A gaggle of social media theologians
went at it on Facebook as to whether or not a minimalist sort of
Christian could profess a belief in Jesus but deny the existence of
Hell as a literal place of torment.
Granted, such a doctrinal combination
is a less than Biblically comprehensive and optimal one. Eternal
damnation is one of the most attested to of topics throughout the
Holy Bible.
If an individual professes such a
dogmatic formulation in an evangelization encounter, the soul of the
recipient of this deficient rendition of the Gospel could be
endangered.
One might conclude that simply passing
out of existence at the end of one's life wouldn't be too bad, simply
akin to falling asleep, and better than having to embrace the
limitations of Christianity in this life in order to prepare for the
next.
Yet it might be a step too far to
categorically declare that belief in Jesus but not in Hell is not
sufficient for one to slide through the Pearlie Gates.
It says in I Corinthians 15:1-4, “Now,
brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel...By this gospel you are
saved...For what I received I passed on to you of first importance:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he
was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures (NIV).”
One would hope that those sincerely
seeking redemption through Christ's completed work would come to
accept the whole counsel of God.
However, if even those pleading
sufficiency under Christ's shed blood will still be kept out of God's
Celestial City as a result of those areas in which they still fall
short of the glory of God, not a single one of us will have a
snowball's chance in the disputed region of the Afterlife of walking
those famed golden streets said to be guarded by United States
Marines.
By Frederick Meekins
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