Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. (Job 21:7,13)
Job’s counselors, confident of God’s justice, speak about how the wicked will be punished and the righteous blessed. But Job looks at the evidence of his eyes and says, no, the wicked often prosper, at least until death lays them low like all the rest (24:19). In a way they are both right, but they are looking at different parts of the picture. Job asks, “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment?” (24:1) But he has. There is one time for judgment, and it is after our life on earth is complete. Job wondered that God did not judge, and his counselors imagined confidently that God judges in this life. They both failed to have God’s eternal perspective. Lord, help me to have your eternal perspective. Let me not be lulled into complacency by the apparent lack of judgment in this life. Help me to always remember that the lost people I speak with every day are bound for eternal punishment without the light of the Gospel which I can share with them.
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Actually, God is not going to do worse unto others as they do. He's not a hypocrite by telling us to do one thing, and then turning right around and doing just the opposite by hurting people in the worst way.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, there is no Hell, not if what Jesus taught about God is correct.
I've actually written an entire book on this topic--Hell? No! Why You Can Be Certain There's No Such Place As Hell, (for anyone interested, you can get a free ecopy of Did Jesus Believe in Hell?, one of the most compelling chapters in my book at www.thereisnohell.com), but if I may, let me share one of the many points I make in it to explain why.
If one is willing to look, there's substantial evidence contained in the gospels to show that Jesus opposed the idea of Hell. For example, in Luke 9:51-56, is a story about his great disappointment with his disciples when they actually suggested imploring God to rain FIRE on a village just because they had rejected him. His response: "You don't know what spirit is inspiring this kind of talk!" Presumably, it was NOT the Holy Spirit. He went on, trying to explain how he had come to save, heal and relieve suffering, not be the CAUSE of it.
So it only stands to reason that this same Jesus, who was appalled at the very idea of burning a few people, for a few horrific minutes until they were dead, could never, ever burn BILLIONS of people for an ETERNITY!
True, there are a few statements that made their way into the copies of copies of copies of the gospel texts which place “Hell” on Jesus’ lips, but these adulterations came along many decades after his death, most likely due to the Church filling up with Greeks who imported their belief in Hades with them when they converted.
Bear in mind that the historical Protestant doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures applies only to the original autographs, not the copies. But sadly, the interpolations that made their way into those copies have provided a convenient excuse for a lot of people to get around following Jesus’ real message.
Rick, thank you for your comments. However, I have to disagree with your ideas about hell. You must think the text of the gospels have been heavily adulterated to believe that all of Jesus's references to hell were added later. There is no evidence of any kind for that position. Jesus spoke quite a bit about hell and judgment and punishment. It actually comes up more often in the Gospels than in the Epistles. I appreciate your sentiments, but they are not biblical.
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