In ministry, we often are waiting and looking for “the next big thing“. This causes us to look and research and ponder and pander to things that often don’t really matter. One of the blogs I follow posted a link to the “Parable of the Toaster“, which as an IT consultant, I find true yet hilarious. As a Pastor, I find some grief in this parable. This story is convicting of the fact that we often do much in church life that doesn’t mean squat in terms of eternity. We are focused on matters such as tradition, preference, image, and comfort – all things that can be very good on their own. However, when they run contrary to Gods plan and purpose for our lives, they need to be laid aside and quickly.
The Message of the Gospel is simple. We need the Salvation that Christ offers freely by virtue of His death on the cross (Romans 5:8). The only other option is eternal punishment in Hell (Romans 6:23). The rules and regulations of religion make the message messy and confusing. People are craving simple. They can make things messy and confusing on their own. In fact, they know how to do it well (Romans 3:23).
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I would agree that the REAL good news Jesus brought about God is very simple, but he never, ever said God is going to torture people for not believing in his love by a given deadline. On the contrary, Jesus’ message about God was that he never gives up on us, even when we disappoint him. This is the REAL Good News!
I’ve actually written an entire book on this topic–”Hell? No! Why You Can Be Certain There’s No Such Place As Hell,” (for anyone interested, you can get a free ecopy of my book at my website: ADMIN DELETE, but if I may, let me share one of the many points I make in it to explain why.
If one is willing to look, there’s substantial evidence contained in the gospels to show that Jesus opposed the idea of Hell. For example, in Luke 9:51-56, is a story about his great disappointment with his disciples when they actually suggested imploring God to rain FIRE on a village just because they had rejected him. His response: “You don’t know what spirit is inspiring this kind of talk!” Presumably, it was NOT the Holy Spirit. He went on, trying to explain how he had come to save, heal and relieve suffering, not be the CAUSE of it.
So it only stands to reason that this same Jesus, who was appalled at the very idea of burning a few people, for a few horrific minutes until they were dead, could never, ever burn BILLIONS of people for an ETERNITY!
True, there are a few statements that made their way into the copies of copies of copies of the gospel texts which place “Hell” on Jesus’ lips, but these adulterations came along many decades after his death, most likely due to the Church filling up with Greeks who imported their belief in Hades with them when they converted.
Bear in mind that the historical Protestant doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures applies only to the original autographs, not the copies. But sadly, the interpolations that made their way into those copies have provided a convenient excuse for a lot of people to get around following Jesus’ real, core message.
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admin Reply:
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:47 am
I’m not trying to start a flame war, but to speak the truth in love (Eph 4:29).
The one facet of God you forget is that He is just. He cannot allow sin in His presence and still be God. There has to be a price paid for sin. Jesus paid that price for those that accept His atonement. If there were no Hell, Jesus’ incarnation as man and death on the cross would be completely unnecessary. We would all live, die, and go to heaven. You could live and do whatever you want. You would not need Jesus for anything.
Your quote of Luke 9:51-56 is taken completely out of historical context. The context that Jesus presents in that passage is that the timing was not right. Just because a couple blowhard disciples wanted to torch a city, doesn’t mean that God is going to obey OUR will and circumvent HIS will.
That’s a bold statement to make in Evangelical circles without extremely good source material backing it up. I’m also not looking for Gnostic gospel material of questionable historicity.
I can stand in the middle of an interstate and boldly proclaim that there is no Hell, but the truth of the matter is I’m going to be a little grease spot on the road when it’s all said and done. Same principle applies to belief in Jesus, God, Hell, etc.
With your permission, I’d like to expand this to a full post.
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I think that is an interesting point, it made me think a bit. Thanks for sparking my thinking cap. Sometimes I get so much in a rut that I just feel like a record.
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