As a human being it is easy to get caught up with emotion about certain things- when a decision has to be made we often let our heart go before us. We live our lives based on what feels right at the time. In His Word though, God is clear. He wants us to be led by His Spirit and not our hearts.
“The heart is deceptive above all things.” It is deceptive because it is the seat of our emotions: a place that has been tainted by the Fall. The devil who is the master deceiver, uses whatever tricks he can in order to keep us bound by the fall. For the unsaved, he will try to prevent them from being saved and for the saved, he tries to prevent us from waling in the fullness that God wants us to live in so he messes with us in whatever way he can and we end up confused, depressed, unstable or defeated- either way of no use to a world that is dying unaware because of the desperate need they have for God.
I do not know Rob Bell, the prominent preacher who came forth with this doctrine about the nonexistence of hell , so personally I cannot judge him but I think that he is leading the masses astray. This is a dangerous doctrine- it is without Scriptural basis and uses emotion and human reason to talk about what has been plainly put in black and white in the Bible. By denying hell, this man is making light of the whole message of the gospel and making God look like a liar and a fool. I think it is a doctrine from the devil and from the pit of hell.
The Bible is a redemptive story about God and His people that He loved so much even though they constantly turned their backs on Him and disobeyed. It is the ultimate epic about His great plan(that cost Him so much) to save them from the ultimate separation- an eternity in hell. It is how He was willing to sacrifice His Son, who was indeed inseparable from Himself. He brought Him down to endure life as a human being and eventually death on a cross because He knew what awaited man if He didn’t do it.
By saying that there is no hell, this man is saying that Jesus Christ wasted His endeavor at winning us and that He didn’t have to come down and die on the cross and shed His Blood for us. God would in any case not go through with His punishment, It makes God out to be a liar and He is the God of all Truth. His Word is established forever. Several Scriptures address the issue of Hell.
Hell is not a made up fictional concept that flowed from the mind of man, it is a real place that the Bible speaks about. It has been prepared for those who deny Gods solution(Jesus.) His argument/message hinges on the fact that a loving God wouldn’t send people to hell. However, when you read the Bible it portrays God as this Great God who is multifaceted. This God of Love and God of Justice. This God of all Truth.
In His book ”Screwtape Letters” C.S Lewis speaks about the devil/ demons and says: “what the devil wants is for us to either deny their existence or to place extreme importance on them”. What this man has done is play into the devils hands. If Christians do not believe in Hell or acknowledge it, they cannot reach out to the unbelieving masses because it would in essence be like selling a product they don’t believe in , that is the Word of God/the Gospel and ultimately its redemptive power.
“The thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy. But I have come that you may have life and have it more abundantly.”
The Bible is the greatest love story ever told, the epic of epics, the book of eternal truth. I could never claim to understand it fully but I know in its core is the heart and mind of God for His people. People that He made in His image and wants to spend eternity with. He wants to call them back to that He created them for because He knows there is another option and it leads to destruction. I trust His heart for me as poured out on the pages of His book and anything that belittles that or makes light of it, I would prefer to steer away from because it is assisting the thief in stealing, killing and destroying the best God has for His people.
"Guard your heart above all else for out of it flow the issues of life."
God wants us to guard our hearts because He has made it as a treasure that HE wants to hold but the devil also wants his share and thus it can be deceptive. The devil is on the prowl now more than ever before and its time we started being careful about what we accept. His Word is established forever. Some of the Scriptures that address the issue of Hell John5:28, 29; Matthew5:29:Mark9:43; Matt 25:41; Mark9:48; Matthew3:12; Mat8:12; 13:42, 49, 50: matt22:13; 24:51 25;30; Romans 2:5-8; Hebrews10:27-31; revelations14:10-11;
By Tumelo Sikhosana
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