Can We Not Also Say That It Is God That Caused or Made the Unbeliever to Choose Not to Believe?
1) Direct Answer
No—not in the same way. God is not the author of unbelief or sin. Unbelief springs from man’s own fallen heart and love of darkness. Yet the Bible also shows that God judicially blinds and hardens those who refuse the truth, and He withholds saving revelation from those who are not His sheep.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- James 1:13: God “tempteth no man.” He does not create evil in the heart.
- John 3:19–20; John 5:40: Men “loved darkness rather than light… Ye will not come to me.” The refusal is theirs.
- Acts 13:46: “Ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life.”
- John 10:26: “Ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep.” Those not given do not believe.
- John 12:39–40 (Isaiah 6): “Therefore they could not believe… He hath blinded their eyes.” Judicial hardening after rejecting light.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10–12: Because they “received not the love of the truth… God shall send them strong delusion.” Judgment fits their chosen unbelief.
- Romans 1:24–28: “God gave them up” to their own desires.
- Romans 9:18: “He hath mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.”
- Acts 13:48: “As many as were ordained to eternal life believed.” God grants faith to His own.
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- God positively grants faith to His sheep; that is grace.
- Man, left to himself, already loves darkness and will not come.
- God never forces a willing heart to reject Christ; rather, He righteously leaves some to their own choice and then seals that choice in judgment (hardening/blinding).
- So we must not say, “God made them not believe,” but rather, “God did not give them saving grace, and He judicially hardens those who reject the light.”
4) Reinforcing Statement
Now notice, the Gospel separates: as many as are ordained to life believe, and those who spurn the light are blinded by the very light they refuse. God authors faith in His own; unbelief is man’s sin, and hardening is God’s righteous judgment.
Ask a Follow-up Question
What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Three kinds of believers
63-1124E §52
And today, the very God that spoke of this age is on the scene doing exactly what He said He would do, and they're too blind to see it! That's unbelievers. They walk out and say, "Oh, I can't believe stuff like that! I never heard of that in my life!" It don't make any difference what you heard. The Bible said it would be here. It's His Word. They never heard of that either, but it was there just the same, see. That's right. They were unbelievers, just like Eve was. She was very religious, of course so, but she did...
Possessing the enemy's gates
59-1108 §16
Was it not Jesus who made the promise, "If you even bring offense to one of these little ones, it was better for you that a millstone was hanged at your neck and you were drowned in the depths of the sea. Don't even bring an offense to these little ones that believe in me. And these signs shall follow them that believe in me." He made a difference. He made a showing of what did believe and what did not believe. There are always the three crowds of people, that is, the unbeliever, the make-believer, and the believer...
Have faith in God
54-0900 §17
Jesus is risen from the dead. He's just doing all kinds of things to get people to believe it, but we're just so loose. We let it slip through. He could come here tonight, walk out on the platform, visible in a body with nail-scarred hands and return. He's here in the form of Spirit, but not in the form of flesh. When He brings His body back with Him, well it'll be the second coming. It will all be over then. But He could come here in the city of ... this great city of New York, tonight. And there would be tens of...
The approach to God
55-0123A §11
And because that the poor man out there is sinning, and murder, and stuff, in our world today, and all kinds of disastrous things happen, is because of unbelief in God. That's all. If we believe... There's just two things: You either believe, or believe not, either one. If you do believe, then the works of righteousness follow a believer. And if you do not believe, the works of unrighteousness follows. Only thing it is ... lying, stealing, theft, and so forth, is attributes of unbelief. And long-suffering, patience...
Prayer Line
53-0500 §11
Do you believe, sir, with all your heart? Lord Jesus, I pray that You'll heal the man. May he go away from here tonight and be made completely whole, through Jesus Christ's Name. Amen. God bless you. Go and rejoice now, be made happy. You believe? Almighty God, Author of life, Giver of every good gift, this deaf spirit has deafened this woman's ear so she can't hear the Gospel. Come out of her, Satan, in Jesus Christ's Name. Can you hear me? How long you been that way? Can you hear me? [Gap in the audio] Three year...