Hell? Yes!

It’s Thanksgiving, and as usual, we are challenged to recount the things we are grateful for. Family, friends, health, prosperity, freedom – these are all worthy of our gratitude. But if Christians are honest, the thing we should be most thankful for is God’s mercy and grace to us. When God grants us mercy, He withholds giving us what we deserve. Because Paul was right to say, “There is none righteous,” we all deserve God’s wrath. Despite what the warm fuzzy teachers like Rob Bell want us to believe, hell is real; God’s wrath is as much a part of His character as His love is. If we look deeply into the message of the Bible, we can see why wrath and love must both exist.

When Adam rebelled, he died. He died immediately to fellowship with God, and he began the gradual decay that would end in physical death. Sadly, the consequences of Adam’s sin were passed on to all his descendants. “In Adam all die,” says the Apostle Paul. This is also why he says we are subject to God’s judgment for our own sin. “And you, although you were dead in your trespasses and sins…. were children of wrath by nature, as also the rest of them were.” Fortunately, as the next verse assures us, “God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, and we being dead in trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ.”

We rejoice with thanksgiving that God made us alive, but what about “the rest” as Paul calls them? The judgment issued at the time of Adam’s rebellion still stands. Paul based God’s authority as judge on His position as creator. God made us; therefore, He owns us. He told the idol worshippers at Lystra, “Turn from these worthless things to the living God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things that are in them, who in generations that are past permitted all the nations to go their own ways.” Adam chose to do things his own way, and God allowed Adam’s descendants to follow the same path.

Speaking to the philosophers in Athens, Paul made the same point. “The God who made the world and everything in it—he is Lord of heaven and earth—does not live in shrines made by hands…. From one man [Adam] he has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.” Anyone who has read the Bible knows this is true of Israel, God’s chosen nation, but few realize that the Sovereign designated the “times and boundaries” of every nation on earth. We shouldn’t be surprised since we know He used the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians to further His redemption plan.

God did not totally abandon the nations. As Paul told the people at Lystra, “He did not leave himself without a witness, since he did what is good by giving you rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filling you with food and your hearts with joy.” In Athens, Paul suggested God’s purpose was to make Himself known: “So that they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  For in him we live and move and have our being.” His word to the Romans was similar, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all impiety and unrighteousness of people, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is evident among them, for God made it clear to them.”

Paul asserts that God treated other nations differently from Israel by His own choice. While He let the other nations go their own way, He lovingly shepherded Israel into fulfilling His redemption plan. It is made plain during the conquest of Canaan that the nations followed “gods” who were enemies of Israel’s God. This is why God commanded the annihilation of the Canaanites. (See Defending the Wrath of God.) The difference between Israel and the nations was removed at the cross. This is the long-standing mystery Paul refers to in his letters especially to the Ephesians.

One might still ask if God’s wrath against sin is necessary. As I wrote in The Goodness of Wrath, “Someone has said that we only appreciate light because we know darkness. If God did not pour out His wrath against sin, His merciful love would be meaningless. Because He does judge the wicked, His love of the redeemed is more significant.” There is room for honest debate about the means of God’s sovereign election of His people, but there can be no doubt that love and wrath coexist in the heart of God. Referring to the unrighteous acts of unbelievers Paul wrote, “Now we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who do such things. But do you think this, O man who passes judgment on those who do such things, and who does the same things, that you will escape the judgment of God?”

On this Thanksgiving, I am grateful that God has delivered me from wrath and assured my eternity with Him through the blood of Christ. I am also thankful that I have been granted the privilege to live in a country that for over two hundred years has attempted (though imperfectly) to support Judeo-Christian values. With the increasing secularization (perhaps paganization is a better word) of Western society, the blessings those values have provided are being seriously eroded.

In Defending the Wrath of God I wrote, “Getting queasy about the wrath of God is a corollary to ignoring the spiritual battle that we all participate in. If we honestly regarded the faces of evil we encounter in our daily lives, I don’t think we would despise the wrath of God that is due His enemy. We are soft on sin, and we deny the depth to which it has pervaded our society. My woke neighbors will hate me for saying this, but when political correctness becomes a cloak for evil, we have surrendered the field without firing a shot.” Being thankful for our salvation does not eliminate the need to be on the offensive. In fact, the reality of God’s mercy in our lives should motivate us to share the good news with others: God’s love has overcome His wrath through faith in His Son. Spread the Word.

 

Who’s in the Temple?

