Rob Bell - Love Wins - Pt.4 (conclusion)

Before I conclude my thoughts about Rob Bells' book "Love Wins", I wanted to share with you some FACTS straight from God's Word concerning eternality, hell and some Biblical terms that we all need to be aware of.

(1) Everyone will exist eternally either in heaven or hell (Daniel 12:2,3; Matthew 25:46; John 5:28; Revelation 20:14,15).

(2) Everyone has only one life in which to determine their destiny (Hebrews 9:27).

(3) Heaven or hell is determined by whether a person believes (puts their trust) in Christ alone to save them (John 3:16, 36, etc.).

Key Passages About Hell

(1) Hell was designed originally for Satan and his demons (Matthew 25:41; Revelation 20:10).

(2) Hell will also punish the sin of those who reject Christ (Matthew 13:41,50; Revelation 20:11-15; 21:8).

(3) Hell is conscious torment.

Matthew 13:50 “furnace of fire…weeping and gnashing of teeth”
Mark 9:48 “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched”
Revelation 14:10 “he will be tormented with fire and brimstone”

(4) Hell is eternal and irreversible.

Revelation 14:11 “the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever and they have no rest day and night”
Revelation 20:14 “This is the second death, the lake of fire”
Revelation 20:15 “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire”

Erroneous Views of Hell (Rob Bells' view seems to reflect #'s 1 & 2)

(1) The second chance view – After death there is still a way to escape hell.

Answer: “It is appointed unto men once to die and after that the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

(2) Universalism – All are eternally saved.

Answer: It denies the truth of salvation through Christ which means that a person decides to either trust in Christ or else he/she rejects Christ and goes to hell (John 3:16;3:36).

(3) Annihilationism – Hell means a person dies and ceases to exist.

Answer: It denies the resurrection of the unsaved (John 5:28, etc. – see above). It denies conscious torment (see above).
Objections to the Biblical View of Hell

(1) A loving God would not send people to a horrible hell.

Response: God is just (Romans 2:11).

God has provided the way of salvation to all (John 3:16,17; 2 Corinthians 5:14,15; 1 Timothy 2:6; 4:10; Titus 2:11; 2 Peter 3:9).
Even those who haven’t heard of Christ are accountable for God’s revelation in nature (Romans 1:20). God will seek those who seek Him (Matthew 7:7; Luke 19:10).
Therefore God doesn’t send people to hell, they choose it (Romans 1:18,21,25).

(2) Hell is too severe a punishment for man’s sin.

Response: God is holy-perfect (1 Peter 1:14,15).

Sin is willful opposition to God our creator (Romans 1:18-32).
Our sin does merit hell (Romans 1:32; 2:2,5,6).
What is unfair and amazing is that Christ died for our sin and freely offers salvation to all (Romans 2:4; 3:22-24; 4:7,8; 5:8,9).

Biblical Terms Describing Where the Dead Are

Sheol - a Hebrew term simply describing “the grave” or “death” – Does not refer to “hell” specifically
Hades - A Greek term that usually refers to hell – a place of torment (Luke 10:15; 16:23, etc.)
Gehenna - A Greek term (borrowed from a literal burning dump near Jerusalem) that always refers to hell – a place of torment (Matthew 5:30; 23:33)
“Lake of fire”- the final abode of unbelievers after they are resurrected (Revelation 20:14,15)
“Abraham’s bosom” - (Luke 16:22) a place of eternal comfort
“Paradise” - (Luke 23:43) a place of eternal comfort
“With the Lord” - a key phrase describes where church age believers are after death (Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:17; 2 Corinthians 5:8)
“New heavens and earth” – where believers will be after they are resurrected (Revelation 20:4-6; 21:1-4)

What is abundantly clear is what Scripture teaches about hell. As I've said before, either God is correct or Rob Bell (and others like him) have a better understanding of what hell is - and this means a better understanding even of that of Jesus.

I guess what bothers me the most about this book is that it is similar to other books I've read where it takes the Word of God and waters it down to something easier for all of us to swallow and interprets the Word of God in a way that will make us feel the best and most comfortable. True, there is more which provides comfort and hope that is contained in the Word of God than all other books ever written combined! However we also need to understand that God, in his amazing love, gives us choices. We can either choose to bend our knee at the cross and accept Him as our Lord and Savior or turn our backs to Him and choose to live our lives apart from Him. Either way, we get to make that choice.

But in each case, the Bible is very clear that our souls will continue to exist well after our physical bodies have died (see point #1 at the top) and where we end up for all eternity is based on the decision we make while still here on earth. Does it make sense that a Sovereign God who became flesh and dwelt among us to ultimately die on a cross so that we could have eternal life, would all of a sudden accept someone after they die, when while they were alive rejected Him? Because that is the essence of Bells book to which I say "then why the cross"?


(resources from Bible.Org)