common questions (part one).
If you know me personally, then you know that I rarely engage in arguments or controversy (Enneagram 9 Peacemaker over here). But gosh, I’ve come to the conclusion that we don’t need more people to appease the masses. We need more soldiers marching the narrow path. We don’t need more complacent Christians. We need more devoted disciples. The world doesn’t need more woke warriors; it needs more Truth tellers. We need less people worshipping at the altar of political agendas or popular opinion and more people worshipping at the foot of the cross.
I guess I’m tired of seeing bad theology and watered-down teaching spread rampantly, so here I am—a little out of my comfort zone but passionately in love with my Savior and committed to the truths found in Scripture. Before we dive into some common questions, I want to give a little more background on where I am coming from.
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A time is coming (if we aren’t there already) when proclaiming the Bible’s veracity and inerrancy will be qualified as hate speech. So at the risk of offending the thought police and virtue signalers, here’s where I stand: I believe the Bible is true; I believe it is without error. And I believe it is the authoritative Word of God. If we are not coming from the same place, then you probably won’t agree with anything else I say. You are still welcome here. I know this is a crazy statement in today’s world, but my disagreement does not equal hatred. I want to tell you the truth that can set you free.
The Word of God is trustworthy whereas feelings aren’t always to be trusted. If you are struggling with a question regarding salvation or sinful behavior, I can write out all of my thoughts and opinions… but at the end of the day, I will still tell you to seek truth for yourself in the Bible. Look into the context, the author, the purpose of the passages. Do the digging and if you truly want to know the truth, I believe that God will reveal it to you.
For those just looking to Scripture to confirm your predisposed opinion, you will probably find a way to justify that too…but be warned: eisegesis is a dangerous and slippery slope. Once you start crossing out sections of the Bible based solely on your experiences, you will be left with a false gospel and a fake god. The God of the Bible is so much better.
My goal with this new series is not to try to scare you into trusting Jesus or to induce anxiety about the state of the world, but to share with you what I am learning based on the Word of God. I’m also not trying to defend God, because I don’t think He needs defending. My hope in this series is to point heavenward and to spread the Gospel story which goes a little something like this:
A great garden. A bunch of fallen fools. A repeatedly gracious God. Messiah in a manger. A Christ who came down & willingly died for the bunch of fallen fools. A true Prince of Peace. Death defeated. Serpent slaughtered. A King who is coming again.
Jesus is our ultimate Hope. He is so good and worthy of praise, so we should be devoted to discovering more about Him. Not to earn our way into heaven, but as a natural overflow of loving and being loved by the God of the universe.
Okay, hopefully we’re on the same page. Let’s look into some questions!
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Why do bad things happen to good people?
“Why do bad things happen to good people? That only happened once and He volunteered.” –R.C. Sproul
Not once has there been a “good” person besides Christ Himself. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). If you don’t believe that you are a sinner, go and take a look at the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. Have you ever told a lie? Have you ever wanted something that isn’t yours? If so, you are in direct disobedience to God’s commandments. Ever since Adam & Eve’s rebellion against His perfect plan, we are all born with a sinful nature that will send us to eternal damnation if we aren’t followers of Jesus (I’ll address this a little later).
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Now, if we are asking, “Why does God allow His faithful followers to suffer?” then we can look into that too. Suffering definitely happens in this life, and we know it’s not a desirable time of sunshine and rainbows.
Sometimes suffering happens because of a consequence of our actions. Sometimes it’s for the testing of faith that produces godliness. James talks about this in his letter to fellow Christ followers,
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4).
Encountering trials can not only strengthen our relationship with the Lord and make us more like Him, but it can also strengthen our relationships with fellow believers, allow the church to act as the hands and feet of Jesus, and point a watching world heavenward. In my own experience of waiting on a baby, I can confidently say that the Lord has used my season of suffering in all of those ways and more. He has placed people in my path whom I can now come alongside and say, “I’ve been where you are. I know your pain. And I can tell you that the Lord is not going to leave you in that pain forever. He is going to use this for your good and for His glory.”
And then there’s the possibility that we won’t know why the suffering happens on this side of heaven. But we can still be confident that God’s plan is bigger and better than our own because His Word tells us so (see Romans 8:28). We have such a limited view of what is happening, and God does not. He can see the bigger picture and He’s holding onto us, friends.
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Would a loving God really send people to hell?
