There seems to be a lot of talk lately about the existence of Hell. There are some who still choose to affirm it as truth and some are truthful about it and dwell on it and then others who choose to say it does not exist or that it is empty. So what is the proper way to treat the subject. Do we ignore it and say that it doesn't matter because " Love Wins" or do we continue to affirm and drag down the sinner who has not yet come to faith, by insisting on their damnation as a certainty when we are not sure of what their fate will be (they may come to faith and there is no gospel in double predestination).
In answer to the first question , Love Won That Is Why Jesus Died!(John 3:16) However, in love Jesus warns his people and those outside of grace that there is a Hell( John 3:17-18). As stated in the Scripture below, Hell is a real place and to quote the Lutheran Theologian Quenstedt who quotes Chrysostom "Let us not speak where it is, but how we may escape it." Christ words warn us below.
Luke 16:23-24
23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’
Matthew 7:13
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
So here is the question: Is Jesus still love even though he clearly declares Hell as an actual place? Well my answer to this is that this is the prime reason why Jesus came was to save us from this certain fate outside of Him. Without him we are dead in our sins which are our just wages and Hell our reward(curse). If God had another plan then our works may be enough to save us . The performance and reliance on any works is prideful and entering through the wide gate is exactly what the false teachers propose. That is not what Christ proposes because he is paradoxically the "Narrow Gate". Most would feel that a narrow door is the harder way but if you know the "narrow way" is the only way then it is not the hardest way because you know how to get there.
The Old Testament is used by Jesus demonstrating his complete consistency in the use of God's Word as these truths about Hell are clearly used by him.
Isaiah 66:24
24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” ( referenced in Luke 16:23-24, Mark 9:44)
Daniel 12:22
2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. ( referenced to in the Last Judgment Matthew 25:31,43)
Jesus is clearly affirming the same teaching in the Gospels that is in the Old Testament. So it can be said that Christ is being perfectly consistent in these declarations. Jesus firmly speaks of Hell and warns us because he loves us and does not want us to send ourselves there by refusing to believe he is the only way. This navel gazing being done by doubting what Christ says or choosing your own religion because you can be a good person and locking arms with religious leaders who are Marxists is only serving to do one thing and that is shipwreck those who are non discerning in faith.
I wonder if someone thought of asking Bell this question. Since everything in the Bible is up for grabs and discussion; Is there a heaven? It seems people like him want to pick and choose which portions of the Bible they like and cross out other ones they don't like. Perhaps, Christ does not exist as we don't need salvation from hell? I am using a skeptics argument here. Such errorists as Bell create this type of questioning by and usher people to apostasy.
So in the end analysis it is obvious Hell is a real place. It is also obvious that Christ's sacrifice is why "Love Wins in Christ" but in because a belief in Him is what keeps us from going there; and if it is a belief in Christ that keeps me from going there then Universalism is what will take me there. Universalism is the broad road and wide gate that shall lead the church to destruction as there is no God to believe in but any idol that you choose. It is really no different than affirming a moral atheism.
I plan on writing more about this subject in the near future and how I am learning to talk about it with others.
In answer to the first question , Love Won That Is Why Jesus Died!(John 3:16) However, in love Jesus warns his people and those outside of grace that there is a Hell( John 3:17-18). As stated in the Scripture below, Hell is a real place and to quote the Lutheran Theologian Quenstedt who quotes Chrysostom "Let us not speak where it is, but how we may escape it." Christ words warn us below.
Luke 16:23-24
23 And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 “Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’
Matthew 7:13
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.
So here is the question: Is Jesus still love even though he clearly declares Hell as an actual place? Well my answer to this is that this is the prime reason why Jesus came was to save us from this certain fate outside of Him. Without him we are dead in our sins which are our just wages and Hell our reward(curse). If God had another plan then our works may be enough to save us . The performance and reliance on any works is prideful and entering through the wide gate is exactly what the false teachers propose. That is not what Christ proposes because he is paradoxically the "Narrow Gate". Most would feel that a narrow door is the harder way but if you know the "narrow way" is the only way then it is not the hardest way because you know how to get there.
The Old Testament is used by Jesus demonstrating his complete consistency in the use of God's Word as these truths about Hell are clearly used by him.
Isaiah 66:24
24 “And they will go out and look on the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; the worms that eat them will not die, the fire that burns them will not be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” ( referenced in Luke 16:23-24, Mark 9:44)
Daniel 12:22
2And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. ( referenced to in the Last Judgment Matthew 25:31,43)
Jesus is clearly affirming the same teaching in the Gospels that is in the Old Testament. So it can be said that Christ is being perfectly consistent in these declarations. Jesus firmly speaks of Hell and warns us because he loves us and does not want us to send ourselves there by refusing to believe he is the only way. This navel gazing being done by doubting what Christ says or choosing your own religion because you can be a good person and locking arms with religious leaders who are Marxists is only serving to do one thing and that is shipwreck those who are non discerning in faith.
I wonder if someone thought of asking Bell this question. Since everything in the Bible is up for grabs and discussion; Is there a heaven? It seems people like him want to pick and choose which portions of the Bible they like and cross out other ones they don't like. Perhaps, Christ does not exist as we don't need salvation from hell? I am using a skeptics argument here. Such errorists as Bell create this type of questioning by and usher people to apostasy.
So in the end analysis it is obvious Hell is a real place. It is also obvious that Christ's sacrifice is why "Love Wins in Christ" but in because a belief in Him is what keeps us from going there; and if it is a belief in Christ that keeps me from going there then Universalism is what will take me there. Universalism is the broad road and wide gate that shall lead the church to destruction as there is no God to believe in but any idol that you choose. It is really no different than affirming a moral atheism.
I plan on writing more about this subject in the near future and how I am learning to talk about it with others.
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