GOD’S NOT DEAD, HELL'S NOT DEAD, AND ROB BELL IS WRONG

This is a short critique of Rob Bell’s new book, “Love Wins.” Having read and enjoyed several of Rob’s books, I find this new book disappointing, disheartening, and, from a truth perspective, dangerous. Make no mistake about the singular point of this book: Love Wins embraces Universalism, the belief everyone will be saved. In countless media interviews and news articles Rob has tried to mask his courtship of universalism with a lot of mumble-jumble and slight-of-word, going to great lengths in attempting to dispel the Universalism label. Rob narrowly defines Universalism as God either appropriating our ability to choose, or allowing our freewill while ignoring our choices. Webster’s’ Dictionary does not address how Universalism works but simply what it is, “the final salvation of all souls.” Love Wins promotes this false doctrine.

Rob defines Christianity as a wide, diverse, fascinating cacophonous conversation extending thousands of years, in which we are all taking part, and which welcomes and encourages diverse doctrine as part of the “conversation.” It is clear Rob’s postmodern roots are showing with his everyone is right and nobody is wrong, truth is relative, spiritual evolution approach to doctrine. Truth Truth, truth with a capital “T” (Francis Schaeffer) is not a wilderness of mirrors, slight of thought or “conversations.”  God’s Truth is not shaped by man’s opinions...IT simply is, and we need to allow the Holy Spirit to shape us into IT. We need Christlikeness, not dialogue!

Rob down plays the Truth of hell by giving a cursory look at a few passages which use the word, while ignoring many other passages which define, explain and reinforce this Truth. Rob defines hell as temporal and remedial: Hell is in the here and now on earth, God’s judgment isn’t final, and punishment is for correction. In Bell’s world, hell is a place where one goes to get an attitude adjustment before going to heaven.  In Matt. 25:31-46 Jesus says the cursed “will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life”, further defining this punishment as “the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Rob translates “everlasting punishment as “temporary pruning” to make his point. Punishment here, the Greek kolasis, does not refer to temporary remedial punishment or discipline, but, contextually, the eternal retributive punishment of the violation of God’s commandments, the punishment our Lord warned about in Mark 9:43-48. And, since both “everlasting” and “eternal” are translated from the same Greek word aionios, time in infinite unbroken duration,  they must be translated the same way in this passage: If hell is temporal so is heaven, and if heaven is eternal, everlasting, then so is hell. There simply is no way this very clear passage can mean anything other then what it states: Two choices, punishment or life, with one duration... forever!  

The concepts of divine judgment, hell, and eternal punishment are interwoven throughout God’s word, into the very fabric of God’s whole council, and beyond dispute... unless one “modifies” the scriptures in Edward Scissorhands fashion. Rob vacillates from brilliant supposition to flakey ramblings in his attempts to legitimize his love hypothesis. Deception is blinding, mental blindness, the inability to perceive truth by the one deceived, hence the sincerity of deception. There is much more that could be discussed, Rob’s downsizing of God into two finite attributes, “Good” and “Love”, his flirting with Eastern Mysticism’s many paths to god concept, etc., but hopefully enough has been said to discourage the waste of time and money on this book. We must pray for Rob Bell even as we stand against his beliefs.   

DON’T GET TRUMPED

Universalism is the view that all people will be saved, indeed, in some versions, that satan himself will one day be redeemed. Inclusivism is the view that some people who have not knowingly accepted Christ’s gift of salvation may nevertheless be saved by his sacrifice on the cross, simply because they are “good” people, for God can read their “good” hearts. The “inclusivism” is that they would be included in God’s salvation by God without any action on their part. Of course “good” in this context is what man deems good, and not what God deems good. Both these views are gaining popularity, under the general banner of The Grace Gospel, as human logic applied to God’s word. Don’t be misled by this catchy label, this is what Peter described as “twisting the scriptures to their own destruction”, and Paul called “Another Gospel”, flying under the facade of Grace to circumvent the huge volume of scriptures that refute these false doctrines: The Grace Gospel is simply Cheap Grace in sheep’s clothing that man bestows on himself. Man’s free will to chose, reject or ignore, God’s free gift has huge unavoidable consequences. God’s word is the final arbitrator over truth. Man’s logic will simply never trump God’s Preincarnate Word, although man never seems to tire of trying. It’s that broken thingie inside man that satan also struggled with, exulting Self over God: “I will be like the most high”, the epitome of audacity!  Man can concoct a way to salvation, he attempted in ancient times to reach heaven with the Tower of Babel, and he attempts today with science and technology... yes, man may attempt to clone a way to immortality, but God says it’s My way or the highway. And we all know where that highway leads.