This question has been asked a million times, and I imagine it will continue to be asked until Jesus returns. Unfortunately, some notable “Christians” have started giving incorrect and unbiblical solutions to this subject in the form of universalism. In all their high-and-mighty-prestigious studies, they have come to the conclusion that God doesn’t actually send people to hell. This is wrong, dangerous, and they will be judged accordingly for their false teaching.
Listen, y’all. WE HAVE TO STOP THINKING WE ARE MORE GODLIKE THAN GOD HIMSELF.
If it seems like I’m frustratedly shouting, that’s because I am. This way of thinking is the root of sin, isn’t it? We attempt to undermine God’s commands because we think we know better than God. Spoiler: we do not.
Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). In the Bible, Jesus talks more about hell than He talks about heaven. He talks to the rich and the poor and the rulers and the sick –not only about God’s love and mercy, but also about His justice and righteousness.
Let’s take a look at what Jesus says to Nicodemus in one of the most well-known passages of Scripture (but let’s not stop at verse 16),
“‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.’” (John 3:16-19).
We are all sinful, but God sent His Son to save us from our own corruption and the consequences of our innate natures because of His great love for us. We have an opportunity to trust in Christ, the Light of the world, and spend eternity with Him. But if we do not do so…if we do not have faith in Jesus, then there will be a final judgment for those who loved the darkness of the world more than the light of Christ.
In Scripture, we discover that there will be two different judgments—followers of Jesus will stand in front of the Bema (the Judgment Seat of Christ) and unbelievers will stand at the Great White Throne judgment. If we belong to God before the rapture, then we will not have to face any possibility of condemnation (see Romans 8:1). We will never have to be separated from Christ. The Bema is a place for handing out rewards. But for those who have rejected the Gospel, they will face the Great White Throne judgment and will be sent to the lake of fire along with Satan and his fallen angels.
“…and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. 13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. 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).
Okay, I’m not trying to get too deep into end-of-the-world stuff here, but I think it’s important that we look at the bigger picture when talking about hell and punishment and the reality of eternity. If our names are not written in the book of life, the eternal punishment sounds pretty grim.
Here’s my two cents: we don’t have to understand all of His ways. We don’t even have to agree with all of His ways. But we do have to trust in His ways. He is perfect and we are not. He is a God of justice (while we are ruffling feathers, please note the lack of the word “social” here), and we are neither gods nor perfectly just.
But here’s the good news: He is also a God of mercy and grace, and He is far more loving than we can even imagine.
The better question to be asking is “How can a perfectly righteous God send a sinner like me to heaven?” This brings me to tears, friends. I am so underserving of a spot in heaven, yet He has saved a place for me there. Jesus died for me. He took the wrath of God for me. He suffered for me. And He did for you too. Trust in Him and Him alone, and we can worship God together forever. This is where the real party will be.
Scripture for further digging: Mark 9:43, Luke 12:5, Matthew 23:15, John 5:28-29
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But would God really send someone to hell who has never heard the Gospel?
This is the last question I’ll be addressing today (I haven’t exactly earned the short-winded star). If you want the short answer: yes. Does this sadden me and make me scratch my head a little? Also yes.
But like my grandfather used to say, “If ignorance of the Gospel would allow a person to go to heaven, we ought to burn every Bible and close every church” (–Dr. Doug Sager).
However, Jesus tells us not to hide the truth, but to proclaim it:
“‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:19-20).
We are also told that there is a God-shaped hole inside all of us. He has set eternity in our hearts (see Ecclesiastes 3:11). We all know deep down that there’s something missing until we find that ultimate satisfaction in Christ. As far as someone never hearing the Gospel, I believe that there are extraordinary ways that God can reveal Himself. Not only does He call missionaries to remote locations to share the good news of Jesus, but all of creation points to His goodness.
“The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
2 Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.” (Psalm 19:1-2).
He is meant to be worshipped. If we are looking, we can see that nature reflects His goodness and gives us glimpses of His glory. Every culture and person worships something. We are all just meant to be worshipping the Lord.
“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).
That’s all I’ve got for today, folks. I pray these words point to the love of the Father and the truths He has laid out for us in Scripture.
I hope to discuss more questions in the future, so if you have any topics you’d like me to dig into… send them my way! I’d love to hear from you. I can’t promise I’ll have the answers, but I do promise to faithfully seek out the truth.