Note: Before reading the following arguments, please understand that they are not what I believe. On Wednesdays, I deliberately argue for wrong ideas, challenging my listeners to call and defend the obvious right answer, which is usually far harder than one would expect. This is a summary of what Wacky Andrew will be arguing, not a representation of what real Andrew believes.--God desires all people to be saved, and God is omnipotent.
--Did Jesus finish the work He was sent to do?
--What an incomplete and inadequate thing it would be for only some humans to be saved by Jesus.
--If all people are eventually saved, then we have a God who not only loves all but is powerful enough to save all He loves.
--If God accomplishes our salvation, why wouldn’t it be accomplished for all men?
--If this were true, wouldn’t it be the most beautiful thing you could possibly imagine compared with the idea that some men will inevitably not be saved?
--He, who created all things, will "reconcile to himself ALL things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross" (Colossians 1:20).
--God has appointed His Son to be the "heir of ALL things" (Hebrews 1:2)
--In God's Son "shall ALL the nations be blessed" (Galatians 3:8).
--God has given His Son "authority over ALL flesh, to give eternal life to ALL whom He has given Him" (John 17:2).
--"The Father has given ALL things into the Son's hands" (John 3:35)
--"ALL flesh shall see the salvation of God" (Luke 3:6).
--God loves even his enemies and "He is kind to the ungrateful and evil" (Luke 6:35).
--"He desires ALL people to be saved" (1 Timothy 2:4).
--He "gave himself as a ransom for ALL" (1 Timothy 2:6).
--He "is not wishing that ANY should perish, but that ALL should reach repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).
--He "has consigned ALL to disobedience, that he may have mercy on ALL" (Romans 11:32)
--So God's plan is "to unite ALL things in Christ, things in heaven and things on earth" (Ephesians 1:10).
--The Father has "put ALL things under Christ's feet" (Ephesians 1:22)
--The Father has “given ALL things into his hands" (John 13:3).
--Jesus has promised to "draw ALL men" to Himself (John 12:32) because "the Father loves the Son and has given ALL things into his hand" (John 3:35).
--Jesus says that like a good shepherd, He will search for each of His lost sheep "until he finds it" (Luke 15:4).
"--God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:17).
--"The grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for ALL people" (Titus 2:11).
--Jesus is the "Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).
--Jesus gave His flesh as bread "for the life of the world" (John 6:51).
--"He gives life to the world" (John 6:33).
--He is "the light of the world" (John 8:12).
--"He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2).
--"He is the Savior of ALL people" (1 Timothy 4:10)
--He is "the Savior of the world" (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14).
--"He appeared to destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
--Jesus "abolished death" (2 Timothy 1:10).
--"He has put away sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26).
--"In Christ shall all be made alive" (I Corinthians 15:22).
--"He restores all things" (Acts 3:21).
--"At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11).
--"Every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, `To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever! "' (Revelation 5:13).
--"Then comes the end, when he [Jesus] delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For `God has put all things in subjection under his feet.' But when it says `all things are put in subjection,' it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:24-28).
Response
First off, I don't think Rob Bell is making the best case for universalism that can be made because he does actually seem to undermine the atonement as well as the need for evangelism. Furthermore, as Martin Bashir's interview revealed (and another one I listened to with Bashir) there are some downright misleading aspects of the book. That means that assessing the best case for universalism may not the same as assessing Rob Bell's case for it (which he denies he is doing, but most any neutral, if possible, observers think he is).
The 2 of 3 premises argument
o God wills to redeem all men (God wants to save everyone)
o God can do whatever He wills (God does the saving)
o Some sinners will never be reconciled to God. (Some people will end up in hell)
o Calvinists deny 1
o Arminians deny 2
o Universalists deny 3
First, let’s deal with the logic problem. I can’t solve it. This is why Calvinists, Arminians, and Universalists all seem to have ground to stand on and errors as well.
