If you could save your own father from hell, wouldn't you?
Rev Carlton Pearson, Come Sunday
I had a spirited discussion with a friend this week on the topic of hell. Now, to most Christians, the topic of hell is one reserved for those who deservedly need to go there. The ungodly, the wicked and the unrepentant. Nobody could argue that someone such as this definitely deserves to go to hell in a hand basket. Or do they? One could not argue the fact that the ultimate decision that would exile one to hell would be made by our heavenly Father. So, we need to delve deeper into what God would do with one who, for one reason or another, denied the Lord flat out. I know that this seems almost unimaginable, that there would be those who had never heard or known of the Lord. Yet consider the primary goal of our accuser the devil. Isn't one of the main objectives of Satan to assure that as many people as possible deny the Lord? I recommended for my friend this week the film Come Sunday (2018). This film depicts the true story of the excommunication of Reverend Carlton Pearson. In the film, Pearson comes to a epiphany of sorts while watching tv coverage of starving children in Africa. How could a loving God allow this kind of innocent suffering? Were these children destined for hell? After all, it is doubtful that they had been saved by hearing the good news of the gospel of Christ Jesus. Carlton Pearson is convinced...that hell is not real. For this, he is excommunicated and abandoned by the church he leads. It is here where my own discussion with my friend began this week. My friend is adamant for standing by the rules instituted by the Eastern Orthodox church he attends. Bad behavior is punishable only by eternity in hell. My question to my friend was this, would someone who commits suicide be destined for eternity in hell? His response? Absolutely! Of course, I disagreed with him and our discussion began. Now, I know that were I to pose this question to others that I would get more than a few different responses. Yet I'm not interested in the opinions of others, but on how the Lord Himself views this issue. At the end of the day, it is the desires of the Lord that we should be concerned with.
Who shall incur the justice of eonian extermination from the face of the Lord, and from the glory of His strength.
2 Thessalonians 1: 9, Concordant New Testament
I have another question for you. What would you consider hell to be? Is hell as real as we have been made to believe? The apostle Paul, in Thessalonians, describes hell as a place in which we are absent from the presence of the Lord forever {2 Thessalonians 1:9}. I believe that this is a accurate definition of what we have come to see as hell. Scripture tells us of the lake of fire to which the wicked are banished {Matt 25:41, Rev 20:15, Rev 20:8}. Is this hell? One thing is certain, wherever hell is, or if it even is, the one constant is that those who are there have been banished from the presence of the Lord. There is strong evidence that the word hell is not even included in the scriptures. If it is, it is a very loose translation of the original text. Indeed, the translators of the original texts would often allow their own theological beliefs to influence their translation of the scriptures. I believe that this is exactly why the apostle John advised us to "Test the spirits" {1 John 4:1}. There are indeed many false prophets who have gone out into the world. Some of them, undoubtedly, could have been translators of the early scripture texts. How would you feel to be out of the Gods presence for all eternity? Would you consider this to be your own personal hell? I know I would. However, what we know of God may cause us to take another look at the concept of hell. We know that God is love {1 John 4:8}. We know that we are lovingly created in His image {Genesis 1:27}. We know that, despite our condition, that God lovingly provided for our forgiveness and salvation {1 John 4:10}. Would God go through all of this simply to condemn us to hell? Would a God who provided for the indwelling life of His Son suddenly snatch that away {Galatians 2:20}? The first question we should be asking ourselves is, if God so loved us, why wouldn't He save us from hell?
Teaching them to be keeping all, whatever I direct you. And Lo! I am with you all the days till the conclusion of the eon! Amen!
Matthew 28: 20, Concordant New Testament
~Scott~
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