As I was reading through the book of Acts recently, something caught my eye that I had not noticed previously. In chapter seven, Stephen is giving the sermon to the Jewish leadership that ended with his being stoned to death. Stephen was reciting a thumbnail sketch of Jewish history, and when he got to David and the building of the temple, he suddenly made a dramatic change in tone and blasted his listeners with the accusation that they were murders: “You stiff-necked people and uncircumcised in hearts and in your ears! You constantly resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so also do you! Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand about the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become, you who received the law by directions of angels and have not observed it!” (7:51-53)

I am certain that the Jews would have been nodding in agreement until Stephen’s accusation. Luke tells us that Stephen was “full of the Holy Spirit,” so we know his recitation was spirit-guided; the question I asked myself is why Stephen was prompted to attack them at that point in his history lesson. Here’s my thought: the temple in Jerusalem was at the center of Jewish politics and worship. First century Jews operated under a semi-theocratic government that their Roman occupiers tolerated. King Herod was little more than a puppet allowed by Rome as a concession to Jewish idiosyncrasies. It was the Sanhedrin that held the reigns of power at the grass roots level. The Sanhedrin was chaired by the High Priest and populated by numerous priests, making it a virtual arm of the temple.

 Stephen saw what we may be missing because of our distance theologically and chronologically. He saw that what Jesus had done was to make the temple an irrelevant religious institution – along with all its political significance. Absent the temple, the Jewish leadership had no power, and it was that power they sought to protect by having the upstart Galilean Rabbi killed. Twenty centuries later, we might not see the true impact of Jesus’ prophecy that the temple would be destroyed. We correctly understand His metaphorical reference to His physical body; we may misjudge how essential the literal statement, “Not one stone left here on another” is to His proclamation. Just as Christ’s death on the cross put an end to the sacrificial system, the total destruction of the temple in 70 AD put, “It is finished” on the entire Old Covenant.

It is probable that when Paul wrote that believers’ bodies were the temple of the Holy Spirit, the temple in Jerusalem was still standing. Paul’s early commitment to the entire Jewish system surely would have left him with a deep reverence for the word “temple.” He would not use it lightly. By calling believers’ temples, he was underlining the contrast between the two temples. Jesus’ death paved the way for God to dwell in us. The center of our lives, the true source of any power we may have is the God-in-us Emmanuel. Thus Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me, and that life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Many people today have a problem similar to the one the Jewish leadership had with Jesus. The Jews were trying to protect a temple that was no longer home to God’s earthly presence. People who claim to be Christians but live as practical atheists are making a similar mistake. The Psalmist tells us “the fool says in his heart ‘There is no god.’” In biblical Hebrew, the heart symbolized the core of a person’s being. By saying there is no god, the fool is admitting that the “temple” is empty. John MacArthur writes, “A fool, then, begins by living as if there were no God, substituting himself as god and determining his own style of life…. The world is full of the opinions of fools—fools who have denied God in their living, who have become their own gods, and who mock the reality and consequences of sin.”^[1]

Sadly, this tendency is too prevalent among many who claim to be teachers of the Word. But then, this is precisely what Paul told Timothy would happen: “Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the last times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons.” One might say the teachings of fools. MacArthur continues, “In contrast to fools, you as a believer are blessed to have the Spirit of wisdom indwelling you and illuminating your understanding of His Word. Your words to others are based on the wisdom of Scripture, not empty speculation.”

Jesus said, “From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” We need to pay close attention to what people are saying – even those who claim to be Christians. Paul explains how one can descend into foolishness: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasoning, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.” We need to be discerning people, guarding the temple of our hearts – renewing our minds.

At the close of the Revelation of John, the New Jerusalem is revealed as a city without a temple. Why? It’s for the same reason there is no sun: God’s light is universal. In the same way every resident in the heavenly Jerusalem is a temple: God has made His dwelling in man. Here’s the shocker: according to the writer of Hebrews, we have already come to that New Jerusalem. The verb tense used for “come” indicates a past action with present, continuing results. It is obvious why Stephen turned the corner when he got to the temple. He knew where the true temple was. He knew the Jews did not know. Do you?

 

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^[1] John MacArthur, Strength for Today (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1997).

Necessary Obedience

“For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast.” This word from Paul to the Ephesians is probably one of the best-known passages in the Bible. It may also be one of the most frequently misused. Whether from laziness or stubbornness, people see “gift” and “not from works” and assume that human behavior has little or nothing to do with salvation. As with many of the finer points of Christianity, this passage must be viewed in light of the total message of Scripture. The full message is that behavior matters; works do play a part in our salvation.

