Why do Christians believe that the Bible is the true, authoritative, inerrant, Word of God? by Paul Sanders

Something I’ve been working on for a while…hope you enjoy it, Paul S.

Why do Christians believe that the Bible is the true, authoritative, inerrant, Word of God?

Why should Christians believe that the Bible contains the inspired and inerrant words of God? There are multitudes of philosophies and competing religious writings out there.  What makes the Bible so special so as to be classified by Christians as the “final rule for life and faith?”  In this politically correct, pluralistic modern society, statements like these sound out of touch or almost outrageous to some.  But, there are many reasons why the Bible is completely distinct from other religious writings.  A key factor that sets the Bible apart from other religious literature and firmly establishes its truthfulness and authority is the historical event of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God has given such tremendous evidence affirming the resurrection of Jesus from the dead that it makes Christianity much more than simply a blind, philosophical leap of faith and the Bible more than just another piece of religious literature.

Why trust Jesus?  He keeps His word like none other in all of history…

In the Gospels, the Apostles tell us that Jesus gave His word to them repeatedly that He would suffer, die, and then be raised from the dead after being buried in a tomb for three days. It is historically evident that something happened after the death of Jesus that powerfully impacted the apostles.  These 12 adult men, most with jobs, wives, and children, were given the first-hand opportunity to find out whether what Jesus told them was true or a lie. Let’s not fool ourselves, if we walked away from everything important in our lives to go and follow a religious leader for three and a half years, only to find out that that person had lied to us the entire time, we would be enfuriated.  It’s impossible to imagine any rational person being willing to continue following, and nonetheless give up their life, for a person who has proven themselves to be a fraudulent liar!  Taking all this into account, it’s revealing that not only did Jesus’ disciples later come to believe in Him and continue following Him while facing bitter persecution, all but one died a brutal death simply for being His disciples. With absolutely nothing to gain if Jesus was a liar, history tells us that Peter was crucified upside down.  Andrew was also crucified on an olive tree in Achaia.  James was thrown from a building and then stoned and the horrific stories of their deaths goes on and on.  With this vivid historical evidence, it is clear that the 12 and at least 500 or so more saw Jesus risen from the dead and were so powerfully impacted by this event that they were willing to lose everything for Him, even their lives.  This leads us to a vitally important conclusion: Jesus gave and kept His word to these men and, as a result, they were so transformed by Him that they were willing to give up everything for Him.  If Jesus gave to the Apostles and, through their writings, to us, His word regarding something as challenging to believe as His own resurrection from death and kept it, then He is who says He was and we can be confident that everything that He says is true.

We can safely trust Jesus.  So, what does this have to do with whether the Bible is true or not?

Because of His unique status as risen Lord and Messiah, Jesus can be trusted completely.  All that He says is true.  Therefore, what He says about which particular writings are to be considered divinely inspired and authoritative is of vital importance and can be trusted completely as well.  Which writings, then, did Jesus endorse as being inspired, inerrant and authoritative?

Jesus said in Luke 24 that the Psalms, the Prophets and Moses (all the books of the Old Testament) testify of Him. Jesus validated the Old Testament and confirmed that the 39 books that it contains are the inspired words of God.  Jesus then told His disciples in John chapters 14 and 16 that the Spirit would come upon them and that He would lead them into truth, bring to their remembrance all the things that He had told them, and bear witness to them of Him. In doing this, Jesus revealed that the writings of the Apostles are inspired, or breathed-out, by the Spirit of God and placed them on equal ground as the writings of the Old Testament.  As a result, Christians believe that the books of the New Testament also contain the Holy Spirit breathed words of God that are authoritative and true.  They believe that these writings faithfully record the things that Jesus said and did and truthfully bear witness of Him.  As mentioned, the ground for this belief is the fact that if Jesus told the truth about His resurrection, if He kept His word regarding something as powerful as that, then there is a ripple effect that takes place that requires us to take Him at His word on all that He says.

Unlike other philosophies and religions, Christianity is much more than a blind, leap of faith in a dead founder and questionable religious writings.  During His ministry here on earth, Jesus affirmed a particular group of writings, now contained in the Bible, as being divinely inspired and true.   His life, death and resurrection set Him and His word apart from all other religions and religious writings in the world. Christians have been called simpletons, gullible and unsophisticated for their belief in the truthfulness and authority of Scripture.  But, this is simply not the case.  Christians place their faith in the Divine, living Savior and accept His words as faithful and true because He has proven Himself to be both Faithful and True.

