War is Hell

I don’t know who said it originally, but they were not far off metaphorically speaking. All the good things that life has to offer are removed or restricted by war. Often, even the necessities are out of reach. As I write this, there are thousands of people in Ukraine who are experiencing just that. Then there is the mourning of families over the 780 civilian deaths – especially for the 58 children. From our perspective in America, it seems that Vladimir Putin is inflicting this hell with no provocation whatsoever. Innocent Ukrainians are paying the price for an evil man’s lust for power.

Throughout history, that has been the case in every war I know anything about. I can’t think of a time when two nations mutually agreed to go to battle. No two peoples faced off and said let’s fight over this and see who wins. There has always been an aggressor and an aggrieved. The first instance of this would have to be when Cain killed his brother, Abel. Ever since then, time after time someone has thought they deserved something that was worth killing for. Even though Jesus came to bring peace, He promised nothing but wars and rumors of wars until the end of time. The book of Revelation predicts the end will come in a final bloody battle.

Although we grieve and pray for those who are caught in the midst of war, we shouldn’t be surprised it is happening. We might ask why. The answer requires us to pull back the curtain on human history and look behind it. I believe God created our universe in the aftermath of a cosmic battle that spills over into our existence to this very day. The Bible tells of a rebellion in Heaven that resulted in one third of the heavenly host battling against the King of Heaven. Because of God’s infinite power, the rebels inevitably lost the fight.

After the attempted coup failed, I suspect that the Earth was created as a proving ground for God’s eternal love and boundless mercy. The rebellious host was banished from Heaven and exiled to Earth. I call Earth a proving ground because it seems that the human condition has been one of both blessing and curse since the beginning. God placed Adam and Eve in the perfect environment, but He didn’t keep the nasty serpent out of the Garden. The Bible reveals that the serpent was none other than the leader of the failed heavenly rebellion, Satan aka the Devil.

The titles given to God’s archenemy give a clue to his character: Deceiver, Accuser, Tempter, Adversary, Evil One. One might hope that God would put His beloved ones in a safer environment. He might have given them a wonderful place to do His bidding without interference. The truth is that without the opportunity to disobey, obedience is meaningless. Enter the concept of free will. The same condition was repeated when God promised His chosen nation, Israel, the land of Canaan. Instead of helping them to completely drive out all the pesky former inhabitants, a few survivors were left. In the beginning of the book of Judges, God tells Israel that He left the enemies purposely to test their faithfulness. As we know, they failed miserably.

As believers on this side of the cross of Calvary, we are in almost the same territory, with one important difference. We still have an enemy who “walks around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” The difference in our situation is that our battle has a sure outcome. “We are more than conquerors,” Paul shouts in Romans’ beautiful eighth chapter. This declaration comes one chapter after describing the battle and concluding, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” The answer follows immediately: “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus …. who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”

Paul cements the reality of our spiritual battle in his letter to the Ephesians. He says, “Our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” And yet, as Romans seven painfully describes, we still battle our own flesh. It is as Paul told the Galatians, “For the flesh desires against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, for these are in opposition to one another, so that whatever you want, you may not do.”

So even though the ultimate victory is assured, the enemy has not been fully vanquished. According to Paul, he still uses the world system and our fleshly desires in an attempt to pry us from our faithful devotion to Christ. This need not be a hellish war for us. We have the resurrection power of God’s Holy Spirit living within us. We have only to follow His lead to conquer our temptations. The enemy is tricky – he is called the deceiver – but God promises to, “make a way out together with the temptation, so that you may be able to endure it.” If we are being led by the Spirit, Paul assures, “you will never carry out the desire of the flesh.”

I began by saying that war is hell; so is addiction; so is guilt; so is living in the flesh with no hope of escaping its slavery. Hell is also the eternal destiny of our enemy, the Devil and all those who reject the offer of deliverance God provides in Jesus Christ. The Bible tries to help us imagine it by calling it a lake of fire or a place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Someone has suggested that hell is a place where people have all the normal human desires but no way to satisfy them. Ever. What’s going on in Ukraine right now is bad, but eventually it will end. There’s something coming that is much worse, and it will never end: Hell.

Yes, pray for Ukraine. More important, pray for and witness to everyone you know who hasn’t heard the good news about the end of all war. And give yourself permission to rest in the fact that God is still in charge; war doesn’t surprise Him; Putin can’t outmaneuver Him. Things might look very dark for a while, but the final outcome is never in doubt. Just as surely as the sun returns to the sky every morning, the Son, the Prince of Peace, is also going to return. “And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.” That’s a promise.

 Related posts: It’s Not About You; Working All Things for Good

What happens to people who never hear about Jesus?

The Apostle Peter made a statement to the Sanhedrin that has caused serious confusion among Christians over the years. Peter declared, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.” Many people believe that in order to be saved, a person must say the name of Jesus. This thought has given rise to a number of imaginative solutions to the problem facing those who never hear the name of Jesus.

