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Salvation
Because
of Jesus I can see what I am and accept what I am, a sinner*. (I don't have to
pretend I'm better than I am to earn the praise and love of others.) I can accept what I am because I know He
loves me as I am. I have nothing to hide. He sees all my faults and still loves me.
The acid test for any theology
is this: Is the God presented one that can be loved, heart, soul, mind
and strength? If the thoughtful, honest answer is 'Not really', then we
need to look elsewhere or deeper (Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy).
I know Jesus loves me because He died for me. He has promised that one day I will see Him with
my eyes, touch Him with my hands and be fulfilled forever. His kindness humbles me
without humiliating me.
Because Jesus loves me He wants to make me brave, honest and kind. He wants to make me like Himself. Jesus is changing me; I am beginning to love what is good. My feelings are intense and yet I am at peace; I am beginning to care without being anxious. He is making me alive. In time He will make me the kind of person who would rather die than lie; starve rather than steal. The world is a wonderful place because I know that no one can take Him from me. He calms me with His love and gives insight to my mind.
No wonder Paul wrote, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." (Gal 5:1)
Speaker: Os Guinness. (see also The Genius of Jesus and motives)
A man or woman is not truly free until he or she is brave, kind and honest etc. (Note: The more like Christ I become the more of an individual I will become. When two people are becoming like Christ they are growing alike in character but different in personality. That is what will make heaven so interesting. Only when we are like Christ will we truly enjoy our differences.) Because God loves us He will make us like Jesus. He knows that we can never be truly free until we are like Him. My confidence is in God's perfect unending love for me and that He will finish what He has begun. God does not change.
But
following Jesus is not always easy. In fact, many sincere people have become frustrated and disillusioned when trying to live the Christian life because of misconceptions about what it entails. We often think we are trying to obey Jesus but we are actually trying to do that which is impossible. Jesus never asks us to do the impossible. (The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard cleared up a lot of mistaken beliefs for me. Particularly chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8. God does not want us to be confused and frustrated. Jesus said there would be false teachers who would mislead and confuse Christians. Don't be one of them.)
I must die to self (selfishness) and live for God. The dying process is painful and will continue to be painful while I am in the process of dying. It will be painful until it is over. The old Bradley will cease to exist and the new Bradley will be like Christ. I will no longer be selfish. This is necessary because I will not, in fact cannot, enjoy the kind of heart felt unbroken intimacy that Jesus enjoys with His Father until I am eternally dead (Once I am dead I will remain dead forever). This is one sinner who will be destroyed forever so that the new Bradley can reign with Christ. The old man must perish.
Most have never thought deeply about eternal death, but to perish ultimately means to cease to exist. This makes perfect sense when we consider the following footnote in Isaiah and the words of the wise woman to King David. But don't those in hell choose to stay in hell? C.S. Lewis in The Great Divorce
writes as if those in hell don't want to be in heaven because they
think it is some kind of trick, but not according to Jesus. According
to Jesus those in hell want to be in heaven, but no matter how hard an
unrepentant sinner tries, they cannot enter the kingdom of God. Not
only can they not enter, no one else can cross that chasm for them.
Those who die without turning and following Jesus have no hope of avoiding hell. This is a terrible prospect, but that is the fate of all who choose not to believe in Jesus (which is different to believing things about Jesus). They will experience the horrors of hell. The discussion so far raises some important questions. If the view of eternal expressed above is true, is it possible to die an eternal death in hell and so be set free? In other words, is it possible to come to believe in Jesus with all ones heart, mind, soul and strength in hell and therefore love God and ones neighbour? Before answering this question I want take a closer look at the nature of hell.
It seems to me that the hellishness of hell is that people want to be in heaven but are unable to enter. They can see the splendour of the new Heaven and Earth but are unable to get in because "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful...." (Rev 21:27). But isn't it odd that the gates are open considering who is outside? (Rev 22:14,15) Why would you want the gates to be open? These verses raise many questions. For example, What does it mean to wash ones robes? Jesus said, "Unless you forgive you will not be forgiven." What might that mean in light of the passage in Isaiah referred to above? And what might that mean in relation to eternal punishment?
God forbid that I should limit the time of acquiring faith to the present life. In the depth of the Divine mercy there may be opportunity to win it in the future. (Martin Luther's letter to Hanseu Von Rechenberg, 1522.)
Hell is obviously a horrible and real place, but some people seem determined to go over board when talking about hell. No doubt they think they are being true to scripture and helping people to avoid that place. But they are actually making people think God is other than He is, which does not honour Him at all. (How Satan must love it when men like Nietzsche attack such misrepresentations of God and zealous Churchmen respond by not defending God, but their image of Him. Satan truly is brilliant.) These same men, in their zeal to defend the horror of hell, claim that the pain suffered there will do those in hell no good, those in heaven no good, and could not possibly
be pleasing to God. Even though it does no one any good they defend the doctrine because they claim that "the Bible tells them so!" I think they need to take a closer look at the Bible and try and interpret the verses about Hell and eternal death in light of God's character. (See The Meaning of Meaning by Dr Michael Bauman for more on interpretation). God is love and his love is unending. Those who are not willing to think the highest thoughts of God's character misunderstand what is written about the nature of His punishment. (Note carefully, I am not deny that many will die an eternal death in the lake of fire and that dying process will be painful.)
