I cannot agree with anyone who says that the church alone will end up in heaven. We will have a special place there, but the sheep and goats judgment says nothing about what those who were given the kingdom at this judgment believe, only what they did. Romans 2:6-11 talks about people being given eternal life, not because of what they believed, but because of how they lived their lives. The parable of the great banquet talks about the poor, crippled, and others being compelled to come in, and others being invited into the feast. I don't think that any of these are the church, the bride of Christ, but there is also no doubt in my mind that they will be in God's kingdom forever.
At the same time, Jesus Himself said that it's better to rid ourselves of body parts that make us sin than it would be to endure hell, where "their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched." At the sheep and goat judgment, those on Jesus' left will be sent into the eternal fire, prepared for Satan and his angels, where they will suffer eternal punishment. And then there's “But as for the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, idol worshipers, and all those who lie, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. That is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8), as well as "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, that person will also drink of the wine of God’s anger that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb. And the smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have no rest day or night, along with anyone who receives the mark of his name” (Rev. 14:6-11).
And yet, in between, there are those who are cast into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. I see no indication in the Bible that this is a permanent state. Perhaps these people are like the servant who was forgiven his debt, but would not forgive the debt owed him, who was to be cast into prison until his debt was paid off. I really am not sure.
While I think that far more who aren't Christians will end up in heaven than a lot of the church does today, I also cannot say that every single person will end up being saved and in heaven, because I will neither ignore nor will I explain away Jesus' clear words. God's blessings on you today!
My deconstruction path included the reading of Peter Enns' The Sin of Certainty. I need to read it again.
These days, if a portion of "scripture" conflicts with my reading of the main example and teaching of Jesus in the Gospels, I simply consider those verses as added to the bible in error. They either line up with Jesus or I don't consider them as part of my bible. Friends of the same mind have pointed out to me that, obviously, the Bible wasn't written at one point in time.....so, the New Testament books, outside of the Gospels, were in effect, tacked on later. Even the conservative evangelical church I still attend ( getting slightly less conservative in recent years) speaks less of "inerrancy" but when they do they're referring to the original manuscripts which we don't have.
Yeah, I hear you. I don’t think the Bible or my interpretation of it is certain. I just want to share alternative views of hell for those who still find this verse triggering and harmful.
My post on Thursday focuses more on reconstructing hell and what we can believe about the afterlife going forward.
Another exercise would be to compare John 14:6 with some statistics. If 25% of the world's population is supposedly "christian," that leaves about 5 billion people who would either disintegrate or spend eternity in hell should the world end tomorrow.
So God would essentially destroy most of his beloved creation? Seems unlikely.
This is where I looked up the definition of cognitive dissonance.
I’m Australian, so as a teenager when I started to realize that most Australians are not Christian and started worrying that more than half the country was “going to hell” that’s when things started heating up for me lol.
I cannot agree with anyone who says that the church alone will end up in heaven. We will have a special place there, but the sheep and goats judgment says nothing about what those who were given the kingdom at this judgment believe, only what they did. Romans 2:6-11 talks about people being given eternal life, not because of what they believed, but because of how they lived their lives. The parable of the great banquet talks about the poor, crippled, and others being compelled to come in, and others being invited into the feast. I don't think that any of these are the church, the bride of Christ, but there is also no doubt in my mind that they will be in God's kingdom forever.
At the same time, Jesus Himself said that it's better to rid ourselves of body parts that make us sin than it would be to endure hell, where "their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched." At the sheep and goat judgment, those on Jesus' left will be sent into the eternal fire, prepared for Satan and his angels, where they will suffer eternal punishment. And then there's “But as for the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, idol worshipers, and all those who lie, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. That is the second death.” (Rev. 21:8), as well as "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and takes the mark on his forehead or his hand, that person will also drink of the wine of God’s anger that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of his wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb. And the smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever, and those who worship the beast and his image will have no rest day or night, along with anyone who receives the mark of his name” (Rev. 14:6-11).
And yet, in between, there are those who are cast into outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. I see no indication in the Bible that this is a permanent state. Perhaps these people are like the servant who was forgiven his debt, but would not forgive the debt owed him, who was to be cast into prison until his debt was paid off. I really am not sure.
While I think that far more who aren't Christians will end up in heaven than a lot of the church does today, I also cannot say that every single person will end up being saved and in heaven, because I will neither ignore nor will I explain away Jesus' clear words. God's blessings on you today!
My deconstruction path included the reading of Peter Enns' The Sin of Certainty. I need to read it again.
These days, if a portion of "scripture" conflicts with my reading of the main example and teaching of Jesus in the Gospels, I simply consider those verses as added to the bible in error. They either line up with Jesus or I don't consider them as part of my bible. Friends of the same mind have pointed out to me that, obviously, the Bible wasn't written at one point in time.....so, the New Testament books, outside of the Gospels, were in effect, tacked on later. Even the conservative evangelical church I still attend ( getting slightly less conservative in recent years) speaks less of "inerrancy" but when they do they're referring to the original manuscripts which we don't have.
Yeah, I hear you. I don’t think the Bible or my interpretation of it is certain. I just want to share alternative views of hell for those who still find this verse triggering and harmful.
My post on Thursday focuses more on reconstructing hell and what we can believe about the afterlife going forward.
Another exercise would be to compare John 14:6 with some statistics. If 25% of the world's population is supposedly "christian," that leaves about 5 billion people who would either disintegrate or spend eternity in hell should the world end tomorrow.
So God would essentially destroy most of his beloved creation? Seems unlikely.
This is where I looked up the definition of cognitive dissonance.
I’m Australian, so as a teenager when I started to realize that most Australians are not Christian and started worrying that more than half the country was “going to hell” that’s when things started heating up for me lol.