What? No Hell?

January 5, 2021

Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” (Matthew 13:36-43).

I read an article printed in a recognized theological journal the other day. In the article the scholar argued for the abolition of an eternal hell. His argument was based on logic alone and, barring any reference to Scripture, was very convincing.

It reminded me of the time I was on a debate team in a local University. My team argued for restricted freedom of speech on the University campus. The opposing team argued for total freedom of speech on campus. Our argument was based on established law and supported by the opinions of legal experts. The opposing team’s argument was based on popular opinion of the student body and supported by professors who agreed with their point of view. My team was not as vociferous or impassioned as the opposing team in the debate, but we were confident our position was legally established and enforceable. We lost the debate. I questioned the judge (who was a lawyer, forensic specialist, and debate champion from Cornell University) as to why my team lost. We had the law on our side. Our argument was in the right. He responded, “In lower court proceedings, jurists are not as concerned about right or wrong, what is legal and what is not, as they are with who has the better argument. It’s the difference between Constitutional Law and Case Law. At our level the legal system is guided by Case Law - who has the better argument wins the case.”

For quite some time there has been the push to eliminate what is undesirable from the Bible - sin, judgment, hell, Satan, demons, etc. This liberal theology is not based on the Word of God, but on personal opinion - the contextualization of Scripture based on personal desire rather than on biblical truth.

In this parable Jesus clearly taught the judgment of the ‘weeds’ (those who reject Him as Lord and Savior) in the furnace of fire where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth - eternal damnation in hell. If Jesus said hell is real, who are we to say it is not?

"Father, in this day that is ruled by the opinions of men, keep my mind, heart, spirit, and feet firmly fixed on the truth of Your Word. Let my words be true to Your words and not to those of men. To Your honor and glory I ask, Amen."

Pastor

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