“THERE IS A WAY THAT SEEMS RIGHT...

“THE WAY” THROUGH THORNLAND

We all must go through the thorns; it is part and parcel with spiritual transformation... our wilderness experience. Thorns are tools of deception, and deception is, literally, mental blindness. The thorns of this world create toe-holds in our heart, places we have given to the enemy... doors of access. At first we struggle, then we acquiesce, then we embrace our love for “other things”, the things of this life. It is, ultimately, our lust that bates and ensnares us. This is how we fall away... one thorn at a time, till we are so thorny we no longer perceive God. The Sower Parables describe four specific categories of thorns:

“DESIRES FOR OTHER THINGS”: “Other things” here are not Kingdom things.  This is materialism warring to draw our desires away from spiritual things.  “Desires” is the Greek word eipthumia and means to desire greatly, longing, lust and strong passion in the mind... a lusting mindset. In (1 Jn. 2:16) it is the lusts of the “eyes”, “flesh”, and “pride” in opposition to Jesus’ command “do not love the world or the things in the world” (vs. 15).

“DECEITFULNESS OF RICHES”: Wealth and the power it produces are addictive.  “Deceitfulness” is the Greek word apate and means deceptive, seducing propensities which induce to sin and lead to disappointment. Remember the camel and the eye of a needle: This is talking about a real camel and a real sewing needle.   

“CARES OF THE WORLD”: “Cares” is a synonym of the Greek word for worry, the   most prevalent sin of the 21^st century church. The anxiety of worry brings disruption to mind, heart, soul and spirit, driving away the peace of God, and causing sickness and disease. Worry is unbelief pure and simple, and habitual worry is to treat our Savior’s sacrifice as a common thing, insulting the Spirit of grace.

“PLEASURES OF LIFE”: “Pleasures” is the Greek word hedone which means sensual pleasure, physical gratification, enjoyment, lust, and in a broader sense the desire for pleasures.  James speaks of our “desire for pleasures” that war in our bodies (James 4:1-3), and Paul speaks of the ungodly in the last days as “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tm. 3:4), showing pleasure seeking to be enmity against God.

The “Thorny Heart” is a picture of twenty-first century Christian life... fruitless Self serving lives enamored with life in this world. Saints are not supposed to stay in the thorn bushes, but merely travel through them, being in the world but not partakers of the world. The only antidote for “thorns” is transformation, the willingness to die to Self submitting to Christ’s Lordship, and be renewed in mind... reflecting the passionate desires of God’s heart. Christlikeness, the goal of all true saints, is an outward reflection of an inner reality, a replacement process where we reckon bits of our Self nature dead and Christ replaces those pieces with bits of His nature. A heavenly mindset keeps this goal in sharp focus while giving no “place”, or toe-hold, for thorns or any “lusts” to spring up in our mind.  People of “one thing” have made God the centerpiece of their heart... their mind... and their existence.