The Bible is Truth

Are there hard sayings in the Bible that might be somewhat difficult for us to accept or understand? Of course there are. The Bible talks about the “offense” of the Cross and the “foolishness” of the Gospel to unregenerate hearts. But, we can be grateful for these hard sayings that cut through the tendency of our hearts toward idolatry, self-deception and superficial ideas related to heaven, hell, evil, sin, injustice, reality, eternity, love and life in general. A world-view that is Gospel and Scripture saturated is the only world-view that can adequately and sufficiently deal with the reality that humanity faces. The Bible is the only book that reveals God’s plan to rescue sinful humanity and reconcile them to Himself through Jesus.  The Bible is the only book endorsed by the One who lived a sinless life, died, and rose to life again from the dead.  The Bible, all 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, plunges to the depths of human experience, both good and evil, and finds it’s culmination and validation in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  It is truth.

The Difference Between Christianity and Other Religions from Parchment and Pen

Originally posted HERE at Parchment and Pen

Simple and to the point, an excellent illustration of the difference between Christianity and other religions…PS.

Carl F.H. Henry: The Awesome Silences of Eternity from Kevin DeYoung’s Blog

Found this very interesting article HERE at Pastor Kevin DeYoung’s blog, PS.

Carl F.H. Henry: The Awesome Silences of Eternity

Carl F.H. Henry (1913-2003) was neo-evangelicalism’s earliest theologian. He was also the first editor-in-chief at Christianity Today. It’s a shame that his magnum opus, God, Revelation and Authority, is not more widely read. It is a dense and somewhat dated, but the theology still speaks forcefully and relevantly in many places.

This is one of those places:

God’s most awesome silence in eternity will be his silence toward the lost, a punitive and retributive silence reserved for the wicked who are not on speaking terms with him. There are scholars who consider the eternal punishment of the wicked to be inconsistent with the nature of God. These critics tend to subordinate to divine love all the biblical passages about God’s wrath, and ignore the fact that Jesus said even more about the pangs of hell than about the bliss of heaven, and moreover makes their duration coextensive and unending.

Millar Burrows is right in the verdict that “no basis” exists in Jesus’ recorded sayings for the universalist notion that all humans will finally be saved: “So far as the evidence indicates, he thought of the punishment of the wicked as eternal” (An Outline of Biblical Theology, p. 211). Hell involves not only the continuance of the sinner’s present condition of unhappiness, but also grievous punishment and irreversible exclusion from God’s presence. Jesus did not hesitate to quote Isaiah 66:24, which implies eternal punishment in the flesh, and to use such characterizations as “out darkness” and “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Hell resounds with weeping and wailing: there it is not the sinner but rather God who is silent.

The New Testament has no doctrine of a “second chance”; its emphasis is rather that “everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God” (Heb. 9:27, TEV) or, as Phillips words the text, “it is appointed for all men to die once, and after that pass to their judgment.” Nor does the New Testament anywhere condone the notion that the wicked will not survive this life into an afterlife. Such an end would mercifully terminate their existence, would spare them conscious separation from God and the punishment of the ungodly of which the Bible insistently speaks.

A fundamental Christian doctrine is that all departed souls will at the second coming of Christ be restored to bodily life; the redeemed will enter upon the life of heaven, the unredeemed will be excluded from it. The punishment of the wicked who in this life rejected the divine invitation to redemption will include conscious awareness of having spurned Christ’s agony and death in their behalf. (Volume IV, 596-97)

One can hope that when Christianity Today, the magazine Henry helped start, reviews Rob Bell’s new book, it sounds something like this.

Spurgeon on Separation from False Teachers

Originally posted HERE at Apprising Ministries

By Ken Silva pastor-teacher on Mar 3, 2011 in Quotes

“For Christians to be linked in association with ministers who do not preach the gospel of Christ is to incur moral guilt. A union which can continue irrespective of whether its member churches belong to a common faith is not fulfilling any scriptural function. The preservation of a denominational association when it is powerless to discipline heretics cannot be justified on the grounds of the preservation of ‘Christian unity.’ It is error which breaks the unity of churches, and to remain in a denominational alignment which condones error is to support schism.”