But rather than start with what we think something of God’s character means and then inferring from it how to understand a construct like hell, we should start with the clear declarations of hell and see how they might help us understand the character of God.
o God is just, therefore hell in the Bible is wrong.
o Hell is in the Bible, therefore it must be just.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit Mark 3, Luke 12
Accept me or reject me Luke 12
Sheep and goat nations Matt 25
Lazarus and the rich man Luke 16
I never knew you Matt 7
Narrow and Wide ways Matthew 7
Great was the fall of the house that did not build on me Matthew 7
Parable of the wedding feast Matthew 22
Thief on the cross Luke 23
Believe and be baptized, or be condemned. Mark 16
Reject Jesus = judged by God John 3
Believe and you will be saved Acts 16
Unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins." John 8 This is an essential doctrine because it has a penalty of damnation for denying it.
If you accept me, you accept the father. All who reject me reject the Father.
No man who looks back is fit.
If you confess and be baptized you will be saved.
Revelation, cast into hell.
2 Thessalonians 1:8-9 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
Rev 20:10
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.
He said there is a Heaven and a Hell (Luke 10:20; Matthew 10:28
He talked about the saved and the lost (John 10:9; Luke 19:10
The New Testament message is clearly against universalism. Jesus says in Matthew 7, "Not everyone who saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven."
In Matthew 10, Jesus exhorts us to "fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
In the parable of the wheat and tares (Matthew 13), Jesus says that the tares will be committed into the furnace of fire where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
He said that Hell is a place where "the fire is not quenched and the worm dieth not" (Mark 9:48).
"Narrow is the way which leadeth unto Life, and few there be that find it" (Matthew 7:14)?
Likewise 1 Cor. 15:14 says that "if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain."
Prov 16:4 "The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil,"
"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. 14"For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it," (Matt. 7:13-14).
"For many are called, but few are chosen," (Matt. 22:14).
"And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. 23And someone said to Him, "Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?" And He said to them, 24"Strive to enter by the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25"Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ 26"Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; 27and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; depart from Me, all you evildoers,'" (Luke 13:22-27).
"And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved; 28for the Lord will execute His word upon the earth, thoroughly and quickly," (Rom. 9:27).
Jesus said, "I said therefore to you, that you shall die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins," (John 8:24, NASB). The word "He" is not in the Greek. It literally says, "for unless you believe that I am, you shall die in your sins." Later in this same chapter in verse 58, Jesus said, "before Abraham was, I AM." He was alluding to Exodus 3:14, where God told Moses that His name was "I am that I am."
Likewise, in 1 John 4:2-3 it says, "This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world." Very few people deny that Jesus lived; that is, that Jesus came in flesh. When John wrote this, he was not saying that you must believe that Jesus lived, but that Jesus was God in flesh.
Bible References on hell and/or universalism: Deut 25:3, Psalm 139:7-8, Isaiah 6:1-6, Daniel 3, Mal 3:1-4, Matt 5:23-26, Matt 7:13-27, Matt 8:10-13, Matt 10:28, Matt 12:39-40, Matt 13:36-43, Matt 13:47-52, Matt 18:23-35, Matt 18:1-11, Matt 22:13, Matt 25:24-30, Matt 25:31-46, Matt 27:45-46, mark 3:28-29, Mark 9:43-48, Mark 16:15-16, Luke 3:16, Luke 12:8-10, Luke 12:43-48 , Luke 12:58-59, Luke 13:22-30, Luke 16:19-31, Luke 23:39-43, John 3:14-21, John 3:36, John 8:21-24, Acts 2:29-31, Acts 16:31, Rom 1:24-26, Rom 10:6-7, 1 Cor 3:11-15, Eph 4:7-9, Phil 2:9-11, 2 Thess 1:6-10, Heb 12:14, 23, 29, 2 Peter 2:1-22, Jude 6-13, Rev 14:9-12, Rev 16:10-12, Rev 21:8
Resources
Rob Bell’s bridge too far (CT)
We have seen all this before (Albert Mohler)
Will “Love Wins” win? (Brian McLaren)
A Theological Conversation Worth Having (Albert Mohler)
No comments:
Post a Comment