Faith Fridays Double Feature: Concerning Going Home (Part 2)

Today it’s going to get a little darker in tone than the last Faith Friday. It’s because I want to talk to you about a very, very serious subject. The fact is that not everyone will get to call Heaven home. I want to warn you about a lie that is going around amongst us young people. There is a lie that we must use up our younger years to satisfy ourselves. We must be selfish with our time, they…

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Faith Fridays Double Feature: Concerning Going Home (Part 2)

Today it’s going to get a little darker in tone than the last Faith Friday. It’s because I want to talk to you about a very, very serious subject.

The fact is that not everyone will get to call Heaven home.

I want to warn you about a lie that is going around amongst us young people. There is a lie that we must use up our younger years to satisfy ourselves. We must be selfish with our time, they say, because we won’t have it again. But let me tell you something, and I’m going to speak as clearly as I can.

That. Is. Crap.

It is. It really is. And here’s why.

There is a thing known as the butterfly effect. It says that every decision you make has a profound implication later in the future. Say I crack my knuckles once. Well, that would make it easier for me to do it again. If I keep on doing it on a regular basis, I’m probably going to have arthritis when I get older. What that would mean for an artist like me is that I would have only a small area of time to do artwork like I love to do.

I’m telling you that we have a very small area of time to make big decisions here on Earth.

“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14)

I’m telling you that when the Bible says a vapor, it means that our life is freakishly short. We have around eighty years, and that’s supposing we don’t get into an accident first. You literally don’t know if you’ll be living tomorrow.

I’m not sure whether I’m intentionally scaring anyone or not. I put this up because I’m thinking about it a lot myself. I don’t want to be living my life with any regrets. And I have to ask – if I’m trying to not live it with regrets – what the point of it all is? Really, I only know one thing for sure, one mission:

 ^“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’ Amen.” (Matthe 28:16-20)

And what am I to teach them, except that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again, and that by believing in Him we can have ETERNAL LIFE? Should I not say that I know the way to eternal happiness? Why am I standing on the side of the road as I watch the rest of the human race about to be hit by a mac truck? And what makes it worse? That I haven’t done a thing about it. Even now I’m telling myself that I can’t do it, I can’t save everyone. And that’s right, I can’t. But why am I just sitting by while the seconds tick away? It’s kinda freaky to think about.

So I’m not saying to turn into a psychopath. But what I am saying is to think, honestly, about those who can’t say that Heaven is their real home. We don’t have forever, we just have a set of years.

Faith Fridays: Regarding the Unwitnessed.

Faith Fridays: Regarding the Unwitnessed

I’m starting out Faith Fridays with a big, big topic, one of the biggest in Christianity. And it’s about to get real heated. What is the eternal security of those who are never witnessed to? In simple terms, do people go to Hell if they’ve never heard the gospel? This seems like a simple issue, but not quite so much. There is a very clear commission in Acts: “Go into all the world and preach the…

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Faith Fridays: Regarding the Unwitnessed.

I’m starting out Faith Fridays with a big, big topic, one of the biggest in Christianity. And it’s about to get real heated.

What is the eternal security of those who are never witnessed to?
In simple terms, do people go to Hell if they’ve never heard the gospel?

This seems like a simple issue, but not quite so much. There is a very clear commission in Acts:

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Mark 16:15

Mix that with John 14:6 and it seems like a pretty solid end of discussion: people who don’t hear the gospel don’t know that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. That would seem to make all people who haven’t heard the gospel headed down under. And this is where it starts to get tricky with wording.

There are a few different views people take on this.

1. People who don’t get witnessed to don’t go to Heaven. End of story. This is based off the logic I showed above.
2. People who don’t get witnessed to may come to know Christ through visions, dreams or some supernatural understanding of the gospel. This is based off verses such as Romans 1:20. It may seem a little out-there, but there have been stories of this happening.
3. People who don’t get witnessed to can get saved anyway. They don’t even have to know about Christ. In fact, they’re already saved. They just don’t know it yet.
   This is a lesser taken stance.
4. People who don’t get witnessed to may get a second chance in the afterlife. This is based off 1 Peter 3:18-20, which seems to claim Christ did in fact witness to those in Hades after His death. It is a comforting thought indeed.

I personally believe in the second option. I do not completely disregard any but the third, but would dispute them, as I will.

The problem with the first option is that of Romans 1:20 and the very nature of God. If God says that His works are made clear by creation, He means it. This would mean that humans speeches are not the only means of communication. If human speeches are not the only means of communication, it more than likely means that someone has used these other means.

My problem with the third option is that of Romans 10:9-10, which states how to become saved. If this was not the only way, scripture would make it clear to us. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, just confess Him as Lord. We must accept Him, not just hope that the cross made everyone go to Heaven automatically. Besides, if those people who did not hear go automatically, what stops the rest of the world from going? Why tell people the gospel at all?

With the fourth option… I am actually not so sure of this being wrong. However, it is also based off of the idea that Christ went to Hell for the time that He was dead. However, the verses used to prove this, 1 Peter 3:8-9, could not, in my mind, mean that He actually went to Hades/Hell/Sheol. After all, He says to the criminal in Luke 23:42.43 that he would “be with Me today in paradise”. Is Jesus, then, a liar? May it never be! So although I haven’t figured it out completely myself, I cannot come to this conclusion.

What are your thoughts on the matter? As I will be in Canada at the time of this posting, I am unable to reply to comments until Sunday. But I would love to see some intellectual thought when I get back!