re: “Who would want to spend eternity in hell if they could just profess faith in Christ and spend eternity in heaven?”
Those who do not want Christ to be Lord of their lives.
“Profession” of faith is not just saying some words - it is the attitude of one’s heart - God sees our thoughts and motives - God provides the faith to believe to all men, but not all men want God’s Lordship, even if it means hell. As Paul said, “they exchanged the truth of God for a lie.” As John said, “they preferred the darkness over the light.”
The ones who willingly confess their sins, accept God’s forgiveness through His Son, and allow Him to be Lord of their lives, are saved from God’s wrath - but, does that make them better, smarter, or more righteous than those who refuse to believe? No. The Lord said, in John 16:5-11,
“It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment”.
This means the Holy Spirit is at work in the hearts of all men - He is convicting all of us of our sin and our need of a Savior. For some, the Spirit’s conviction produces humility and repentance in their hearts. For others, it seems to merely harden their hearts even more against God.
Does that mean those who respond to God’s Grace take something away from God’s glory and mercy and saving act? Is it something the helpless sinner can boast about and say, “I accepted God’s salvation, look how ‘holy’ I am!”?
As Paul would say, “May it never be!!” No! We have nothing to boast about except of God’s mercy and love toward us. We were helpless sinners without hope. God offered His greatest gift to save us - His Son. There is absolutely nothing for us to claim credit for or boast about.
Soldiers who lay down their lives for our safety and freedom deserve our respect forever. Accepting their bravery and their gift of freedom that we enjoy can never take away from the gift, the honor, and glory of the sacrifice of themselves for our country. Neither can we who humbly receive God’s gift of mercy somehow claim credit for what God did for us.