The Forgotten Spurgeon, Murray, 164-165.

One thing is clear to us, we cannot be expected to meet in any union which comprehends those whose teachings on fundamental points is exactly the reverse of that which we hold dear. Cost what it may, to separate ourselves from those who separate themselves from the truth of God is not alone our liberty but our duty.”

The Sword and Trowel.

“Separation from such as connive at fundamental error, or withhold the ‘Bread of life’ from perishing souls, is not schism, but only what truth, and conscience, and God require of all who would be found faithful.”

The Sword and Trowel, 127.

A Dreary Task, A Terrible Truth by Charles Spurgeon

Thank God for men like Charles Spurgeon who throughout the history have truly cared more for mens souls than for their own popularity.  May God give us more men like this today and silence false prophets who offer “superficial treatments” for humanity’s mortal wound…PS.

Originally posted HERE at Pyromaniacs blog

Jeremiah 6:13“From the least to the greatest, their lives are ruled by greed. From prophets to priests, they are all frauds. 14They offer superficial treatments for my people’s mortal wound. They give assurances of peace when there is no peace.

A Dreary Task; A Terrible Truth

Your weekly dose of Spurgeon
posted by Frank Turk

The PyroManiacs devote some space each weekend to highlights from The Spurgeon Archive. The following excerpt is from “Heaven and Hell,” a sermon on Matthew 8:11-12 delivered on Tuesday evening, 4 Sept 1855 atKing Edward’s Road, Hackney.

The second part of my text is heart-breaking. I could preach with great delight to myself from the first part; but here is a dreary task to my soul, because there are gloomy words here. But, as I have told you, what is written in the Bible must be preached, whether it be gloomy or cheerful. There are some ministers who never mention anything about hell. I heard of a minister who once said to his congregation, “If you do not love the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be sent to that place which it is not polite to mention.” He ought not to have been allowed to preach again, I am sure, if he could not use plain words. Now, if I saw that house on fire over there, do you think I would stand and say, “I believe the operation of combustion is proceeding yonder?” No; I would call out, “Fire! fire! and then everybody would know what I meant. So, if the Bible says, “The children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness,” am I to stand here and mince the matter at all? God forbid! We must speak the truth as it is written. It is a terrible truth, for it says, “the children of the kingdom shall be cast out!” Now, who are those children? I will tell you. “The children of the kingdom” are those people who are noted for the externals of piety, but who have nothing of the internals of it. People whom you will see with their Bibles and Hymn Books marching off to chapel as religiously as possible, or going to church as devoutly and demurely as they can, looking as sombre and serious as parish beadles, and fancying that they are quite sure to be saved, though their hearts are not in the matter; nothing but their bodies. These are the persons who are “the children of the kingdom.” They have no grace, no life, no Christ, and they shall be cast into outer darkness.

… First, notice, they are to be cast out. They are not said to go; but, when they come to heaven’s gates, they are to be cast out. As soon as hypocrites arrive at the gates of heaven, Justice will say, “There he comes! there he comes! He spurned a father’s prayers, and mocked a mother’s tears. He has forced his way downward against all the advantages mercy has supplied. And now, there he comes. “Gabriel, take the man.” The angel, binding you hand and foot, holds you one single moment over the mouth of the chasm. He bids you look down—down—down. There is no bottom; and you hear coming up from the abyss, sullen moans, and hollow groans, and screams of tortured ghosts. You quiver, your bones melt like wax, and your marrow quakes within you. Where is now thy might? and where thy boasting and bragging? Ye shriek and cry, ye beg for mercy; but the angel, with one tremendous grasp, seizes you fast, and then hurls you down, with the cry, “Away, away!” And down you go to the pit that is bottomless, and roll for ever downward—downward—downward—ne’er to find a resting-place for the soles of your feet. Ye shall be cast out.

