The Ripple Effect
This past week Pastor Tim covered the topic of hell. The reason for covering this topic is because many Christians, or self-professed Christians, in America, do not believe in the doctrine of hell. There are many reasons for this. One of the main perpetrators of this idea is that God’s love can never mean judgment. Secular culture and movements that value self above all else have led to this growing number of Christians who do not believe in hell. People often either think God is not loving if He sends people to hell or they are personally offended by a God who would punish people so they choose not to believe the parts of God they don’t like personally. This belief, if held by Christians, ultimately leads to much of the moralistic therapeutic deism that we see in our culture today.
In the article “If You Don’t Believe in Hell”, the author explains the rippling impact not believing in hell can have on your Christian faith. Many people, when they think about their personal disagreements with the Bible or Christian faith, fail to realize that if you reject certain doctrines, there is necessarily a rippling effect on the other doctrines. For example, if you reject hell, there are a number of things you have to deal with.
1) If you reject hell, then either sin doesn’t exist or has no effect on one’s eternal destination. The Bible tells us that we are dead in our sins (Ephesians 2). It also says no one is good, no not one (Psalm 14). These verses seem to be at odds with the idea that sin does not exist or only affects some people.
2) If you reject hell and sin’s consequence on eternal destination, then there is no need for Jesus to die on the cross. The Bible tells us that “if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9) If you do not have to believe in Jesus to be saved, then what is the purpose of the cross? Also, no one in the Bible speaks more about hell than Jesus. If you reject hell, then you will have to justify why Jesus, who Christians believe to be God, would talk about something that doesn’t exist as if it did exist. The Bible says Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
3) If Jesus didn’t need to die on the cross for our sins, then this raises a number of questions about God. Why would the Father send His Son to die for nothing? How can God be just if He neglects judging the wicked? Why would God have everyone live in a world with suffering if we were all gonna go to heaven anyways? Wouldn’t we want to die as soon as possible to be with God? Rejecting hell leaves you with many questions to answer about God.
4) If the concept of God doesn’t make sense, then it is hard to believe you were made in His image, or are His property. If you aren’t made in His image, God is no longer your authority in life. Soon, you become your own authority or allow the secular culture to influence your decisions.
This is meant to be an example of the dangers of rejecting core Christian doctrines, not an all-inclusive list of all the possible objections to universalism or any other form of belief that rejects hell exists. If you are interested in learning more about the objections to universalism you can watch this debate. However, it can serve as an example of the importance of looking at the potential ripple effects your beliefs can have on other doctrines. It is important to always have God as our authority and shield ourselves from being influenced by our own feelings or the culture’s sentiments. May we serve God, not man.
-Noah
