Good Thursday morning, my friends,
On Monday I wrote a post about how culture and society has discounted the eternal consequences of sin. And now in the news this week is American mega-church pastor Rob Bell and his new book Love Wins (a book about heaven, hell, and the fate of every person who ever lived). According to one reviewer, here's the gist:
Hell is what we create for ourselves when we reject God's love. Hell is both a present reality for those who resist God and a future reality for those who die unready for God's love. Hell is what we make of heaven when we cannot accept the good news of God's forgiveness and mercy. But hell is not forever. God will have his way. How can his good purposes fail? Every sinner will turn to God and realize he has already been reconciled to God, in this life or in the next. There will be no eternal conscious torment. God says no to injustice in the age to come, but he does not pour out wrath (we bring the temporary suffering upon ourselves), and he certainly does not punish for eternity. In the end, love wins.
This is a very compelling argument, one we would all love to believe, but difficult to defend against scripture. Like, for instance, Matthew 25:41 where Jesus is speaking the parable of the sheep and the goats: "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."
Paul wrote these words to Timothy, and they seem very prophetic here:
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:4-5)
To hear Rob Bell talking about his views check out this video. And to hear him attempt to defend his views, check out this one.
We need to be VERY careful about the theology that we adopt. We need to be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11: "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."
Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Bruce
Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God,because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)Most gracious heavenly Father, we come to You, praying for all Christians to be able to talk in the common language that is of You.May we be fed the solid Word that comes from You, and never stray when Satan tries to destroy us.In Christ's holy name, we pray. Amen.Anne Russell
 | Bruce MacPherson macpherson@celtic.ca / Blog: The Celtic Christian / Home: 613.489.4174 Cell: 613.720.0821 You are receiving this email because you have requested it or I felt you would be interested in this material. If you would like to be removed from this email list, please do not hesitate to contact me at the above email address. Likewise, if you know of someone else who you believe would appreciate receiving these messages, please let me know. |
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