One obvious dilemma is the state of the millions of people who lived before the time of Christ. We feel sure that Enoch and Noah and Moses and David and countless other Old Testament saints will be found in Heaven. If it were required that they say the name of Jesus to attain salvation, there must be a way for that to happen. Some have suggested that the credal statement taken from Peter’s words that Jesus preached to the spirits in prison solves the problem. Perhaps Jesus went to a place where those whom God would invite to Heaven were waiting. While this answer has some credibility, it may be a stretch too far.

Another class of people numbering in the millions is all those born after Calvary who have not heard a witness of Christ. Some take solace in the thought that Jesus miraculously presents Himself to those who are chosen so they can say His name. I have heard missionary tales of whole tribes being discovered with knowledge of Jesus even though no human witness to His saving grace was found. At some point, the risen Jesus made Himself known to them, and they believed. I won’t say that couldn’t happen. It is unlikely that every person without a personal witness of Jesus will have experienced this miracle though.

The third class of people who we all hope are going to be found in Heaven without ever saying the name of Jesus are the unborn, the very young or others mentally unable to comprehend what salvation is, let alone say the Name. We simply cannot believe that God would allow people to go to hell who never reached a point of belief or unbelief. In all my years of study, I have never found a Bible verse that unequivocally says babies go to heaven when they die. Now I am going to suggest something that may shock some people and might sound sacrilegious to others. Just because the Bible doesn’t say something doesn’t mean it can’t be true. There is an infinite repository of facts that are true but have no biblical address.

Before I give my answer to what happens to people who die without saying the name of Jesus, I want to anchor that answer in the truth of Scripture. No human being descended from Adam and Eve (that’s all of us) can look forward to anything but hell when they die. Adam and Eve spurned God’s care and direction and earned for themselves (and us) an eternity separated from God. That is unless God provides a way for them to be reconciled. Which He did. The Way is Jesus. Immediately after the fall from grace, God promised that the Seed of woman (aka Jesus) would crush the evil serpent’s head and bring an end to the curse that was initiated by our First Parents. For  thousands of years that promise remained in the future. We now look back a couple millennia at the fulfillment on Calvary.

It is my contention that the three classes of people I identified a bit ago were all destined for hell. The Bible says that God in His great mercy graciously reaches into lives of those He chooses and provides them a ticket to a new destination. That ticket was purchased by Jesus Christ on the cross. Whether your name is Adam, Moses, or Billy Bob, you must be pulled off the hell-train and put on the heaven-train by God Himself. Because God is just, He can’t just ignore what people have coming due; so, He bought back (redeemed) the souls of certain people from Adam’s legacy. God unilaterally applies the blood-price paid by Jesus to those who will be saved.

The question of the ages is how that transaction is accomplished. The Bible is very clear that there is only one door that leads to the heavenly destination: that door is faith. The clearest exposition of that fact is made by Paul in the third and fourth chapters of the Roman epistle. Paul cites Abraham as the chief example of salvation by faith, but it is apparent that he means to include everyone in that class since as he says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” None is made righteous (gains heaven), he says, except by faith.

The natural follow-up question is faith in what. Paul answers that too: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.” The author of Hebrews puts it this way: “Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and is a rewarder of those who seek him.” Just prior to his exposition on salvation by faith, Paul made the point that everyone can know God exists if they don’t “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” In other words, there is no excuse for ignoring God.

The Apostle also said in chapter two of Romans that even people without the Law of Moses to guide them can see what’s right and wrong, and their consciences would serve to either accuse or excuse them at judgment. I am not suggesting that I believe in universal salvation. On the contrary, I see faith as the determining factor in this class of people who believe a higher power exists, and they believe that He will reward their belief. That condition puts them where God can apply the blood of Jesus and effect their salvation – salvation through the name of Jesus as Peter announced. Those who see what’s right and do wrong instead remain on the wrong train, and their destination is sure.

This method is what I believe assures the salvation of all those who don’t or can’t say the name of Jesus, but we would think it cruel of God to condemn them to hell. If God chooses to apply Jesus’ saving blood to an unborn child or a mentally deficient person, who are we to deny that He can justly do that? If God looks into the conscience of a person and discovers saving faith, but that person never had a chance to hear Jesus’ name, would it be unjust for God to unilaterally apply the blood of redemption? I say no; in fact, I say it demonstrates the justice of God expressed in the love of God.

One more thing must be said. I have written about God’s sovereign election before. I will repeat this much here. God does choose those upon whom He wishes to grant favor. I believe He grants that favor (aka grace) on the basis of a heart attitude – the attitude of faith. I am not going to take up the argument whether a degree of prevenient grace is required for a person to express saving faith. To me, that question is moot as it is beyond our ability to comprehend. I do know this: once a person has an option to believe or not, the die is cast. If God had my name written in His book before the creation of the world, it matters little to me: I don’t know what’s in that book. All I can do is make my choice to believe or not. That is also your choice. What do you say?