And where are you to be cast to? Ye are to be cast “into outer darkness;” ye are to be put in the place where there will be no hope. For, by “light,” in Scripture, we understand “hope;” and you are to be put “into outer darkness,” where there is no light—no hope. Is there a man here who has no hope? I cannot suppose such a person. One of you, perhaps, says, “I am thirty pounds in debt, and shall be sold up by-and-by; but I have a hope that I may get a loan, and so escape my difficulty.” Says another, “My business is ruined, but things may take a turn yet—I have a hope.” Says another, “I am in great distress, but I hope that God will provide for me.” Another says, “I am fifty pounds in debt; I am sorry for it; but I will set these strong hands to work, and do my best to get out of it.” One of you thinks a friend is dying, but you have a hope that, perhaps, the fever may take a turn—that he may yet live. But, in hell, there is no hope. They have not even the hope of dying—the hope of being annihilated. They are for ever—for ever—for ever—lost! On every chain in hell, there is written “for ever.” In the fires, there blaze out the words, “for ever.” Up above their heads, they read “for ever.” Their eyes are galled, and their hearts are pained with the thought that it is “for ever.” Oh! if I could tell you to-night that hell would one day be burned out, and that those who were lost might be saved, there would be a jubilee in hell at the very thought of it. But it cannot be—it is “for ever” they are “cast into utter darkness.”

But I want to get over this as quickly as I can; for who can bear to talk thus to his fellow-creatures? What is it that the lost are doing? They are “weeping and gnashing their teeth.” Do you gnash you teeth now? You would not do it except you were in pain and agony. Well, in hell there is always gnashing of teeth. And do you know why? There is one gnashing his teeth at his companion, and mutters, “I was led into hell by you; you led me astray, you taught me to drink the first time.” And the other gnashes his teeth and says, “What if I did? You made me worse than I should have been in after times.” There is a child who looks at her mother, and says, “Mother, you trained me up to vice.” And the mother gnashes her teeth again at the child, and says, “I have no pity for you, for you excelled me in it, and led me into deeper sin.” Fathers gnash their teeth at their sons, and sons at their fathers. And, methinks, if there are any who will have to gnash their teeth more than others, it will be seducers, when they see those whom they have led from the paths of virtue, and hear them saying, “Ah! we are glad you are in hell with us, you deserve it, for you led us here.” Have any of you, to-night, upon your consciences the fact that you have led others to the pit? O, may sovereign grace forgive you. “We have gone astray like lost sheep,” said David. Now a lost sheep never goes astray alone, if it is one of a flock. I lately read of a sheep that leaped over the parapet of a bridge, and was followed by every one of the flock. So, if one man goes astray, he leads others with him. Some of you will have to account for others’ sins when you get to hell, as well as your own. Oh, what “weeping and gnashing of teeth” there will be in that pit!

Now shut the black book. Who wants to say any more about it? I have warned you solemnly. I have told you of the wrath to come. The evening darkens, and the sun is setting. Ah! and the evenings darken with some of you. I can see gray-headed men here. Are your gray hairs a crown of glory, or a fool’s cap to you? Are you on the very verge of heaven, or are you tottering on the brink of your grave, and sinking down to perdition?

Universalism as a Lure? The Emerging Case of Rob Bell by Albert Mohler

Jude 1:3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Albert Mohler weighs in on the topic of universalism and its threat to the purity of the Gospel.  Hopefully, all of this controversy will challenge those of us who care about truth and believe in the Gospel and the authority of Scripture to shake the dust off our Bibles and work to know what we believe and “contend” to defend it.  PS.

Universalism as a Lure? The Emerging Case of Rob Bell

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

As is so often the case, most of us first learned of Rob Bell’s new book by means of Justin Taylor and his blog, “Between Two Worlds,” at the Gospel Coalition. Justin reminds me of the steady folks at the National Hurricane Center. He is able to advise of looming disaster with amazing calmness. That is why I took special notice of Justin’s stern warning: “It is unspeakably sad when those called to be ministers of the Word distort the gospel and deceive the people of God with false doctrine.”

Why would Justin feel the need to issue such a warning? He was writing about Rob Bell’s forthcoming book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, due to be released on March 29 by HarperCollins.

