Over the past few years there seem to have been an increase in the acceptance of Universalist teaching that says in effect that there is no hell as told in the Bible, and even if there is one, such a loving God will never send any body to hell, and ultimately all will be saved and go to heaven! In the past only the more liberal groups of Christians are said to have accepted this teaching, but now it is being increasingly accepted even among the so called conservative groups. If this is true, it surely is an alarming trend because this teaching goes in direct opposition to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I believe this teaching finds wider and wider acceptance because many people are afraid to think about hell as they knew in their hearts that they are going to end up there if hell actually exists. They want to continue enjoying their easy and sinful life in this world. Whenever the topic of hell comes up, they feel quilty and condemned, and they would rather cover up those feelings and pretend that all is well, and no matter what kind of life style they lived in this world, they are going to end up in heaven anyway! Therefore, according to this belief, you don't need to repent of your sins ('sin' to them is also a relative term), nor you need to do anything special to go to heaven. No matter you are a drunkard, or you commit adultery or murder, you will ultimately make it to heaven at the end of the day! In short, you don't need a saviour, and YOU DON'T NEED JESUS! God the loving Father will take you to heaven anyway! Its amazing how far people could go away from true Biblical teaching and yet call themselves Christians!
JESUS CLEARLY TAUGHT THERE IS HELL: The most vivid picture of hell was in the story told by Jesus in the gospel of Luke 16:19-31. Jesus did not tell this story as a parable. He told it as a fact. The story is about one rich man who enjoyed life all for himself, and a beggar named Lazarus who was laid at the rich man's gate to beg, but apparently the rich man never allow him to eat even the left overs that fell from his dining table. After both of them died, the beggar was carried by angels to heaven, but the rich man found himself in hell where he was in torment.
I have read a number of testimonies of people who died and went to hell but came back to life. Most of their accounts are amazingly similar to Jesus' story in the gospel of Luke. One of the most detailed account of hell is Mary K. Baxter's account in her book, "Divine Revelation of Hell". Her testimony is also available online as audio download, for example from sites like http://www.spiritlesson.com/
Hell is a place of torment and is eternal in nature: Whenever hell is mentioned in the Bible, it is always implied as a place of torment and punishment. As in the above text in Luke, Jesus said that the rich man was in torment in hell. Again Jesus said in Mark 9:49 that hell is a place where "their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched". Revelation 20:10 confirms the eternal nature of hell in no uncertain terms: "And the devil. who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever". Again in Matthew 25:46, Jesus said that those condemned "will go way to eternal punishment".
The human soul is immortal: Another false teaching is Annihilationism which goes something like this: The human soul has 'conditional immortality', meaning that those believers in Christ will enjoy immortality and joy in heaven whereas all unbelievers will be completely annihilated and they cease to exist forever. There will be no conscious suffering for any length of time. They will be just obliterated completely from their existence. This belief is held by many Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh-Day Adventists and some liberal evangelicals. But according to Biblical view, the soul (spirit) is immortal, and those who are sent to hell will suffer their torment will full consciousness for ever and ever. The idea of eternal conscious suffering is hard to accept for any normal mind, but we have to accept what the Bible says, as John Stott* says: " Emotionally, I find the concept [of eternal conscious torment] intolerable and do not understand how people can live with it without either cauterising their feelings or cracking under the strain. But our emotions are a fluctuating, unreliable guide to truth and must not be exalted to the place of supreme authority in determining it . . . my question must be — and is — not what does my heart tell me, but what does God’s word say?"
(*Stott: Essentials, 315-16)
Hell is not meant for human beings: According to Jesus, hell is not prepared for human beings but for the devil and his angels. (Matt 25:41) However, those who reject God and His plan of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ are automatically condemned and have to go to hell, as they have not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. "Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son". (John 3:18)
We all have to choose now! Our eternal destiny is determined by our choices while alive on earth. The choice is really very simple: Either choose to believe in Jesus for your salvation that leads to eternal life and joy in heaven, or ignore Jesus and end up in hell! Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me". (John 14:6) The choice is yours!
Finally, Do not be deceived by false ideas and teachings. Remember: Hell is real as much as Heaven is real!
Rawn ziak tha khawp mai. Rob Bell lehkhabu ziah, tunhnaia tlangzarh tak; Love Wins tih khan tunhnaiah kristian zingah HELL chungchang hian sawi a hlawhin, inhnialna pawh a chokchhuak nasa hle ani kha.
ReplyDeleteTuna, Bin LAden thih thu te han hriat hnu ah phei hi chuan, Rob Bell hian engtinnge a chhan ang aw tiin tunlai chu ka ngaihtuah a. Hmangaihna Pathian hian vanram a kai tir tho dawn em niang ?
I liked the post a lot, but I have a question.. In the olden days, ie, Biblical times, there was a clear distinction between good and evil.. like the rich man in your example who would not even leave leftovers for a beggar.. But what of now? Where evil merges with good to create an amalgamation of the two, where on the outside, he is a preacher delivering sermons that moves the very people he destroys as a corrupt politician on the inside? Maybe we should be concerned about our own connections with God, but doesn't the Bible teach us to gather as many faithfuls as we could? I'm not arguing, just confused.
ReplyDelete@sekibuhchhuak, Rob Bell lehkhabu ziak hi ka la chhiar ve lo va, Universalism lam a va ni awm ve? Pathian hmangaihna lam chauh hriaa a hlauhawmna leh 'Kanralhmang Mei' a nihna te, dik taka rorel thin a nihna lam te haider leh si thin Kristian hi kan tam hmel khawp mai.
ReplyDelete@blackestred, thanks for your comment. I believe the distinction between good and evil is the same now as ever if we based our judgement on the Biblical teaching. God never changes His character. However, modern man has made his own standard of good and evil, disregarding God's holy standard. But at the end of the day, God himself will be the Judge, and all evil will be done away with forever.