Redefining words as Rob Bell apparently does in his new book inappropriately called "Love Wins" (true agape hates evil and the wicked and rejoices with the Truth---his notion of love is really tolerance of all manner of falsehood), shows his unbelief in Scripture.
The fact that Christians are having to fight for the truth of the biblical Hell and biblical eternal punishment is unbelievable, but that's where the battle rages the most these days.
As reported by Apprising Ministries in a review by the Tenth Leper:
Quote:
That’s why I’m glad I sat down to read this book for myself, because Bell doesn’t really seek to say “This isn’t in the Bible” as much as he does “That’s not actually what the Bible is saying here.” “Do I believe in a literal hell?” he asks. “Of course.” (p.72) So it’s perhaps not the best route to rebuke Bell’s argument by pointing to places in Scripture that talk about Hell as a real place. Nor is it as simple as quoting Matthew 25:46 which says that those who do evil go off to “eternal punishment.” He’s ready for that.
Invoking the original language of the New Testament, he’ll argue his case that the punishment referred to here (better translated, he believes, as “correction”, or “pruning”, or “trimming”) doesn’t last forever in the way we understand the term “forever”. If I were to rebuke his thoughts on Hell by pointing to Matthew 25:46, it would be clear to anyone who has read Love Wins that I had not.
The definition of “eternal” in Matthew 25:46 (which I’ll devote a whole entry to) is probably the most blunt thing I remember reading in Love Wins. As I said, he doesn’t ever say “Hell isn’t real.” He just challenges what we mean by it. He’s too smart to be overly blunt throughout most of the book. But he makes no apology for his declaration that while Hell is a real place, and people will go there, it’s not forever. Ultimately, God’s love will prevail for every person and they will be restored.
End quote.
Many things are wrong with both Bell and Leper's views.
Scripture clearly and simply states eternal punishment is just that: punishment for eternity. Its so simple a child can easily understand it, and many do. Too bad adult "Christians" can't.
There's no semantic games here, no mysterious parable to uncover, no deeper hidden truth here. God made eternal death and eternal life understandable for those who actually believe what He said.
Eternal punishment:
Matt. 25: 41 “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.
2 Thes. 1: 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power
Rev 14:11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
Rev 20:10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
When Christians talk about eternity in Hell we mean eternal punishment. Technically Hell will be thrown into the Lake of Fire to burn forever. We know what we mean, though. So, to be clear, Eternal Punishment is what I'll use for this article.
Why is Eternal Punishment eternal? Well, why is Eternal life eternal?
Christians go to heaven b/c they have placed their trust and faith fully in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This faith will turn to reality--to what we see---when we enter Heaven. We will live in a state of belief for we shall see Him as He is, worshipping Jesus Christ the risen Master/Owner for ever and ever (Eph. 1). Correction is NOT punishment as Bell and Tenth Leper claim. Rather, Rom 8:1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Furthermore discpline is a different word:
Heb 12:7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
paideia
pahee-di'-ah
From G3811; tutorage, that is, education or training; by implication disciplinary correction: - chastening, chastisement, instruction, nurture.
Hebrews 12 is clearly making a distinction between those who are save and thus being conformed to the image of Christ Jesus (see also Rom. 8:28-30) and those who are not. Unbelievers are condemned and punished, believers are no longer condemned since Jesus took their punishment fully, but rather conformed to the image of God's dear Son through discipline or training. Totally different. Bell calls himself a pastor but can't see this clear distinction?
In Mat 25:46 "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" "punishment" is "kolasis" which means penal inflicktion, punishmen, torment. Different word for a different reason: these are the people for whom Jesus DID NOT DIE FOR.
Again this distinction is made here:
1Jn 4:2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.
1Jn 4:6 We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
"Punishment" in v. 18 is " kolasis" as in the earlier passage I just mentioned. John shows the clear distinction between those who are loved by God and saved, and those who are not.
Those who go to Hell (and then the Lake of Fire), die in unbelief. Scripture says Heb 9:27 "And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment." Those who die in unbelief stay in eternal unbelief. What is the penalty for unbelief? Hell and eternal punishment.
Eternal unbelief earns eternal punishment.
This demonstrates God's eternal justice.