The publisher’s statement about the book is clearly intended to provoke controversy:

Fans flock to his Facebook page, his NOOMA videos have been viewed by millions, and his Sunday sermons are attended by 10,000 parishioners—with a downloadable podcast reaching 50,000 more. An electrifying, unconventional pastor whom Time magazine calls “a singular rock star in the church world,” Rob Bell is the most vibrant, central religious leader of the millennial generation. Now, in Love Wins: Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, Bell addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—the afterlife—arguing that a loving God would never sentence human souls to eternal suffering. With searing insight, Bell puts hell on trial, and his message is decidedly optimistic—eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts right now. And ultimately, Love Wins.

Now, Rob Bell and others within the Emerging Church movement represent what can only be described as a new form of cultural Christianity. Bell plays with theology the way a cat plays with a mouse. His sermons, videos, books, and public relations are often more suggestive and subversive than clear. They are also artistically and aesthetically superior to most of what is to be found in the video section of your local Christian bookstore or on the Web.

Time is running out on the Emerging folks. They can play the game of suggestion for only so long. Eventually, the hard questions will be answered. Tragically, when the answers do come, as with the case of Brian McLaren, they appear as nothing more than a mildly updated form of Protestant liberalism.

The publicity surrounding Bell’s new book indicates that he is ready to answer one of the hardest questions — the question of the exclusivity of the Gospel of Christ. With that question come the related questions of heaven, hell, judgment, and the fate of the unregenerate. The Bible answers these questions clearly enough, but few issues are as hard to reconcile with the modern or postmodern mind than this. Of course, it was hard to reconcile with the ancient mind as well. The singularity of the person and work of Christ and the necessity of personal faith in him for salvation run counter to the pluralistic bent of the human mind, but this is nothing less than the wisdom of God and the power of God unto salvation.

Universalism and the various inclusivisms are exactly what Justin Taylor suggests — distortions of the Gospel that deceive the people of God (and non-Christians as well).

But what if all this is just clever advertising? What if Rob Bell’s book turns out to be an affirmation of the truth? Did Justin jump the gun?

There is good reason to doubt this. The most powerful argument about the book comes in the form of a video offered by Rob Bell himself. In the video, he pulls no punches. In his clever and artistic way, ever so artfully presented, he affirms what can only be described as universalism.

We must await the release of the full book in order to know what Rob Bell is really saying, but his advance promotion for the book is already saying something, and it is not good. The material he has already put forth does demand and deserve attention.

The Emerging Church movement is known for its slick and sophisticated presentation. It wears irony and condescension as normal attire. Regardless of how Rob Bell’s book turns out, its promotion is the sad equivalent of a theological striptease.

The Gospel is too precious and important to be commodified in this manner. The questions he asks are too important to leave so tantalizingly unanswered. Universalism is a heresy, not a lure to use in order to sell books. This much we know, almost a month before the book is to be released.

Dealing with Doctrinal Issues from Kevin DeYoung

Some fantastic thoughts on dealing with doctrinal issues in the church from Pastor Kevin DeYoung…PS

Originally posted HERE

Two Thoughts on the Rob Bell Brouhaha

Well, my ruminations got the best of me. I think there is something more to say about the Rob Bell brouhaha. Yes, even before the book comes out.

Actually two somethings. Consider this an effort to clear the underbrush so we might see the forest and trees.

Good Verse, Wrong Time

One, it needs to be stated again that this is not a Matthew 18 issue. No one is obligated to respond in private to a promotional video that has been put out in public. Jesus said, “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone” (Matt. 18:15). Rob Bell has not sinned against Justin Taylor or John Piper. This is not a personal offense or an interpersonal squabble that should have been left in private. The general rule of thumb, supported by Matthew 18 and sanctified common sense, is we should not make a matter more public than it has to be. But by definition, YouTube videos and Vimeo clips and books and blogs are meant to be public. That’s the whole point. The Love Wins trailer was not a private email correspondence intercepted by the Reformed Gestapo. It was deliberately made public and can be commented on in public.

Look at how the apostles handled false teaching in the New Testament. There’s nothing to suggest Paul sat down to talk with Demas (2 Tim. 4:20), Jannes and Jambres (2 Tim. 3:8), Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Tim. 3:17), or Hymenaeus and Alexander (1 Tim. 1:20). And even when Paul opposed Peter “to his face” he made a point to do it “before them all” (Gal. 2:11, 14). No one is required to talk to me before they criticize my books, and no one was required to call up Rob Bell before commenting on his Love Wins video.