Many Bible readers think that James was contradicting Paul when he wrote that, “Faith without works is dead.” There is no contradiction. James’ argument is that one shows ones’ faith by acting faithfully, which is to say in accord with God’s principles. This is exactly what Paul told the Romans when he begged them not to think they could live any way they pleased because grace would excuse them. “May it never be!” Paul shouted. The believer proves that salvation is real by righteous behavior.

The Messiah Himself pounded that truth home in another well-known passage we call the “Sermon on the Mount.” For three chapters, Matthew’s Gospel records Jesus’ instructions on how to live as members of the kingdom of God. It serves Christians well to remember that being part of God’s kingdom doesn’t involve a physical location. “Kingdom” is not a geographical term; it is behavioral. The Greek word Matthew used for kingdom means rule or reign. To be in the kingdom of God is to be governed by God’s rules. We prove He reigns in our lives when we do what His rules require. Back to James: the proof of our allegiance is found in our obedience.

Jesus’ final discourse as reported by John also plainly binds behavior to discipleship. Our Lord said, “The one who has my commandments and keeps them—that one is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will reveal myself to him.” Believers marvel at the fact that Jesus called his disciples His friends, but even that position is conditioned on obedience: “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” He also said that He had done the works His Father had required, and believers would do even greater works after the Holy Spirit came. Works, works, works! Despite Paul’s claim that we are saved by grace not works, works are expected, nay required as our response to that grace.

I believe that there is another elemental factor in the necessity of works as part of our relationship with God. One of the first responsibilities God gave to Adam in the Garden of Eden was to work: “And Yahweh God took the man and set him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it.” We know that God’s original plan was for Adam and Eve to spread the Eden-like quality of creation across the globe. Sin, of course, interrupted that, but God is still working toward His original goal via the plan of redemption of man and Earth through the Cross of Christ. The first Adam’s boo-boo is erased, and the Kingdom of God (Eden) is accomplished through the works of the followers of the Second Adam.

I developed the idea of Christians as agents of God’s original plan more fully in “Bringing the Kingdom” and “It’s Not All About You,” but I want to repeat here that our individual salvation is part of a much bigger operation that has truly cosmic dimensions. We are supposed to be agents who fulfill the request found in the prayer Jesus taught His disciples: “Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Our salvation is, quite literally that we should work towards God’s ultimate goal: Earth as Eden.

Some people shirk their duty on this call because they are waiting for a rapture of the church; then they expect a seven-year tribulation; then they imagine a temporary kingdom for one thousand years before the “real thing” finally comes to pass after Armageddon. I believe those who view this scenario as an excuse to wait are missing the whole purpose of the church. Even if they were right, the church age should be a time when Christians proclaim the Kingdom of God as Jesus did. It is difficult for me to read His words and not see that the kingdom has already been initiated. Maybe we do have to wait 1007 years after a secret “second coming” before it is fulfilled, but that doesn’t change the fact that Jesus said it had already come roughly 2,000 years ago.

What does this have to do with obedience? Whether we have to wait for two or three “second comings,” or if the next “coming” is the last, our job as Christians is to do what Christ implied  in the parable of the ten minas : “Occupy till I come.” (KJV) I like the word “occupy.” I think of it as occupying enemy territory, for that is what we have been charged with: occupying the devil’s territory. We have been transferred out of the kingdom of darkness into the light. Let us occupy it with bold obedience!

Powerful Meekness

I am going to circle back to a topic I have written about more than once already. It seems to keep knocking on my door, so I feel I have to answer it again. I have experienced that confluence of circumstances I have mentioned before where several things combine to make a point I cannot avoid. The subject I am coming back to is how we are supposed to handle differences of opinion with our Christian brothers and sisters. If you haven’t read “Disagree Agreeably” and “The Importance of Being Right,” I recommend that you check them out.

I was pushed to today’s review of this topic by criticism from a fellow-Christian who perceived my attitude as arrogant. He said, “You think you are always right; you’re not!” It is ironic that he should be so perceptive and so wrong at the same time. As I have written previously, I grew up in an atmosphere where it was imperative that you were “right,” and that you made everyone else see how right you were. Through the patience of my loving wife and the grace of God, I have gradually shed much of the argumentative attitude that characterized my life for decades. My behavior just prior to the man’s criticism was a study in Clair-being-non-argumentative. That’s the further irony: here I was being what I thought a Christian should be when having a disagreement. Apparently, I still have work to do.