Jesus said that it would be better for some than for others in hell (See Luke 12:46-48). God is not unreasonable. Luke 12:46-48 talks about some receiving few blows while others many. In other words the punishment is limited and not endless (Jesus parables seem to confirm this view). As mentioned, there are those who claim to think highly of God and yet are quick to make out that He will do the worst of things. They say that God will cause all of those in hell to suffer as much as is possible, all the time, without any purpose. That does not sound reasonable. The strongest argument they have is to suggest that hell is a necessary quarantine to separate incurable sinners from those in heaven. But punishing those in hell for a limited time and then causing them to completely cease to exist would also serve the purpose of quarantine. It is not necessary that their pain be unending. God can do anything which is logically consistent and in accordance with His character. It is therefore possible for Him to cause souls to cease to exist (though the Bible never says that He will cause any soul to cease to exist). Causing sinners to die an eternal death so that they can truly live would also serve the purpose of quarantine. So those who use quarantine to justify never ending punishment really do not have a case. It seems to me that some defend the doctrine of unending pain because they have come to love their ideas about God more than God. Why are they so keen to defend the doctrines of men? Why is it so hard for these people to consider that maybe, just maybe, they have misinterpreted the Bible because they were too quick to make judgements on the most important of issues? Issues which ultimately reflect what God is like. Fortunately, the real God is other than they imagine. Through parables Jesus constantly appealed to our imaginations to think of God as better than any man, woman or child. No one can imagine God to be better than He actually is. If a good earthly father only punishes his son because of love, how much more will God only punish because of love? God's punishment is never more than is absolutely necessary (no matter how it may seem, nor is it any less than is necessary). God loves everyone and His love is eternal (See also Heb 12:5-7. It is also important to note what the Old Testament says about hell. There is an interesting article in the NIV Archaeological Study Bible entitled "Sheol, Hades, Gehenna, the Abyss and Tartarus: Images of Hell.")
But if everyone is eventual going to make it why would you bother sharing the Gospel at all? If you knew that your husband, wife, son or daughter was going to be locked up and suffer terribly if they kept going on their present path, what would it say about you if you did nothing to help them but simply said, "They'll eventually get out. It'll be OK." It would mean you didn't truly love them. We are to be motivated by love. If you care you don't want anyone to suffer unnecessarily. Jesus died so that people might not have to go to hell. He does not want people to suffer unnecessarily. How can you claim to be His follower if you are indifferent to the plight of others?
Saving Faith
We are told that we are saved by faith, but then the word faith is twisted to mean something it does not mean nor ever intended to mean. We are told we only have to believe in Jesus, but then the word believe is made to mean something different to what Jesus and the apostles meant when they used the word.
Footnote
Perhaps you think that calling myself a sinner is a bit harsh. I, like everyone else, have turned my back on God. I didn't really believe He was good and that is why I doubted Him. That is what sin is, it is turning ones back on God. The real sin is in our hearts; our actions merely reflect what we think and feel toward God.
Many resent being told that humans are
bad. The truth of the matter is that from birth we are all capable of good and
bad. We
all do good things and we all do bad things.[1] The good we do is made possible because of God. But if we turn our backs on Him even the good things we do are looked upon as filthy rags by God. (If someone you love turns their back on you how do you feel? That is why even our good works are disgusting to God if we ignore Him.)
Even if doing good things could save us, they won't save us on the day of judgement. From a purely legal perspective, we know
that those who break the law deserve to be punished. (As noted, this breaking of the law is merely a reflection of what's in our hearts.)
If I break the law by stealing a car, go to court and am found guilty (because
the evidence is obvious) will telling the judge I've done good things
help me? Will asking the judge to forgive me help? No, not at all. If the judge just forgave me or let me off because of the good things I
have done he would not be a good judge. Only a corrupt judge can be bribed and only a bad judge ignores the law. A good judge makes sure that those who
have broken the law are punished. God is a good judge. He will judge us
by his perfect standard.
You might be wondering, "What is God's perfect standard?" Have you ever told
a lie? (Be honest.) If so you are a liar. Have you ever stolen? If so you are a
thief. (By the way, not working hard for your employer is theft; it is taking
his or her money when you don't deserve it. And downloading things illegally is
also theft. If you were selling a program would you want people to download
illegal copies?) Have you ever looked at a woman lustfully? Jesus said,
"that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery
with her in his heart" (Matt 5:28). (Note: this is different to sexual attraction, which is normal. What Jesus was talking about is looking at a woman and thinking about her in away which excites sexual desire.) So
according to the Bible you are guilty and I am guilty. This is very serious
because God says that the sexually immoral and all liars will be thrown
into the lake of fire (Rev 21:8). So what
hope do we have? Who can stand before God with a clean conscience?
Fortunately, God loves you. He loved you even when you ignored Him and disobeyed His
laws (Rom 5:7,8). You can't
earn God's love. It is His free gift to us. Because God loves us He became a
man and died for us. The innocent died for the guilty. God commands all of us to turn from our sins and follow
Jesus. If you do this He will forgive you for the things you have done.
Jesus will never ask you to go against your conscience. Read
the Bible and do what Jesus says.
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