Not Might, But Did

Two, the bigger complaint is that Justin Taylor or I or any number of bloggers and tweeters have completely jumped the gun in criticizing Bell for a yet to be released book. This would be a fair critique had we attempted to write a book review for a book we hadn’t read. But our deep dismay and the reason for issuing an urgent warning is not based on what he might say in the book. It’s based on what he did say in the video.

Here’s what Bell says after the story about Gandhi and the piece of art:

Will only a few select people make it to heaven? And will billions and billions of people burn forever in hell? And if that’s the case, how do you become one of the few? Is it what you believe or what you say or what you do or who you know or something that happens in your heart? Or do you need to be initiated or take a class or converted or being born again? How does one become one of these few?

Then there is the question behind the questions. The real question [is], “What is God like?”, because millions and millions of people were taught that the primary message, the center of the gospel of Jesus, is that God is going to send you to hell unless you believe in Jesus. And so what gets subtly sort of caught and taught is that Jesus rescues you from God. But what kind of God is that, that we would need to be rescued from this God? How could that God ever be good? How could that God ever be trusted? And how could that ever be good news?

This is why lots of people want nothing to do with the Christian faith. They see it as an endless list of absurdities and inconsistencies and they say, why would I ever want to be a part of that? See what we believe about heaven and hell is incredibly important because it exposes what we believe about who God is and what God is like. What you discover in the Bible is so surprising, unexpected, beautiful, that whatever we have been told and been taught, the good news is actually better than that, better than we could ever imagine.

The good news is that love wins.

This is not back cover copy from the publisher. This is not a promo blurb written by an intern at HarperCollins. This not what Brian McLaren gave for an endorsement. This is what Rob Bell said.

And he is saying something. Don’t think for a second the questions don’t communicate something. These are not “let’s explore together and see what the Bible says about these hard issues” kind of questions. Everyone agrees Bell is a remarkable communicator. He is not unaware of the effect of these three minutes. Words mean something and words do something. Whether the sentences end in question marks or not, the force of these sentences is to undermine—nay, to ridicule—the reality of eternal conscious punishment, the wrath of the God, and penal substitutionary atonement.

Imagine I do a video like this:

Will God save everyone? Does everyone go to heaven no matter how bad they were and no matter what they believed? Is Hitler there next to Bonhoeffer enjoying the same eternal bliss? What kind of God would that be? How would we make sense of Jesus’ strong language about hell or the chilling scenes in Revelation? Would that God still be holy and just?

And what would that do to our understanding of the gospel? Would Jesus’ death still be necessary? Would faith in him really be that important? Why would we still send out missionaries and evangelists? What would be so good about the good news if, in the end, there is no bad news? And if there is no hell, or we can’t really be sure anyone is there, why have almost all Christians in all of history believed there was such a place of eternal suffering? Have we found something that historic orthodoxy has missed all these centuries?

What if the things you’ve heard recently are not the truth about Christianity? What if the warnings in Scripture are real warnings? What if God is purer than we thought, we’re worse than we imagined, and hell is as real as the nose on your face? What if the “only way” means the only way? What if God is glorified in salvation and judgment? What if the God of love and the Father of mercies is also a righteous Judge, a holy Sovereign, and a conquering King?

Nothing but questions. Not a single indicative proposition. Yet who could think for a moment that I am not teaching something? This is not mere provocation. It is not an expression of searching inquiry or humble wrestling. My questions pack a rhetorical punch. They tell you what I think is foolish and what is wise. They suggest that some beliefs are noble and others are not. They tell you what God is like and what you should believe about him. My questions teach. And only a teacher with stunning naivete or remarkable cowardice would suggest they didn’t.

Please note, that last sentence is not about Bell. He has not stepped back from the questions saying they were only questions (maybe he does in the book, I don’t know). But some folks claim that the video cannot be critiqued because he’s only asking questions. Maybe he’s just trying to sell books? Maybe he’s just messing with us and in the book he will sound much more orthodox?

As to the former question, it doesn’t matter if it’s meant to be promotional, devotional, or confrontational, the fact is he’s teaching. And false teaching of this depth and breadth needs to be addressed. This is not a conflict of personalities or an intramural turf war. This is about the gospel–what it means, what it accomplished, and what’s at stake if we do not believe its good news.