A couple days after the confrontation at church, John MacArthur’s devotional was on James’ admonition to behave, “in the gentleness of wisdom.” MacArthur insisted that, “A wise person is a gentle person.” He focused on the word “gentle” explaining that it translated a Greek word that could be rendered as “meek.” He said, “The Greeks characterized meekness as power under control; in the believer’s case, that means being under the control of God.”* He also pointed out that Jesus is our perfect example of meekness, and not surprisingly, it is listed as a fruit of the Spirit.

This all should have gone down without a hitch except that my Bible reading for that day had been John’s report of Jesus cleansing the temple – with a whip and some caustic criticism. In “True Lies and Lying Truth” I wrote, “Over the last few months, I studied a harmony of the Gospels as my daily devotional reading. The strongest impression I came away with is that Jesus was a very critical person. He was a stickler for the truth and a warrior against lies. He called His arch enemy the father of lies. I think we do our Lord a disservice to suggest that He would stand meekly aside while a wave of lies washes the shores of our society.”

In that article I was primarily focused on lies in the political realm, but I am equally disturbed by the “truth” shared by some Bible teachers that might be called lies – a lie told in ignorance or through misinterpretation is still a lie. (See “Lies We Have Been Told”) The man who confronted me was quoting the words of a Bible commentator on a subject that honest Christians can disagree about. I suggested that we look at what the Bible itself has to say, and that is what caused the critical response on his part. I suspect the commentator was one he held in high esteem, and he believed I was wrong to disagree with him. I think I exhibited meekness in my response to him (I have a witness who agrees.), but he did not take it well.

My point is that while Jesus was the epitome of meekness, and we should always follow His example (WWJD), Jesus never allowed His meekness to turn Him into a doormat. (Admittedly, the cross was a major doormat moment, but that was the explicit purpose for the incarnation: that He should submit to the punishment due us for our transgressions.) Most of the disagreements I have with fellow-believers center on the interpretation of Scripture. In many cases, the only option is to agree to disagree. That is fine; it can be done in perfect meekness and in honor to the truth of God’s Word.

However, there are times when an opinion is not based on truth, and it should be corrected. As an example, I spent several weeks debating with a fellow-Christian who believes that God blesses same-sex marriages. (For more on that debate see “Clobber the Argument”) While it is true that God loves homosexuals and heterosexuals unconditionally, it is disingenuous to say that Scripture condones any sexual intimacy outside of the marriage of a man and a woman. This applies to all aberrations: homosexuality, adultery, incest, pedophilia, beastiality, and anything else a perverted mind can imagine. God’s plan for His creation has procreation at its core, and to tamper with the beauty and simplicity of marital intimacy is to destroy the very foundation of human society. (See “You Have Heard That it was Said”)

There are other subjects that rise to this level of demand for correction: denial of the virgin birth, acceptance of salvation through any means but the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, dismissal of the existence of hell and judgment, the elevation of any book but the Bible as inspired revelation from God. And more. The point I am trying to make in all humility and meekness is that as Christians, we are compelled to defend the truth as revealed in Scripture. If any person, regardless of their popularity or admiration, holds an opinion that cannot be supported by the Word of God, that opinion should be challenged. And that challenge must be made with all meekness – truth spoken in love as Paul directs. This approach will not always have happy results. Remember how the Temple merchandisers reacted to Jesus’ dramatic correction of their misuse of God’s house. Stay meek, yes, but stay strong.

* John MacArthur, Strength for Today (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1997).

Related posts: How Do You Read Paul; Sanctify Them; Truth Matters; The Truth About the Truth

Here, There, or in the Air

Often, when people say to me, “See you later,” I respond, “Here, there, or in the air.” It may sound flippant or cute, but I mean something theologically significant by it. As a Christian, I believe the words of the old song, “This world is not my home; I’m just a-passin’ through.” Absolute certainty of our eternal destiny is the shining hope of everyone who has trusted Jesus Christ. As I will explain momentarily, confusion about “this world” being home or not plagues many sincere Christ-followers. If we are just “passin’ through,” where exactly are we headed?

To answer this, I will share how the quip, “Here, there, or in the air” plays out in my opinion. When I agree that I may meet my friends “here,” I am thinking of this space-time continuum – Earth as we know it. Perhaps I will see them tomorrow, next week, or next year here on earth. We can’t know for sure we will ever see someone again because all our days are numbered, and no one knows which one will be the last. But if God grants that we each spend the intervening time here, we may well meet again here. That’s the simple part of the triad.