Related posts: Election: God’s Choice; Many Called; Few Chosen; God’s Choice or Man’s; Through the Bible in Seven Minutes

Look in the Mirror

In the days of Moses, the glory of the Lord was restricted to a geographical location: first on Mt. Sinai, then in the tabernacle holy place. The children of Israel had a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to signify that God was with them. Often, they carried the Ark of the Covenant before them into battle as a symbol of God’s victorious presence in the fight. On the negative side, God also made His presence known in judgment when they failed to follow His commands: fatal fire coming from heaven; giant sinkholes swallowing thousands; poisonous snakes invading the camp; plagues of deadly diseases causing havoc. God made Himself know to the five senses in those days.

The writer of Hebrews opens the letter with the acknowledgement that God previously revealed Himself at various times in various ways. In contrast, the main point of the letter demonstrates that Christ Jesus is now the complete revelation for all who would believe. “In these last days he has spoken to us by a Son… who is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence.” (Heb. 1:2-3) The word “radiance” in this translation could well be rendered “reflection.” Christ reflects the glory, the goodness of God for all to see. The word “representation” is taken from a word that means a stamp or die that produces and exact likeness of a thing. The ESV renders this phrase as, “The exact imprint of his nature.” I prefer “nature” to “essence,” although the literal translation is substance or foundation.

What I am getting at here is that looking carefully at Jesus gives us a true picture of who God is essentially. If the translators had transliterated “representation” it would sound like the English word character (χαρακτήρ). We see God’s character when we see Jesus properly. By “properly” I mean that we don’t get to invent a picture of who Jesus is, hence, who God is. We have to look for the Jesus of the Gospels as interpreted by the Holy Spirit inspired New Testament authors. The picture we get is that of a loving, self-sacrificing judge and king. As the writer of Hebrews reminds us, when God, “Had made purification for sins through him [Jesus], he [Jesus] sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” (Heb. 1:3)

Some people like the thought of a loving Jesus; they forget that while He walked in Palestine, He had many seriously judgmental things to say to the Jewish leaders (who would eventually kill Him). The Jesus is love people also have to ignore the many New Testament references to Jesus’ role as judge. Jesus told John that He was coming on the clouds in judgment of Jerusalem, specifically to “Every one who pierced him.” Him. He did that in 70 AD, and He will complete the judgment of all humanity when He returns at the end of the age. If we want the “exact imprint of [God’s] nature,” we have to be honest with Scripture.

Paul explained the problem with those who don’t recognize Jesus’ representation of God: “But if indeed our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they would not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” (2 Cor. 4:3-4) “Light” is used consistently in the Scripture as a metaphor for knowledge. Unbelievers simply can’t see the light. It is often proven that what the world thinks is obviously true is painfully wrong. I love what Ronald Reagan said of the opposition party in 1964: “The problem with the Democrats is they know so much that just isn’t true.” The Preacher said, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” (Prov. 1:7) When people don’t fear (aka respect) God, they fall into error.

We should also remember that Scripture encourages us to conform to the “exact imprint of [God’s] nature.” To the Corinthians, Paul suggested believers, “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” James used a similar metaphor when he chided people who read God’s Word but don’t apply it to their lives. “If anyone is a hearer of the message and not a doer, this one is like someone staring at _⌊his own face_⌋ in a mirror, for he looks at himself and goes away and immediately forgets what sort of person he was.” If Jesus is the Mirror, I will have to admit that I fall far short of conforming to the exact imprint of God’s character.

This same principle applies to how we view the world around us. If we are being conformed to God’s character, we must try to see things as God would see them. When the explanation for events escapes us, we should look up not out. One of my favorite preachers used to say when we look at the problems, they get bigger; when we look at God, they disappear. The world situation that resulted from the misguided pandemic policies of recent years did not surprise God or leave Him behind. (See “Finding God in COVID 19”) This is true of the current deplorable situation in Ukraine. Jesus promised there would be wars and rumors of wars until the very end of the age. When He told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world, He didn’t mean that this world was not of concern to Him. He loves the world so much that He gave His life for it.

And here we stand. Some believers are literally giving their lives for the sake of Jesus. Most of us are only giving more money at the gas pump and maybe dodging critics who disagree with our perception of who God is and what He does. In Paul’s metaphor, Jesus is the Mirror (capital M). WWJD is just a wrist band for some or a trite question for others, but it should be the first thing we ask. Is Jesus Lord of the whole earth, or just the parts of it we are comfortable with? Are we being transformed by the renewing of our minds, or are we conforming to the world?

Related posts: Where’s My Cloud?; Defending Resurrection Faith; Friendship With the World