I know many young evangelicals barely have any stomach for controversy, let alone strong words about a serious topic. But if there is no way to be simultaneously bold and humble; if there is no way to be a gentle, caring person while still speaking in clear tones about hurtful error; if there is no way to correct those who oppose sound doctrine without being a moral monster; if there’s no way to love truth and grace at the same time, then there’s no way to be a biblical Christian. Judgmentalism is a sin and Calvinists can be jerks. But not every judgment is sinful and not every truth is cruel just because Reformed people teach it.

And as to the latter question, if Bell ends up espousing a traditional view of hell, the wrath of God, and penal substitution, that would mean McLaren’s blurb was misleading, the publisher’s description was misleading, and Bell’s video was misleading. Love Wins can be the second coming of Jonathan Edwards and it still doesn’t change that what was communicated in the video was untrue to the Scriptures, inconsistent with historic orthodoxy, belittling of the cross, deceiving to unbelievers, and a tragic distortion of God’s character.

Chasing After the Wind, But Maybe Not

I realize this post will not make universalists, inclusivists, and non-Christians change their minds. But perhaps there are some Rob Bell fans who have enjoyed the Noomas and learned from the books and you aren’t quite sure what the fuss is all about. Why is everyone ragging on your favorite preacher? My exhortation is to watch the video again. Read through the words and see if they line up with the hymns you sing. See if the questions sound right next to Isaiah 53, John 3, and Revelation 20-22. Look into Gandhi’s Hinduism and see if that seems compatible with Christianity. Explore the giants of church history (e.g., Augustine, Luther, Calvin) and see what mainstream Christians have believed through the centuries. Read through some of the confessions or catechisms you may have grown up. Above all, search the Scriptures and see what God says. You may just conclude your old Sunday school teachers knew a thing or two.

Rob Bell is right about one thing: what you believe about heaven and hell says a lot about what you believe about God. That’s why theological error of this magnitude cannot go unchecked. The God of the Vimeo clip is not a God of wrath, not a God of eternal recompense, not a God who showed us love in sending his Son to be a propitiation for our wretched sins, not a God whose will it was to crush the Suffering Servant in an exercise of divine justice and free grace. Indeed, says Bell—even if he says it with a question—such a God could not be good.

We don’t have to guess if Bell will say something dreadfully, horribly, disgracefully wrong.

He already has.

What is the Gospel? By R.C. Sproul

To continue the theme of “what exactly is the Gospel?” here’s a helpful article by pastor R.C. Sproul.  ~PS.

Originally Posted HERE

What Is the Gospel?

by R.C. Sproul

There is no greater message to be heard than that which we call the Gospel. But as important as that is, it is often given to massive distortions or over simplifications. People think they’re preaching the Gospel to you when they tell you, ‘you can have a purpose to your life’, or that ‘you can have meaning to your life’, or that ‘you can have a personal relationship with Jesus.’ All of those things are true, and they’re all important, but they don’t get to the heart of the Gospel.

The Gospel is called the ‘good news’ because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I’m not. And at the end of my life, I’m going to stand before a just and holy God, and I’ll be judged. And I’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness – or lack of it – or the righteousness of another. The good news of the Gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God.

The great misconception in our day is this: that God isn’t concerned to protect His own integrity. He’s a kind of wishy-washy deity, who just waves a wand of forgiveness over everybody. No. For God to forgive you is a very costly matter. It cost the sacrifice of His own Son. So valuable was that sacrifice that God pronounced it valuable by raising Him from the dead – so that Christ died for us, He was raised for our justification. So the Gospel is something objective. It is the message of who Jesus is and what He did. And it also has a subjective dimension. How are the benefits of Jesus subjectively appropriated to us? How do I get it? The Bible makes it clear that we are justified not by our works, not by our efforts, not by our deeds, but by faith – and by faith alone. The only way you can receive the benefit of Christ’s life and death is by putting your trust in Him – and in Him alone. You do that, you’re declared just by God, you’re adopted into His family, you’re forgiven of all of your sins, and you have begun your pilgrimage for eternity.

