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The Word

The Word is about The Word of God. We're going to talk about who God is, who we are, and how it all mashes up. We're going to talk about the easy stuff - and the hard stuff. Our goal here is to understand the Way, the Truth, and the Life - and we will not be shy, we will not pull punches, and we will not compromise when there is something as important as our lives on the line.

Damned if We Don't

One of the starting points in understanding the need for the Gospel is in understanding the reality of what happens if someone rejects the Gospel, because if we don't know where we're going, then we have no reason to change our course. And it's an unfortunate doctrine we have to discuss, because it's unpleasant in every possible way.

The reality of Hell is one of the things Christ repeatedly spoke about. Many of His parables tell us about people being cast into "outer darkness" and "weeping and gnashing of teeth". Perhaps the strongest words on the subject come from the parable of the sheep and the goats, with the goats going into eternal punishment and the sheep going into eternal life.

At this point is where we get introduced to universalists.

Let me say this clearly: universalism is not Christianity. Anyone claiming to be a Christian universalist is deceiving themselves as much as a person who claims to be both a poached egg and a human being. These simply are not compatible belief systems. Universalism ultimately teaches that Christ's sacrifice was as unnecessary as your need to accept the Gospel because you're going to Heaven, no matter what you believe.

What a hopeful belief system! If only it were true.

Seriously. I wish it were. I wish that scripture taught that everyone would end up in Heaven in the end. The thought of someone spending eternity seperated from God is a sickening thought to someone who understands the concept of Hell. No one would ever celebrate someone ending up in a place describe by scripture as a burning, stinking garbage heap that never extinguishes, where the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever. What a horrible concept Hell is.

Unfortunately, it's also a very real, very true concept - and it's that concept that should drive us to preach the Gospel. Sure, we can talk about Jesus loving us, but let's be honest: we can get love elsewhere. We can get our needs met elsewhere. We can get everything we could possibly need elsewhere, whether or not we're Christian, Buddhist, Islamic, or what have you.

But we can't get salvation. We can't get Grace. We can't get the Gospel. These are the things that we so desperately need, and these are the things that we must be driven to. This is why Hell is so important to the Christian - not so that we can condemn people we don't like there, but so that the reality of it will drive us to understand the consequences of someone's decision to reject Christ, so that we will be emboldened to evangelize, preach, and proclaim Jesus Christ crucified and risen again.

Published Dec 04 2007, 03:02 PM by 5minutes

Comments

via crucis said:

Hell is a fundamental doctrine of the Church and always has been; the doctrine has met very little opposition worthy of mention throughout the history of Christianity. In fact, people that do not believe in the existence of God or the immortality of the soul in the first place usually deny it. The existence of Hell comes straight from the Holy Scriptures; Christ and His Apostles even presuppose the very knowledge of its existence. We see this in Matthew 5:29; 8:12; 10:28; 13:42; 25:41, 46; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; Revelation 21:8, etc etc.

December 5, 2007 8:35 AM

About 5minutes

I'm 5minutes. I'm the admin here. Short history: Musically, I've been into Christian Metal since the mid-to-late 80's. Although I remain a die-hard metalhead, yes, I do listen to other kinds of music that some would consider "eclectic" and some just wouldn't consider. Jazz, funk, acoustic, alternative, etc. It's all good, unless it's a) Southern Gospel; b) Country made after 1970; or c) R&B made after 1980. Spiritually, I was one of the lucky ones who was raised in a Christian household. I can't remember a time when Christ wasn't a part of my life. I made a confession of faith at age 7 in a small charismatic house church. During the 90's, I slowly, but surely, left the charismaticism of my youth, but never really found a home. In mid-2001 (just prior to 9/11), I had a spiritual awakening that led me to seriously begin studying the Reformers: Luther, Calvin, etc. Over the next few years, I discovered the joy of Reformation Theology, and have been, as some have called me, a "stark raving Presbyterian" ever since. Whatever your theology, tho, my heart for you is simple: you, as much as I, need the Gospel. It's why I'm still part of the Christian Metal community. It's why I'm still breathing - because I have a mission, as we all do, to preach Jesus Christ, crucified and raised from the dead for our sins for no other reason than grace. And grace, my friends, is the key to my life - and yours. I need it, constantly. As my theological hero, a certain German Augustinian monk who got kicked out of his church, put it: “If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. As long as we are here [in this world] we have to sin. This life is not the dwelling place of righteousness, but, as Peter says, we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. It is enough that by the riches of God’s glory we have come to know the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day. Do you think that the purchase price that was paid for the redemption of our sins by so great a Lamb is too small? Pray boldly—you too are a mighty sinner.” - Dr. Martin Luther