COME OUT FROM AMOUNG THEM

 AND BE YE SEPARATE

HEALING RESTORATION

Saints who minister between the times, with the Cross behind us and the Snatching Away ahead, recognize there is a mystery between the brokenness of a fallen world and the in-breaking of God’s future redemption into our now. Like the first rays of morning sun break upon the horizon, foretelling of the glorious brilliance to come, so God’s Kingdom invades our life circumstances with glimpses and hints of what our eternal future holds. Restoration of God’s creation, including restorative healing of the physical body, is, as with every good gift from God, mediated to mankind by virtue of Christ’s atoning work on the Cross. This is the true meaning of the word “healed”, the Hebrew rapha, used in Is. 53:5: To restore something to its original wholeness. God’s salvation plan is not truncated, but breathtaking in scope... cosmic in nature... the complete restoration of all creation to its original blue-print and purpose. In this divine interim, saints are called upon to move against disease and suffering, even though “we see through a glass darkly”, even though healing does not restore us to our glorified-body nature, even though healing, in this life, can never be anything but a Band-Aid... a temporary fix of part of the problem, we are, none the less, to move against disease and suffering in prayer. That God does not always heal our physical bodies of disease should come as no surprise, for He does not always protect us from the accidents, dangers and natural disasters of life... all of which can devastate our mortal life in an instant. These are mysteries, the why of which is hidden in the God who takes no council... the secret things of God known only to Himself. Physical healing is only a foretaste some receive to remind us all of Christ’s triumph on the Cross and the ultimate transformation all creation awaits... a powerful reminder of the purposeful God’s grand restoration plans. Saint’s will always die from disease, for not every saint is healed no matter how effectual and fervent the prayers, and we fail to recognize the worse disease of all... the insidious disease of aging that lays havoc to one and all... which is truly no respecter of persons. Death is still the destiny of all living beings until the Lord comes to Snatch Away His jewels. And earth-life is still a mere heartbeat of time in the vast expansive timelessness of eternal life, if that... a nanosecond we really worry too much about. Isn’t it time we began to believe this? Isn’t the prayer of relinquishment that petitions grace to allow one to step through the mystery of suffering into the loving arms of our Daddy... isn’t that the greatest petition we saints can pray... to release a suffering loved one into God’s hands? The vehicle we use to exit life, be it cancer, old-age, auto accident, heart attack, tornado or whatever... is of little consequence.  One second into eternity we will never think of it again, for the enemy is defeated... death cannot hold us down. To be KNOWN of God is all that truly matters. So saints, whether we die or fly... whether we step through the grand portal of death into eternity or change in a twinkling of an eye and fly home, we will all be restored... we will all have a glorified-body... we will all be truly healed! “And the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Maybe we should clap too!         

DEATH HAS NO STING... GOD HAS THE VICTORY

LIFE-QUOTES: SHORT MEANDERINGS #2

* The strength of faith is its audacity to hope, giving sustaining evidence of the unseen reality of God.
* Setting our mind on things above should not take us out of the world, but it should take the world out of us and release God’s Kingdom into our circumstances.
* When God truly rules in our heart and Jesus is truly Lord of our life, the Kingdom of God will truly flow out of us.
* Meditation is a synonym for Stillness, the quieting of our soul before God in submission. Stillness is a disciplined expectation of hearing and obeying God’s voice.
* Some move in the power of the love of God, while others love moving in the power of God, not recognizing the relational difference of misplaced love.
* God uses “Life”, our physical circumstances, like a cookie cutter to shape us into Christlikeness. He seems to think we are His... cookie dough...
* Spiritual erosion, the ever so slight bending of God’s moral precepts, is so gradual it is hardly noticed by anyone... except God.
* “You are restricted by your own affections”: Much of the pressures of life come by way of the road of our own desires.
* Christlikeness becomes our Strong Tower, as the pressures of this life move us ever God-ward.
* Avoid doubtful disputations with the scripturally ignorant. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
* The pathway to true knowledge of God is hewed from the foundation stone of obedience.
* God’s Kingdom, is much more profound than any earthly condiments... although we sure do love those condiments. “He who has an ear, let...
* Adversity is not the time to cry out for deliverance, “Lord save me”, but to cry out “Lord use me.”　
* God's truth is a mosaic; when we get it right all the pieces will fit.
* When we lose our first love we squander our love on lover’s less wild, taking on itching ear doctrines that pacify Self.
* “Lord, Increase our faith.” The faith we exercise is God's supernatural faith, imparted by His Word: More word equals more faith... So, “Study to...
* And who is to say which is more incredible, a God who raises the dead... or a God who weeps.