What is the Gospel? Some help from D.M. Lloyd Jones

Galatians 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

The Apostle Paul was adamant about maintaining the purity of the Gospel, even to the point of proclaiming those who preached a different “anathema,” or cursed and cut off from God.  Recent news has shown that there is a major lack of discernment and understanding of the Biblical Gospel.  I’ll be posting a few small articles over the next couple of days to help remind us of what the Bible says is the Gospel message that is not to be toyed with by men or angels.  ~PS.

We must have the full message. . . ‘deliver the whole counsel of God’. . . . It starts with the Law. The Law of God … the demands of a righteous God, the wrath of God. That is the way to bring men and women to conviction; not by modifying the Truth…. We must confront them with the fact that they are men and that they are fallible men, that they are dying men, that they are sinful men, and that they will all have to stand before God at the Bar of Eternal Judgement….And then we must present to them the full-orbed doctrine of the Grace of God in Salvation in Jesus Christ. We must show that no man is saved ‘by the deeds of the Law’, by his own goodness or righteousness, or church membership or anything else, but solely, utterly, entirely by the free gift of God in Jesus Christ His Son. . . . We must preach the full-orbed doctrine leaving nothing out-conviction of sin, the reality of Judgement and Hell, free grace, justification, sanctification, glorification. We must also show that there is a world view in the Bible … that here alone you can understand history-past history, present history, future history. Let us show this great world view, and God’s Eternal purpose…. Let us at the same time be very careful that we are giving it to the whole man … the gospel is not only for a man’s heart, that you start with his head and present Truth to it … Let us show that it is a great message given by God which we in turn pass on to the mind, to the heart, to the will. There is ever this danger of leaving out some part or other of man’s personality… Let us be certain that we address the whole man-his mind, his emotions and his will.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones The Weapons of our Warfare pg. 21-22

This article is not for P.C. Weenies…”Rob Bell’s no servant of God; he’s a peddler of postures hip and kool…”

Wow, a very bold post from the Bayly Brothers blog about the recent Rob Bell controversy.  I especially love the warnings given in the last couple of paragraphs and concur with a heartfelt “AMEN!” God helps us, we really do need true Shepherds who care more about people’s souls than being “cool”… ~PS

Rob Bell’s no servant of God; he’s a peddler of postures hip and kool…

Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:43,44).

(Jesus said) “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:42-44).

(Jesus said) “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

(Tim) We’ve warned against Rob Bell before here and here. That second link is a post titled, “Just one more savage wolf…” alluding to this warning to the Ephesian elders by the Apostle Paul:

Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. (Acts 20:28-31)

If possible, that savage wolf, Rob Bell, becomes bolder in his wickedness. Watch this video:

NOTE: I’ve completely changed this post since first publishing it. Originally, this video was posted here on Baylyblog with a link to a post by Justin Taylor dealing with the video and Bell’s forthcoming book. I wrote here taking Taylor to task for hemming and hawing in his warnings about Bell. I said Taylor should have been forthright and sounded a clear note from his bugle.

Sadly, since then Taylor pulled the text of 2Cor. 11:14,15 from his post:

No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:14,15).

Taylor also pulled the sentence of his post that I’d objected to that began, “It seems to me….”

Sadly, he didn’t pull the sentence in order to be more forthright! Rather he pulled it because of people’s opposition to his condemnation of Bell; and now with these changes, Taylor appears more earnest and gentle and hesitant and mincing. Addressing a false shepherd, he appears as the opposite of the Apostle Paul or the Apostle Peter or the Apostle John or John the Baptist or Jude or Calvin or Luther or Knox or Jesus.

We live in an evil day when clothing, eyeglasses, tunes, images, and body posture are our theology and doctrinal debate is nonexistent. Truth isn’t clear and known and embraced–it shimmers and is felt. So my warning to souls reading this blog today is to flee from Rob Bell. But also flee all those who can’t bring themselves ever to see an enemy of God and to blow a clear note on their horn against him, nor to use their disciplinary rod and staff to pull their sheep back from danger–in this case, the wolf’s depredations.

Flee any shepherd who’s hip. That’s what he’s selling and you don’t want it. It’s the terminal disease of postmoderns. You and your wife and children need a pastor who’s earnest, zealous, hard-edged, bold, and doctrinally Biblical–everything pomos hate.

You need a man who loves his sheep.