President Obama said, “There’s the belief, certainly in some quarters, that people who haven’t embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior that they’re going to Hell... That’s just not part of my religious makeup.”(1)
Glenn Beck writes about why he is a Mormon. The problem Beck raised is the exclusive claim of Christianity that no one comes to the Father except through faith in Jesus Christ in this life, otherwise they will be cast in the lake of fire. Beck declared he became a Mormon because, “Latter Day Saints do not believe your chances ever cease, even in death… and there is no lake of fire.”(2)
Rev. Rob Bell, controversial mega-church pastor who was recently on the cover of Time Magazine, says he believes in Hell, but it is not a final, eternal state, its only temporary. Hell ultimately will be emptied after a “period of pruning” and “an intense experience of correction.”(3)
WHY IS YOUR RELIGION SO ARROGANT?
There has been a renewed spike in the struggle for biblical orthodoxy in the debate over the fate of those who die without having put their faith in Christ. Many are offended by the exclusive claim of Christians that for a person to be saved it must be by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone(4) in this life before you die.
Admittedly the gospel message deeply offends the non-Christian, but this has always been the case from the beginning of the church.(5) So it is not a new temptation to dilute the clear message of the Bible by adopting the errors of Universalism.(6)
Why has the church so adamantly maintained this exclusive, unpopular doctrine in the face of such vehement objections? The answer is because the whole biblical system of truth requires it. If Christians were permitted to simply believe whatever they preferred then we could just throw out the hard doctrines. Unfortunately, as many as 80% of Americans agree that it is up to an individual to arrive at his own religious beliefs regardless of any church or synagogue.(7) But true believers are bound to believe what God has revealed in the Bible and to defend that truth.
CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?
Universalism is very appealing for many reasons. One wonderful thing Universalism offers is the idea that everyone ultimately ends up in heaven. That is very attractive and seems warm and fuzzy, after all, aren’t Christians arrogant and presumptuous to believe they are the only ones who have it right?
While Christians can come across as arrogant, we have no justification for doing so. Christians know their salvation is an absolutely free gift that no one deserves, so there is absolutely no room for boasting by any Christian that they earned right standing with God.(8) The only boasting allowed for the Christian is in what Christ has graciously done for his people.(9)
Christians are instructed to “Be ready … to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived…”(10) Christians aren’t saved because they have outperformed others, as if God grades on a curve. Salvation is pure, unmitigated grace in spite of any alleged goodness in man. God’s free grace in Christ obliterates any of man’s self-righteous impulses.
WHO ARE THE INTOLERENT ONES?
The fact is all religions and non-religious philosophies are exclusive because they all claim to be true. If their proponents are right and their positions are true, then the contrary position of others must be false. If not, then any religious idea or moral principle is reduced to mere nonsense. It can’t both be true and not true at the same time. There is no escaping the fact that anyone who asserts an idea or moral value, even the principle that says “inclusivity is good,” is being exclusive. They are rejecting the position of those with whom they disagree. So, the question is not exclusivity verses inclusivity, but who is right or wrong and on what basis?
For example, Universalists often argue that all religions are equal and basically teach the same thing and that the doctrines of each religion aren’t really important. In this they have made two serious errors.
First, they have revealed their ignorance about the very real and substantial differences between religions. For example, Christians believe God mysteriously exists as the Holy Trinity. Jews and Muslims deny the Trinity. Buddhists deny a personal god exists. Hindus have millions of gods. That’s just one doctrine, albeit the most important one, where there’s no common ground. When a Muslim once told me that we all believe in the same God I told him I was very surprised and asked him if he believed in the Trinity. He fiercely objected.
Second, Universalists just made a very exclusive religious claim about God. Do they know more about God than the adherents of all other religions? They must think so if they believe all other religions are wrong to believe such exclusive doctrines. The Universalist is now guilty of being proud and exclusive, accusations they usually hurl at others. They irrationally want to convince us of their way of thinking, yet they say what a person believes is not important. Ironically, this glaring self-contradiction often goes undiagnosed.
THAT’S YOUR OPINION
The clever, post-modern Universalist might try to escape his dilemma by fleeing to subjectivism; “Your religion is true for you and mine is true for me.” This is another self-defeating claim.
