Even at the Doors blog

(March 7, 2011) Part of eschatology or End-Times study deals with the last event to occur before eternity. This event is called The Great White Throne Judgment and is recorded in chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation:

“10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14 Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire This is the second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:10-15)

At the end of time and just before eternity begins, God showed to His servant John the final judgment of mankind. It is not pleasant reading to know that people are going to enter into eternal torment in Hell. It is so unpleasant that there have been those who have tried to explain away Hell or allegorize it or simply deny its existence. One such person, according to ABC News, is coming out with a book that purportedly challenges the Christian concept of Hell. His name is Rob Bell and he is the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His book is titled Love Wins: Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Has Ever Lived. Christianity Today linked to a site which gives the publisher’s (HarperOne) official description concerning the book and its author Rob Bell:

“Fans flock to his Facebook page, his NOOMA videos have been viewed by millions, and his Sunday sermons are attended by 10,000 parishioners—with a downloadable podcast reaching 50,000 more. An electrifying, unconventional pastor whom Time magazine calls “a singular rock star in the church world,” Rob Bell is the most vibrant, central religious leader of the millennial generation. Now, in Love Wins: Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, Bell addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—the afterlife—arguing that a loving God would never sentence human souls to eternal suffering. With searing insight, Bell puts hell on trial, and his message is decidedly optimistic—eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts right now. And ultimately, Love Wins.”

This is the first time I’ve ever heard of Rob Bell but obviously there are thousands who listen to his teachings. Since the book doesn’t come out until later this month I don’t know what this pastor specifically believes about Hell although his publisher claims “Bell addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—the afterlife—arguing that a loving God would never sentence human souls to eternal suffering.” If this publisher has misrepresented Rob Bell’s position on a literal Hell then it incumbent upon him to tell them to remove this statement. As it is though, in the following video, which is also posted on the link above affiliated with the Christianity Today website and also on Amazon under his book’s listing, Rob Bell does seem to be speaking and supportive of such a belief as stated in this publisher’s official release.

In the video he says:

“Will only a few, select people make it to Heaven? And will billions and billions of people burn forever in Hell? And if that’s the case how do you become one of the few? Is it what you believe or what you say or what you do or who you know or something that happens in your heart or do you need to be initiated or baptized or take a class or converted or being born again? How does one become one of these few? And then there is the question behind the questions; the real question, What is God like?, because millions and millions of people were taught that the primary message, the center of the gospel of Jesus is that God is going to send you to Hell unless you believe in Jesus. And so what gets subtly sort of taught and caught is that Jesus rescues you from God. But what kind of God is that, that we would need to be rescued from this God? How could that God ever be good? How could that God ever be trusted? And how could that ever be good news? This is why lots of people want nothing to do with the Christian faith. They see it as an endless list of absurdities and inconsistencies and they say, Why would I ever want to be a part of that? See, what we believe about Heaven and Hell is incredibly important because it exposes what we believe about who God is and what God is like. What you discover in the Bible is so surprising, unexpected, and beautiful that whatever we’ve been told or taught, the good news is actually better than that, better than we could ever have imagined. The good news is that love wins.”

Even though the book hasn’t come out yet, what Rob Bell says in this video through a series of rhetorical questions indicates that what he believes about Hell and God is unbiblical and a false teaching.

He firsts asks “Will only a few, select people make it to Heaven? And will billions and billions of people burn forever in Hell?” I will let Jesus answer his question, 13 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14) Jesus declares there are few who find life and many who find destruction.

He next asks “How does one become one of these few?” Again, the Word of God answers his question, “9 That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13)

Then he asks some questions based on a false premise which he creates, “The center of the gospel of Jesus is that God is going to send you to Hell unless you believe in Jesus. And so what gets subtly sort of taught and caught is that Jesus rescues you from God. But what kind of God is that, that we would need to be rescued from this God? How could that God ever be good? How could that God ever be trusted? And how could that ever be good news?” Jesus doesn’t rescue us from God but God rescues us from our sins through His Son Jesus Christ! “23 But I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:23-25 NIV) And, “3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 Who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (Galatians 1:4-5 NIV) And, “12 And giving joyful thanks to the Father, Who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light. 13 For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, 14 in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:12-14 NIV) And, “10 And to wait for His Son from heaven, Whom He raised from the dead—Jesus, Who rescues us from the coming wrath.” (1 Thessalonians 1:10 NIV) Notice in this last verse that Paul speaks of a coming wrath which will fall on those whom Jesus has not rescued.

He then follows with an unbiblical statement, “This is why lots of people want nothing to do with the Christian faith. They see it as an endless list of absurdities and inconsistencies and they say, Why would I ever want to be a part of that?” God states plainly why they don’t want anything to do with Christ or His followers, “18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (John 3:18-21) People don’t want anything to do with Jesus Christ or Christianity because they love darkness rather than light and don’t want their evil deeds exposed in the light of God’s truth.

