Here are some good thoughts from Greg Laurie.
"I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live." — Deuteronomy 30:19
Hell was not made for people; hell was created for the devil and his angels (see Matthew 25:41). It was never God's intention to send a person to hell. He does everything He can to keep us out of it. But God has given us a free will. We have the ability to choose, and God will not violate that. If you want to go to heaven, then you will—if you put your faith in Christ. If you want to go to hell, then you will. It is your choice.
People will protest on that final day and say, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?" (Matthew 7:22). And Jesus will sadly but firmly say, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (verse 23).
Some people might say, "Wait! I went to church on Sunday!" And, "Wait! I received communion!" And, "Wait! I was baptized." But Jesus will say, in effect, "But I never knew you. It was just a thing you did. We never had a relationship. You broke My commandments left and right. It's your own choice that you are facing."
It is not enough to say you believe in God. It is not enough to acknowledge that God exists. You need to turn from your sin and put your faith in Jesus Christ, and Him alone, as Savior and Lord.
As Timothy Keller said, "Hell is simply one's freely chosen path going on forever." If that is what you want, then that is what you will get. God wants you to go to heaven, but He will not force you. He gives you a choice, and it is up to you what you do with that choice.
4 comments:
Very funny, but unfortunately also a real problem.
Hello! I am also a blogger and happened to stumble upon your blog. Just had a few thoughts about this post.
First, I have a real problem with this statement: "He [God] does everything he can to keep us out of it [hell]." Despite the fact that I do not hold the same view of free will as you (and/or Greg?), even if I did, I believe I would find this language very troubling. My follow up question to this statement is "What hope, then, does anyone have if God does everything He can to keep him out of hell and he still ends up in hell? Does the effort of an Almighty, Sovereign, Omnipotent God fall short in the salvation of souls?" I would hardly think so and hope you, as my brother in Christ, would agree.
Second, the post reads, "We have the ability to choose, and God will not violate that." This statement is clearly predicated on the assumption that humans are indeed given free will (a libertarian view of free will, that is). But aren't there passage of scripture that render such a view of free will incorrect? How about Romans 3:11 ("no one seeks for God.") or Romans 9:16 ("So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.")?
I suppose my point is that if God put forth all His effort to save every person, every person would be saved. I cannot worship a God whose strongest effort fails to bring about what He wills.
Great thoughts on Matthew 7:22. I recently led a Bible study in which we touched upon that passage (a scary passage, isn't it?). And I'm a fan of Keller's preaching and books. But I don't think he means what he appears to mean. I think he would say that every man's chosen path is sinful and therefore hell-bound unless God rescues him from his bondage to sin. The words "freely chosen" I think would refer to what is freely chosen from a heart that is in bondage to sin. See Ephesians 2:1-9.
To Michael's post, I appreciate your candor. I'd like to respond to a couple of your comments. Obviously you hold a Calvinistic view of God, and I have several Calvinistic friends that I banter with almost weekly. What that first statement means is that God has given us every opportunity to choose Him, thus God has done everything that He can to keep us out of hell. But really all of these comments beg an even bigger and deeper theological question. Do we really have free will to choose God? I would say yes based on a biblical theology that takes all of scripture into consideration. The piece of this that bothers my Calvinist friends is actually something that some never think about.
When Adam was created, what was he created for? Almost any Christian or scholar would agree that he was created to worship and enter into a relationship with God. Were they created to live forever? Many will debate this, but we have no evidence that before there was sin there was death. Then the fall happens (I'm trying to cover this quickly). So, you are telling me that God creates man and gives him one rule and makes man sin (God hates sin and it would be against His very nature to force people to sin), makes man do the everything He hates, to destroy the relationship that God created man for in the first place? Or, could it be that Adam and Eve freely chose to disobey God? That God believes that true love and desire is a choice and is not forced on us? I could go on and on, but I leave you with this: 2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." I think it's our choice to accept or reject God's gift of grace. If there were 1,000 steps between us and God, God would take every one of those except for 1. That one is our choice. Grace and mercy or eternal seperation.
Michael, I appreciate your openeness and honesty. Thank you for making such comments and putting your name to them. My prayer is that God will continue to mold and shape each of is into powerful tools in His hand to be about His business in the world. By the way, Ephesians 2:1-10 is one of my favorite passages. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Very interesting blog. Thanks for your thoughts on the kingdom.
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