How does he know that truth is relative? Does he have all knowledge? Is he God? Just by making his assertion he has destroyed any meaningful definition of truth. He has reduced truth to mean opinion or preference. If that’s the case, then why is his opinion any better than any other’s?
So while Universalism has the façade of being tolerant, inclusive and enlightened, it is no less narrow, exclusive and intolerant than any other religious faith.
Remember how the tolerant, “believe in any god you want,” proto-Universalists of the Greco-Roman world treated the early Christians? It was Christians who cared for the poor, rescued abandoned infants, treated women with respect, ended the murderous gladiatorial games and cared for the sick of the city when the plagues occurred, even to the point of death. They simply would not affirm the emperor was divine. What did they get in return? Ten waves of persecution. Beware the intolerance of the tolerant.
WHY UNIVERSALISM IS DEAD WRONG
The fatal flaw of much bad theology is commonly twofold. It consists of an inflated view of man and his “goodness” and a deflated view of God and His holiness.
The Bible teaches that God is absolutely perfect, holy,(11) and righteous(12) and lives in unapproachable light.(13) He is so holy that he can’t tolerate even the smallest sin in his presence. The Universalist’s god is all loving, but the Christian God has a perfect, holy love.
God’s holiness is problematic because all men have sinned against God’s perfect, infinite holiness. Therefore, all men have become perfectly, infinitely guilty,(14) thus deserving perfect, eternal judgment.(15)So what is the remedy for mankind?
The Christian gospel offers Jesus Christ, the perfect, holy Son of God made flesh, as the Savior of the world. God will forgive anyone who puts his faith in Christ’s perfect life lived on their behalf and in Christ’s holy substitutionary death and triumphant resurrection.
But the choice must be made in this life.(16) The Universalist twists the scriptures and offers a Christ-less salvation that will ultimately damn them for all eternity.
So, in the name of love, God’s holy character is distorted and confused by the Universalist who dismisses the need to satisfy God’s holy justice.(17) The Universalist extends salvation to everyone regardless of their faith in Christ, as if the shedding of Christ’s blood was not necessary for salvation.(18) This renders the finished work(19) of redemption by the glorious head of the Christian Church irrelevant. It also makes the ministry of the Holy Spirit superfluous because we don’t need to be regenerated(20) or convicted of sin, righteousness and judgment.(21)
FLEE TO CHRIST AND BE SAVED FROM THE WRATH TO COME
Universalism is a soul damning heresy and a full frontal attack on the nature and redemptive work of the Living Triune God. This is why the church has rejected Universalism for two thousand years.
(1) http://blog.beliefnet.com/stevenwaldman/2008/11/obamas-interview-with-cathleen.html
(2) Glenn Beck; Seven Wonders that Will Change Your Life, pp.148-150
(3) Rob Bell; Love Wins, p. 91
(4) Grace alone: Ephesians 2:5,8,9; John 1:14,16,17; Rom 11:5,6; Faith alone: Romans 3:21-26: Galatians 3:6-11; Christ alone: John 3:36; 14:6; Acts 4:12; 10:42,43; 1 Tim 2:5,6; 1 John 5:11,12; Rev. 7:9,10; 20:15.
(5) Matthew 11:6; 1 Corinthians 1:18-25; Galatians 5:11
(6) Christian Universalism refers to the belief that all humans either may or will be saved through Jesus Christ and eventually come to harmony in God's kingdom. Today the Unitarian Universalist Association teaches that all are already saved, including those of other faiths. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universalist)
(7) Robert Bellah, et al, Habits of the Heart; Individualism and Commitment in American Life, 1st ed. (University of California Press, 1985) p.228, in Tim Keller, The Reason For God, (Dutton, New York, 2008) p.70
(8) Ephesians 2:9; 1 Corinthians 1:29-31
(9) Galatians 6:14
(10) Titus 3:1-3
(11) Leviticus 11:44,45; 1 Peter 1:16
(12) Psalm 19:9; Rev. 16:7;19:2
(13) 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 1:5; Psalm 104:2
(14) Rom. 1:18;3:23;6:23
(15) Rev. 20:10;14:10 Matthew 25:41,46,
(16) John 3:16,17; Hebrews 9:27
(17) Rom 3:26
(18) Hebrews 9:22
(19) John 19:30
(20) John 3:3,5-8
(21) John 16:7-11
No comments:
Post a Comment