It gets much more complicated when I try to explain what I mean by “there.” For much of my life as a believer, I thought “there” meant Heaven. Most Christians believe they will go to Heaven when they die, although the New Testament never makes that assertion. Shocked? I have previously written at length that the British theologian, N. T. Wright corrected my thinking on that subject in his book, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. Wright points out that when Jesus spoke of heaven, He was always referring to the Kingdom of Heaven which is not a place, per se, but a state of being ruled by the King of Heaven. Heaven came to earth in one sense with the first coming of our Savior, and it’s coming will be fully realized at His return. (More on that later.)

So, if we don’t go to Heaven when we die, where do we go – where is “there.” Wright holds out the possibility that there could be a “there” that might better be called “paradise” where departed souls wait for the end of the age. This idea rests on the assumption that humans remain time-bound creatures after they die. If time continues to roll in the afterlife, there must be a waiting place somehow related to this place (Earth) that houses disembodied souls (or perhaps re-embodied souls). The only Scripture that seems to hint at this is Jesus’ story about the dead beggar who rested in Abraham’s bosom while his earthly tormentors suffered on the other side of an impassable chasm.

There are several things about that story that are troublesome which makes me believe Jesus was simply playing to the contemporary Jewish belief about the afterlife. Scripture often uses imagery that fits the understanding of its recipients without describing literal truth. Two common ones are that the sun rises and sets or that the Earth rests on foundations. Neither of these descriptions matches reality, but they both are used to teach absolute truth. I am of the opinion that there is no actual place called “Abraham’s bosom” where dead souls wait for the end of the age. However, the Jews in Jesus’ day did believe in such a place, so He used it to make a point. The point was that once you die, there is no going back for second chances.

So, if Wright is wrong about a “paradise” where the dead wait, where is “there?” Personally, I think that there is no “there” there. I suspect that when we die, we leave this space-time continuum and enter the spiritual realm where time is an entirely different construct. There is no need for “waiting” because time will have ceased to be an issue we deal with. Difficult as it may be to grasp, it makes sense to me that everyone goes directly into eternity upon their death. After death comes judgment; thus says the Scripture. You might say that we all die at the same “time.”

Now we come to what I mean by “in the air.” Paul told the Thessalonians that upon Jesus’ return, they would meet the Lord “in the air,” and thus be forever with the Lord. This passage has been much abused by a group of believers who look forward to a rapture of the church near the end of the age. Again, I thank Wright for clearing up what this passage actually refers to. He points to a parallel passage in 1 Corinthians 15 that also details what happens to believers both living and dead upon Christ’s second “coming.” Christ is said to “appear,” and believers are changed into their eternal, spiritual state. The same idea is found in Philippians 3:21 where Paul speaks of being transformed into a body like Jesus’ glorious body when Christ returns.

The word “coming” in Corinthians translates the Greek word “parousia” which had a very specific meaning in the ancient world of Paul. When an important person came to visit a city, he would “appear” outside the gate, and the citizens would go out to meet him and escort him into the city; they didn’t stay outside the gates. The dignitary’s parousia was the signal that the king’s representative had come. He was bringing the king’s authority to his citizens. Rather than being raptured and taken away from their homes, the parousia initiated a new state of affairs in their old world. Applying this concept to the second coming, Jesus’ parousia will mark the beginning of the new heavens and new earth where His faithful ones will dwell for eternity. The judgment – the sheep versus goats, tares separated from wheat – happens at this “time,” and it determines who gets to be where.

The ancients pictured heaven as being “in the air.” So do we when we point up to locate Heaven. Like the ancient idea of a third heaven – a spiritual realm – we should also think of Heaven as a spiritual “place” in the sense that it encompasses the entirety of where we will live eternally in our resurrected, “spiritual bodies” as Paul calls them. Heaven and Earth will be one as originally intended. To meet Jesus “in the air” is a confirmation of the belief that we will be transformed into our eternal, spiritual state. I believe, as Wright insists, that we will spend eternity in our resurrected bodies on a renewed earth reunited with “Heaven.” As John says, “We will be like him, because we will see him just as he is.” I can’t wait! So, until we meet again – here, there, or in the air.

Related posts: Understanding Salvation; Why Heaven Matters; Defending Resurrection Faith