Does God send delusions on people that makes them believe lies? Some verses, on superficial reading, suggest that: 2 Thessalonians 2:¹¹ For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, ¹² in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.” Bert Thompson in his book, Creation Compromises, made some great comments on this.
“The simple fact of the matter, however, is that we are responsible for what we choose to believe. Using the personal volition with which God has endowed us, we may choose freely to believe the truth, or we may choose just as freely to believe error. The choice is up to each individual. And once an individual has made up his mind that he prefers error over truth, God will not deter him, as Paul made clear when he wrote his second epistle to the Thessalonians. In that letter, he spoke of those who “received not the love of the truth” (2: 10), and then went on to say that “for this cause God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:11). What a horrible thought—to go through life believing a lie! But what, exactly, was Paul suggesting when he stated in 2 Thessalonians 2:11 that “God sends them a working of error, that they should believe a lie”? Was the apostle teaching that God purposely causes men to believe error? No, he most certainly was not. Paul’s point in this passage was that because God has granted man personal volition, and because He has provided within the Bible the rules, regulations, and guidelines to govern the use of that personal volition, He therefore will refrain from overriding man’s freedom of choice—even when it violates His law. God will not contravene man’s decisions or interfere with the actions based on those decisions. The prophet Isaiah had recorded God’s words on this subject many years before when he wrote: Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations: I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did that which was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delighted not (Isaiah 66:3-4). The psalmist recorded God’s words on this matter when he wrote: “But my people hearkened not to my voice; and Israel would not hear me. So I let them go after the stubbornness of their heart, that they might walk in their own counsels” (Psalm 81:11-12). In Romans 11:8, Paul (quoting from Isaiah 29:10) stated concerning the rebellious Israelites: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear.” “

In other words, God has provided all the revelation and confirmation (miracles) that we need to have the truth and believe the truth. If someone chooses not to believe the truth, then God might actually use his unbelief to send him a delusion that allows him to believe lies. That person is still choosing to believe the delusion, so God is not forcing him to violate his free will choices. So God is, in one sense, causing him to believe a lie. If God did not send the delusion, then that person would not believe the lie of that delusion.

When I was a principal of a Christian school in Birmingham, Al, a high school student was sent to me for discipline by an elementary school teacher. The student was throwing rocks near the playground of some small children in the teacher’s class. He was not throwing rocks at the students but the teacher told him to quit throwing rocks. He disobeyed her and kept throwing rocks. Again, not any real danger but he disobeyed the elementary teacher and she sent him to my office. I will never forget his answer when I asked him why he disobeyed a teacher, using his own logic that he was not even close to hitting a child and therefore the teacher command was unnecessary. He told me: “If she had not told me to stop throwing rocks then I would not have been guilty of disobeying her.” In other words, it was her fault to telling him to stop. He saw himself as guiltless in the matter. I don’t remember how I answered him, but I do remember taking my 2 foot long, one inch thick, wood paddle and giving him 3 licks (this was an 11th grader). We did that kind of thing back then! Paddling took care of a lot of little stuff. Today we use detention, etc. but the paddling seemed to be more effective in my opinion!

Back to the point. Sure, if God did not send that unbeliever a delusion that indirectly caused him to believe a lie, then that is one sin that the person would not commit and be guilty of. But God is not to blame for the person believing the delusion and lie. The person ultimately chose to follow the delusion and believe a lie of his own free will.

This helps explain how God hardened Pharoah’s heart. It sounds like God made Pharoah violate his own free will choices and refuse to allow the Israelites slaves go free. But it also says that “Pharoah hardened his heart” and “the plagues hardened his heart”. If God had not sent the plagues, then, like my student, that is one sin that he would not have had the opportunity to commit. So God, by sending the plagues on him could be said to have caused him to harden his heart and disobey God. But he had already hardened his heart, so God was just using a hardened sinner to show his power over the gods of Egypt in the plagues. Pharoah was still making his own choices.

That brings us to Romans 9:¹⁴ What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? Far from it! ¹⁵ For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I have mercy, and I will show compassion to whomever I show compassion.” ¹⁶ So then, it does not depend on the person who wants it nor the one who runs, but on God who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very reason I raised you up, in order to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the earth.” ¹⁸ So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” ²⁰ On the contrary, who are you, you foolish person, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? ²¹ Or does the potter not have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one object for honorable use, and another for common use?”

This on the surface sounds like Pharoah is not at fault for disobeying God. It sounds like God hardened his heart and that he did not have free will choice when the plagues came. “Who can resist God’s will?” implies that he could not resist God’s plan for him to disobey God b/c God predestined it. This is typical Calvinistic thinking and doctrine. According to pure Calvinism, a person really isn’t capable of just choosing to obey the gospel and become a Christian. First, he must be one of the elect or he is totally out of luck since Jesus only died for the elect (the “L” limited atonement in TULIP). One is in the elect based purely on the arbitrary choosing of God and not any conditions that the sinner meets (the “U” unconditional election in TULIP). If he is the elect, he still can’t just choose to believe. He is born in sin, totally depraved, and isn’t capable of believing (the “T” total hereditary depravity in TULIP). So God has to send His Spirit to enable his heart to believe. God only sends His Spirit on the elect. When He does send His Spirit on the elect to enable them to believe, they can’t resist the Spirit working on their heart (the “I” irresistible grace in TULIP). Once an elect person receives the Spirit and is able to believe, he is saved and cannot lose his salvation by sinning (the “P” perseverance of the saints in TULIP). That’s the famous TULIP of Calvinism.

But Pharoah had free will choice to obey God and let the slaves go free. He hardened his own heart even though God hardened his heart by sending the plagues, making him choose to obey or not. The plagues hardened his heart also. Once Pharoah hardened his heart, God has the right as God to use his hardened heart to disobey even more commands from God. God is the potter and man in the clay, and the potter has that right over the clay (Romans 9).

None of that is Calvinism. Calvinism goes against the principle of free will choices that God gives everyone. What kind of a God would keep anyone from just choosing to accept and obey Jesus? What kind of a God would keep someone from being able to believe b/c he is not one of an arbitrarily chosen group that is predestined to be saved? Calvinism means well in that it wants to give all the glory to God for saving sinners and not give glory to the choices of sinful men, but it goes to far.

So back to the first paragraph. Once a person hardens his heart in unbelief, God can send a delusion that makes them believe a lie and go further into sin. But the sinner has the ability to make free will choices in the whole process. God indirectly causes them to believe a lie by sending a delusion on them, but they freely choose to follow the delusion and believe the lie.