Then, finishing up he states, “See, what we believe about Heaven and Hell is incredibly important because it exposes what we believe about who God is and what God is like.” Well, we have just seen what Rob Bell thinks about Hell. Now let’s see what Jesus says about it:

“21 You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.” (Matthew 5:21-22) Here Jesus speaks of human judgment in the first three instances but states clearly that the fourth judgment is hell fire!

“27 You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” (Matthew 5:27-30) The word hell is the Greek word Gehenna which means hellfire. Jesus is not saying that we should actually maim ourselves to keep from sinning. What He is saying is that it is so important, eternally important, that we turn from our sinful attitudes; that if it were necessary, we should maim ourselves to accomplish this. Thankfully, it is not necessary. Accepting the forgiveness of Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit to guide us allows us to walk in His ways without taking such drastic measures. The alternative to heeding His warning is spending eternity in Hell. If there is no eternal Hell why is Jesus using such drastic language in order to illustrate how important it is that we don’t end up there?

“28 Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matthew 10:28) How many times did Jesus tell His followers to fear not or do not be afraid? Here He tells them something to fear! Why? Is it because Hell isn’t a real place of punishment or is it because Jesus did not want them to end up there because it is the most horrific place in eternity? One other noteworthy aspect to this saying of Jesus is the fact that there will not be disembodied souls or spirits suffering in Hell. Just as believers in Jesus receive an eternal, glorified body for their souls and spirits, so too will the unsaved have eternal bodies.

“6 Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! 8 “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.” (Matthew 18:6-9) Jesus declares here that anyone who causes a child to turn from God will regret it for eternity. Again, He states the importance of turning from a life of sin rather than spending eternity in Hell. Notice too that Jesus refers to Hell as everlasting fire. Revelation affirms that Hell is for eternity, “9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” (Revelation 14:9-11)

Jesus clearly teaches that Hell is an eternal punishment for those who reject His atoning sacrifice for their sins, “23 And He said to them, “You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” (John 8:23-24)

Rob Bell concludes his video by saying “love wins”. He is right! God’s love is a victory for those who love Him and are truly His children: “12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13) “55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

There is one other underlying problem with Rob Bell’s assessment of the doctrine of Hell. He, and those who agree with him, maintain that a loving God would never punish a person in Hell for eternity. In doing so they set themselves up as judges and arbiters over God by telling Him what the definition of true divine love is and they say divine love is not a God who would punish people for eternity. They are making God into their image as to what a loving God is like. Thus, when God states in His word that unrepentant sinners who reject the salvation of Jesus Christ will be punished in Hell for eternity, the God of the Bible according to them is unloving. Human beings do not tell God what the truth is but God tells human beings what the truth is. The apostle Paul wrote of such people, “18 Therefore God has mercy on whom He wants to have mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden. 19 One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist His will?” 20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use? 22 What if God, although choosing to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the objects of His wrath prepared for destruction? 23 What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the objects of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory.” (Romans 9:18-23)

I believe Rob Bell is emblematic of the problems facing the modern Church. Many leaders have been influenced by the political correctness and feel-good attitude of our culture. They water down the gospel and the whole word of God in order not to offend anyone and to add to their number of followers. The apostle Paul warned Christians of such leaders, “3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4) I’ve had a website since 2003 located at iesouschristos.com. I had 48 pages and 191 images on that site discussing the Culture War from a biblical perspective. Two days ago I wiped out the entire site and replaced it with one page. God has been directing my heart recently in the area of true salvation and what passes for salvation in our modern times. It is stories like the one about Rob Bell that motivated me to change my website to a straightforward account of true salvation in Jesus Christ. The modern Church is flawed and is misleading people about the complete nature of God and His dealings with His human creations. He is a God of love but He is also a God of righteous judgment. The prophet Ezekiel declares, “11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11) Paul writes, “4 [God] wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus.” (I Timothy 2:4-5) God knows what awaits those who reject His Son and He declares in His Word that it is going to be horrific. He doesn’t desire that anyone should go to Hell and takes no pleasure in those that do. If the Church doesn’t return to the literal truths of God’s Word and share them in a saving way with the world then I’m afraid in the Day of Judgment… “22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23″And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from Me you who practice lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:22-23) Let us pray for God’s truth to return to the Church so that the world will be jealous of the peace with God that Christians have and want to become a true child of God and His Son Jesus Christ.

[NOTE: For a fuller discussion of the biblical doctrine of Hell see chapter 13 of my book Even at the Doors: Jesus, Israel, and the End-Times 13 - The Great White Throne and Hell. In this chapter I discuss the fact that humans can only understand the concept of Hell from the finite, human dimension while God speaks of it from an infinite, eternal dimension and therefore we don't understand why God created Hell.]