Those Who Won't Inherit the Kingdom of God

 

Every once in a while, there are those in the secular media (as well as religious statisticians) who conduct polls about religious beliefs. The most common question asked is "do you believe in Heaven?"....and even occasionally they will ask "do you believe in Hell?" As you might guess, almost everyone in the world has some belief in at least a concept of heaven (the details may vary according to the belief system, but almost all incorporate some sort of idea of a Paradise or Heaven). Recently, the media giant ABC and veteran news anchor Barbara Walters hosted a show/documentary about the topic of Heaven. The results were not surprising. Almost all of the different faiths represented held to some belief about an eternal bliss that awaited the faithful. The only ones who held no belief in Heaven were the agnostics (who subsequently also held no concept of hell either). Although atheists and agnostics are often able to influence policy and procedure (just consider the removal of prayer from schools, efforts to remove God from the Pledge of Allegiance, efforts to remove "in God we trust" from our money, et.al)-they actually represent a small minority of the mainstream. It also serves to bolster the argument posited many years ago, that all that needs to happen for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

But the subject of my article today, has little to do with the world in general. Statistics show that even non-Christians believe that they will go to Heaven when they die. Even those who actually believe that there is a literal hell (and the number is actually a good bit smaller than those who believe in heaven) have absolutely no belief that they could end up there (oh how I wish that were true). My article today will deal strictly with the Church and those who claim to be students of the bible. Even among seminary professors and mainline denominations, there are those who doubt the existance of a literal hell. Many have embraced the idea of annihilationism (the idea that a person merely ceases to exist rather than existing in a state of torment) and it has gained some real momentum within the ranks of Christendom. You might think, that I'm going to be writing a treatise about the topic of "hell" today...but I'm going to narrow the focus even a bit further....

Today, I want to talk to you about one of the most popular myths in the Christian church today. It is not a new idea, although many of its adherents believe themselves to be more enlightened than the rest of us. The myth goes by many names- some call it unconditional eternal security- for others it goes by the popular slogan "once saved-always saved." The idea is popular (and I can certainly understand the appeal of such an idea) and there are many "scholars" who teach it not as theory but as fact. Some have even gone so far as to say that those who oppose the doctrine have rejected the gospel itself! The proponents of this myth fill the airwaves and all the media outlets. They author books, teach in seminaries, and pastor large churches. They have crafted intelligent arguments and rebuttals to the difficult passages of scripture, so that they can quickly dismiss or explain away those that seem to contradict said position.

Although I could try my best to construct clever arguments, build strawmen scenarios so that I could easily blow them down and appear to be intellectually superior- I'm not going to do that today. Instead, I'm going to post a few passages of scripture and let them stand on their own (with as little commentary from me as possible). Regardless of what the polls of secular media outlets reveal, let us see from God's holy Word those who will be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven.

Many today like to debate the passages above and attempt to make them describe those who are unbelievers (making professing Christians exempt from the warning passages). Again, while I certainly understand the appeal of such exegesis- I find it to be faulty. For one, I see no exception/exemption clauses. If this were to be the case, then we would see something like "and they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God......unless they're professing Christians of course...in which case, they will barely make it in and probably lose their reward." I realize that seems like a very frivolous way to treat the scriptures, but that is exactly what those who hold to such doctrines must do in order to justify them. Paul does not give exemption clauses- he merely says that "they which do such things" (whoever "they" are...regardless of profession or church membership) shall not inherit the Kingdom of God. I think it's noteworthy that in both the passage in Corinthians and Ephesians, Paul belabors the point "let no man deceive you" and "be not deceived." Obviously he knew that this doctrine had infiltrated the ranks of Christendom and would continue to do so (I Tim 4:1). He knew that there would be a strong element of deception that would seek to pervert his doctrine of grace. The true grace of God teaches us to live rightously and godly (Titus 2:12), not to live as if we had a license to sin (Romans 6:1,15 / Jude 4).

I continually encounter individuals who feel as if the warning passages of scripture have no application to them because they now have an exemption clause, because they have been born-again. This is a deception. Paul told Timothy that all scripture (yes, even that which does not agree with our pet doctrines) is profitable for doctrine, reproof, and correction ( II Timothy 3:16). The bible deals with where you and I are today. There is no security for the individual who once followed God, but now has no faith in Him. While the "theologians" wrest and distort the truth, the warnings of scripture still stand for all who read. There is a common belief that the only thing that will send a person to hell is the sin of unbelief. While it is true that the sin of unbelief is particularly heinous (for without faith it is impossible to please Him), it is not the only thing that can exclude one from the Kingdom of God. The scriptures I've listed above should be ample evidence, but if not- I think there is a passage in Revelation that illustrates the point even more concisely.

I apologize if I'm making this sound too elementary (I realize that there are some highly intelligent individuals who read my work- definitely a humbling thought for a commoner like myself), but if unbelief were the only sin that would exclude one from the Kingdom, there would be no need for the Lord to further delineate sinful behaviors that would characterize those who do not make it in. I suppose that the debates about whether people are "once-saved, always saved", eternally secure, never-really-saved-to-begin with, or not one of the elect, will continue to rage on. It's interesting to me that the modern fascination with the classification of these individuals does not seem to be shared with Paul. Rather than identifying all of these different classes of people and handing out exceptions to the rule, he simply says "they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God." Call me a "simpleton" but it really doesn't seem like rocket science to me.

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Truth Ablaze-the online ministry of Liberty Worship Center
Wingate, NC