Just as eternal life demonstrates God's grace and mercy, Hell proves God's justice and thrice holiness. So, to deny one IS to deny the other and means one has an UNholy God without justice.
God Himself throws unbelievers (aka the wicked) into the Lake of Fire Himself; its not merely that they earned their rightful place there, but He commands them to go and even puts them there:
Matt. 10: 28 Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matt. 25: 41 “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.
Rev 19:20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
All who are rebellious against God, whether demons, Satan, or men, all get the righteous judgement of Hell and eternal punishment. Man's rebellion against God is just as bad as that of the fallen angels.
Hell glorifies God's attributes of justice and holiness. With this backdrop, it also then glorifies God's grace and mercy for those whom He saves.
To deny Hell is to deny Heaven because God says they are equally real and eternal:
Mat 25:41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels....46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Mat 13:41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the FIERY FURNACE. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
The gnashing of teeth is not one of sorrow and pain, but its of hatred and rebellion. The Greek word "brugmos" means grating of teeth. Its the same word used here:
Speaking to the high priest Stephen said, Act 7:52 "Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; 53 you who received the law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it." 54 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and they began gnashing their teeth at him. 56 and he said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." 57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. 58 When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
The reality of eternal punishment demonstrates the glory of God's grace and mercy. We see this with Saul/Paul. He deserved Hell, but God demonstrated His love, grace, and mercy to him in order to be a display of God's power and workmanship forever, just as He does with each person He saves (see Eph. 1-2).
Hell is a literal place which will be thrown into the literal Lake of Fire where unbelievers, Satan, and the demons will burn forever as they live in eternal unbelief: this IS eternal destruction. "Has God said?" Yes He has! He has spoken and HE and therefore His Word is faithful and true:
Rev 19:20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Rev 19:11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.
Rev 21:5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true...
Rev 22:6 And he said to me, "These words are faithful and true"; and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must soon take place. 7 "And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book."
All of Scripture is to be believed and obeyed (in its context correctly applied) and no one is to add nor subtract from Scripture. The warning of doing this both in the OT and NT is to be delaread a liar by God and we know liars do not go to Heaven.
Fear Him Who Judges Righteously. You cannot change what He has declared, has done, or will do.
Ecc 3:14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before Him.
As John MacArthur said:
Fear of eternal judgment, friends, is a very essential component in heart preparation for salvation. I hinted at this, I think it was last Sunday, I speak so many times I don't know whether I'm coming or going, truthfully, but I think in one of the services I commented on this, and just for your own edification I'll mention it to you. We have today an absence of the fear factor in evangelism. I say that and I think of that stupid TV program where they create artificial fears. I don't need any artificial fears. Instead of people dealing with artificial fears, traumatizing themselves through contrived means, they really ought to find out what true fear is and that is to understand the judgment of God. Let me tell you something about what I would say is the essential...essential element of salvation. Really there are four things that are necessary for a person to be saved. You could call this the science of salvation. One, fear...you have to be saved from something, from hell. I don't think people would want to be saved from their sin if they could have their sin and have heaven too, agreed? Does that sound reasonable? If I could have my sin and go to heaven, that sounds like a deal. But hell, that's another matter. And I don't think evangelism is done properly and I don't think a heart is prepared properly if there isn't a component of fear of eternal judgment, eternal hell. And in our evangelism we have to do that, even with our children we have to do that. Second component, the second element is humility, humility. Not only do you have to be afraid of eternal hell, but you have to also understand that you can do nothing to rescue yourself. You have to humble yourself and deny yourself and see your utter unworthiness and your utter nothingness and your utter bankruptcy. This is heart work, folks, in the matter of evangelism. This is the plowing of the soil. And the third element is repentance. You have to come to the place where standing, as it were, looking into the yawning mouth of hell, fearing that you will spend forever there, understanding that you can do nothing to change that, understanding your utter wretchedness and sinfulness and unworthiness, and then coming to the point where you say, "I want to be delivered from this, I want to be rescued from this. I want You to forgive my sins. I acknowledge my sins." That's all the heart work and only then do you come to the fourth element which is to believe the gospel. Most evangelism today is "Jesus died for your sins, believe that, pray this prayer, and you're in." What about the first three? What about the heart preparation? You may have to put the fear factor back in the gospel. It's all through Scripture.
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