Friday, November 18, 2011

A Response to My Aunt

In our conversation, you said that God is too loving and forgiving to send anyone to Hell. But the Bible tells us that God did not spare the angels from Hell and He will not spare the lost either (2 Peter 2:4-22). The Bible tells us that we need a savior and when Jesus returns He will convict the guilty of their sin (John 16:8). God's word tells us that Jesus was sacrificed to save us from those sins (John 3:16). Save us from where? From the burning fires of Hell (Luke 16:23, Psalm 86:13, James 3:6, Matthew 25:46). 

You said we shouldn't tell others to worship "our" God but that is a false teaching. The truth is found in God's word. Deuteronomy 30:15 Today I'm giving you a choice. You can have life and success. Or you can have death and harm. 16 I'm commanding you today to love the Lord your God. I'm commanding you to live exactly as he wants you to live. You must obey his commands, rules and laws. Then you will live. Your numbers will increase. The Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to take as your own.
 17 Don't let your hearts turn away from the Lord. Instead, obey him. Don't let yourselves be drawn away to other gods. And don't bow down to them and worship them. 18 If you do, I announce to you this very day that you will certainly be destroyed. It says in Isaiah 45:23 and Romans 14:11 that every knee will bow and every tongue confess to GOD. That means Muslims, Buddhists, Satanists, Pagans, Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, Masons, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Taois, and everyone else that denies Jesus is God will go to Hell but on their way to Hell they will bow to the almighty God. Jesus said that He is the only way to Heaven; that means that those who do not chose Him cannot go to Heaven. We must warn people!

When we tell people that their sin has separated them from God, we are not judging them but informing them. To judge someone is to punish them for what they've done. To condemn is to punish them and treat them badly because of their sin; so, telling the Good News must include warning people of their sin but not punishing them for it. 
Have you ever told a lie? Yes. Then you are a liar. 
Have you ever looked at someone in lust? Yes. