Why can't God forgive Satan?

Question

Satan was supposedly cast out of Heaven due to his insubordinate behavior. Ok, I can at least imagine that....but how did this archangel, Lucifer, become the epitimy of evil for this? I don't find Lucifer's behavior that evil to the point of being cast to Hell, never to return to Heaven, and becoming the leader of all evil spirits until the end of time. Especially when humans are allowed to walk the earth, raping their own, murdering another, and outright denouncing the existence of God. Did God get carried away with punishing his angel?

OK, so the consensus is that it is because Satan refuses to ask forgiveness out of pride. Ok, I can imagine that, but here's what that is implying.
Satan would rather burn in hell forever, then just say he's sorry? Wouldn't one of Satan's attributes be selfishness? Wouldn't that make him consider his fate and repent, even if he just did it to save his own tail? Does Satan really have no idea what lies in store for him?

No matter how you tell the story, there is something logically incomplete.

Answer 1

If it is a sin, it is a sin, and theologically speaking something (SOMEONE) as pure as God cannot be in its presence. It does not matter if it was big or small, if you are guilty then you are a lawbreaker.

It is possible that Satan cannot be forgiven because of himself. His insubordination would have been a result of His pride. Pride keeps a person from repenting. Therefore, God may have wanted to forgive him, but Satan never asked, nor never would. It's all about pride - a very stupid and destructive thing for mortals and immortals alike.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS:

As per your additional detail, we don't even know if that is what happened, or if even Lucifer was Satan's name. There are a couple of other theories on Satan's existence other than being an angel. We simply do not have enough information to know. Those who quote scripture are often taking it out of context such as "I saw Satan falling from heaven," and the part in Revelation talking about war in heaven. These things were actually taking place in the Christ/church age, thereby post Satanic (Luciferian) fall. The Isaiah and Ezekiel passages are also taken out of context as the prophecy deals with the wicked king of Tyre and Sidon - not Satan. However, in those passages, the Lucifer may very well have been Satan (being used as an illustration of the wicked king) seeing that at one time he was the "guardian cherub who covered. . ." The sin of Satan as the Muslims believe and I believe the Bible implies was to tempt man due to his jealousy of humanity. Man fell as an indirect result of the assault of Satan. As Jesus says, he was a liar and a murderer from the beginning.
There is no way to say something isn't adding up because there is not enough information to solve the problem.

Answer 2

Can God Forgive Satan

Answer 3

Lucifer became the epitomy of evil because the ancient priesthood made him that way. They probably recognized how useful a scapegoat can be.

Lucifer's punishment is from the 'old testament' when everyone obeyed God or else!

And maybe the reason why people are the way they are is because according to the bible:Satan is the "Lord of this World", an entity whose will is embodied in our "fleshly nature."

If humans are the way they are because God made them that way...wouldn't it also be right to surmise that the angels act the way they act because God made them that way? and if that is also true then isn't it possible that the all-powerful and omnipresent God already planned Lucifer's fall? I mean, how can one be at the same time omnipresent and ignorant of will? Wouldn't it be simpler to believe that God had a rebellion planned and picked his most favored angels to carry out the deception? So, maybe Lu came before God and was told what to do and Lu being a dutiful angel did what the all mighty told him to do...

Really, I think the whole fall from grace lesson was designed by the priesthood to keep the common people from rebelling against their dictates...after all...if God's will cannot be thwarted by the most powerful of the angels, what hope then does the common man have against questioning the priests...the go-betweens for God? Hmmmmmm?

Most priests I've talked with do not even consider the bible as a book of hard facts. They see it as a book that teaches lessons through the different stories it contains. With that in mind, maybe you should look at the bible passages you asked about and see what you can learn?

Answer 4

Many contributors have intimated that Satan doesn't want to be forgiven. But I'm not sure if he has made that statement himself. I see lots of contributors attributing that assertion to him - that his ego and pride prevented him from seeking forgiveness, and the he will never ask for it. But nowhere in the bible does it say that he doesn't want to ask for forgiveness. Neither has Lucifer come out clearly to say that he wants to rebel for ever. Most of the misdemeanors of Satan have been ascribed to him either by biblical prophets or theologians.

Of course we read about Jesus's encounter with Satan in Matt 4:4 after his lengthy fasting, where Satan tries to usurp the powers of God through tricks and manipulation. But the question is, if Satan indeed was contesting the inheritance of God with Jesus, then he would have tried to forceful approach, instead of riddles and subtle persuasion.

Personally, I feel that the story of The Fall is rather problematic when viewed in a rational context. Therefore it should be interpreted on the basis of faith, and not logic. For example, if we are to take the creation story literally, then Lucifer would be a son of God. Perhaps Jesus took an active part in creating Lucifer (John 1:3). The bible teaches about "turning the other cheek" (Matt 5:39) and forgiving the other person "seventy times seven" (Matt 18:22). Therefore if God is "well pleased" (Matt 3:17) with only Jesus Christ, and cannot even reconcile with His other son Lucifer, then we have a problem here. After all, the Prodical Son was forgiven after wasting half of his father's estate (Luke 15:11-31). God can do the same if he chooses to.

My point is that it is that God is ever merciful, and He can afford to forgive Satan if He chooses to do so. Yet again, we're made to understand that "His ways are higher than ours", and that "His ways are not our ways". For that reason, lets give him the benefit of doubt that He knows what he's doing.

I hope this helps.
Good luck!

Answer 5

Because Satan has already been to court, and found guilty. He is sentenced to die.
Also, normally you are forgiven when you
repent and have a change of heart. Satan has had no change of heart, he has worked against Christ from Genesis all the way to Revelation. He showed up in the Garden of Eden attempting to pollute the pure line of lineage that the Christ was to come thru,
and then tried it again at the flood of Noah, when he once again tried to pollute the
bloodline with noahs daughters. This war
is on, friend, and he isn't repenting, and he isn't looking for forgiveness, he's looking for a showdown. Right now he's conditioning those who do his work for him through ignorance. But the other side of the coin is that Gods army is putting itself
together quite nicely as well, and as soon as all the servants of God have the knowledge they need sealed in their minds,
this will all be finished. Thank God...

Answer 6

Man's concept that God cannot forget, Satan or anyone else is rooted in our fear that we can never do enough to get to heaven. Satan merely represents are base ego and is not a real entity and all. We can hope but we can never be sure that God is love and forgiveness, Our Ego will not let us. We must pray for divine inspiration.

Answer 7

For one thing, if people do the things you say and do not come to repentance before the Lord, then they will be joining Satan in hell. Satan does not want forgiveness. He does not repent or ask to be forgiven before God. He is too proudful and arrogant to do that. he thinks that he is as strong as God and vies day and night to sway God's children away from Him. Evil is the absence of good or the absence of God and that is where Satan wants to be for he hates God because he can't be like Him.

Answer 8

If you were the boss of your own company that you built from the ground up and hired a man who thought he was better than you, would you give him your job or fire him?
And, Lucifer wasn't casted to hell, he was casted to the earth.
By the way, who do you think puts the ideas to do evil into peoples heads? And, they aren't "allowed" to get away with anything, they have to answer for their actions--ever heard of jail?
No, God did not get carried away. If an 18 year old son opposes the rules of his father's house, what does the father say? Go get your own place. In the case with God and Lucifer, God had a place he made and sent Lucifer there. Wasn't that nice of him?

Answer 9

Not that GOD can't. It is that forgiveness was never offered to Satan, and if it was Satan never took it........

Answer 10

What kind of dumbass nonsense is this?! Satan is the cause of all evil in the universe - he and his demons lost as soon as they decided to rebel against God. Satan is the enemy of life and your souls. He is unrepentant, and is constantly working with his demons in the Earth to destroy as many of God's creation as he can. They are awaiting judgement in Hell and have been ever since. What does forgiveness have to do with anything?