that free will.

God is capable of forgiving Satan but that forgiveness depends on Satan.

 

Satan has to trust and obey God.

Repent about the mistakes committed deliberately. Satan challenged God and acted as his enemy. Satan also misguided many people away from God by tempting them through many ways. Repentance is essential for forgiveness from God.

Decision about not to sin and being with God in the future.

If Satan is not forgiven by God it is because Satan could not achieve these.

If God would not forgive Satan then I believe everything is a hoax. Of course he would.

I disagree about Satan's necessity in free will. Evil is not a thing unto itself; it is an absence of goodness. God is the essence and source of all goodness but Satan is not the same for evil.

 

To be sure, he is the tempter-in-chief, for lack of a better word, but free will is a gift from God, given to us at the moment of our creation. Satan is not necessary for us to exercise that free will.

 

You make an excellent point that so many people miss. I taught a Sunday School Class with a very similar theme to this and it was one of the most interesting classes we've had since I've been teaching.

I disagree about Satan's necessity in free will. Evil is not a thing unto itself; it is an absence of goodness. God is the essence and source of all goodness but Satan is not the same for evil.

To be sure, he is the tempter-in-chief, for lack of a better word, but free will is a gift from God, given to us at the moment of our creation. Satan is not necessary for us to exercise that free will.

 

Love the bolded! Truth!

but free will is a gift from God

 

Agree with everything you said, but this is what jumped out at me. If God failed to give us free will, He would not be a loving God.

 

As to the original question, I've never really considered it. My initial thinking was that God would not forgive. But then I read Bengal Maniac's response and agreed that, of course, God would forgive.

 

But I truthfully think the best answer is not so much whether God would forgive. It's more that Satan would not ask for forgiveness. He could ask for it, as the thread title question asks. I just don't think he would ask for it. I believe Scripture teaches that pride is the cause of Satan's original rebellion. That same pride is the reason for his continued rebellion.

 

A C.S. Lewis quote comes to mind: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, ‘Thy will be done.’ I willingly believe the damned are, in one sense, successful rebels to the end; that the doors of Hell are locked on the inside."

 

Just my thoughts, but it's an interesting discussion.

Agree with everything you said, but this is what jumped out at me. If God failed to give us free will, He would not be a loving God.

 

As to the original question, I've never really considered it. My initial thinking was that God would not forgive. But then I read Bengal Maniac's response and agreed that, of course, God would forgive.

 

But I truthfully think the best answer is not so much whether God would forgive. It's more that Satan would not ask for forgiveness. He could ask for it, as the thread title question asks. I just don't think he would ask for it. I believe Scripture teaches that pride is the cause of Satan's original rebellion. That same pride is the reason for his continued rebellion.

 

A C.S. Lewis quote comes to mind: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, ‘Thy will be done.’ I willingly believe the damned are, in one sense, successful rebels to the end; that the doors of Hell are locked on the inside."

 

Just my thoughts, but it's an interesting discussion.

 

I am about as far removed from being a Biblical scholar as anyone out there. But I had a fascinating conversation years ago with a close friend who is a Methodist minister on a closely related subject.

 

It is his belief that EVERYONE will ultimately be afforded the opportunity to ask for forgiveness. Some will be resistant, but everyone will get the chance.

 

I'm guessing that this doesn't line up with a lot of peoples' thinking on the subject; I just thought it was an interesting take.

And to introduce a little levity. As to the quote from C.S. Lewis. There are two types of people in the world. People who divide people into two types, and people who do not.

Agree with everything you said, but this is what jumped out at me. If God failed to give us free will, He would not be a loving God.

 

As to the original question, I've never really considered it. My initial thinking was that God would not forgive. But then I read Bengal Maniac's response and agreed that, of course, God would forgive.

 

But I truthfully think the best answer is not so much whether God would forgive. It's more that Satan would not ask for forgiveness. He could ask for it, as the thread title question asks. I just don't think he would ask for it. I believe Scripture teaches that pride is the cause of Satan's original rebellion. That same pride is the reason for his continued rebellion.

 

A C.S. Lewis quote comes to mind: "There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, ‘Thy will be done.’ I willingly believe the damned are, in one sense, successful rebels to the end; that the doors of Hell are locked on the inside."

 

Just my thoughts, but it's an interesting discussion.

 

Taking this more toward the original question, I'm curious not about God's ability to forgive, but about the ability of those already condemned to even ASK for it.

 

If we think of hell as a state of existence in which there is COMPLETE separation from God, then does that person even still have the free will necessary to ask for forgiveness, or is anger at God and the pride of one's own will all that remains at that point.

 

Like PP1 said in the first response, the time of Satan's judgment has concluded and he has been eternally condemned to Perdition. Not only would he not ask for it, does he even have the capacity to ask for it?

Taking this more toward the original question, I'm curious not about God's ability to forgive, but about those already condemned to even ASK for it.

 

If we think of hell as a state of existence in which there is COMPLETE separation from God, then does that person even still have the free will necessary to ask for forgiveness, or is anger at God and the pride of one's own will all that remains at that point.

 

Like PP1 said in the first response, the time of Satan's judgment has concluded and he has been eternally condemned to Perdition. Not only would he not ask for it, does he even have the capacity to ask for it?

 

Good questions.

 

I find it interesting in the parable of the rich man & Lazarus that the rich man in Hell doesn't ask to be taken out of Hell.

 

Is that because he didn't want to ask, or because he could not ask?

If Satan were to ask for forgiveness, and truly seek it, of course God would forgive him. To think otherwise says that God is not the loving and forgiving God Jesus paints him to be, but instead a spiteful and vengeful God.

Taking this more toward the original question, I'm curious not about God's ability to forgive, but about the ability of those already condemned to even ASK for it.

 

If we think of hell as a state of existence in which there is COMPLETE separation from God, then does that person even still have the free will necessary to ask for forgiveness, or is anger at God and the pride of one's own will all that remains at that point.

 

Like PP1 said in the first response, the time of Satan's judgment has concluded and he has been eternally condemned to Perdition. Not only would he not ask for it, does he even have the capacity to ask for it?

 

Philosophically speaking is God in Hell? If not then he is not omniscient nor omnipresent. There would be a place God was not. Dr Hendricks used to argue that hell was the ulcer in God’s stomach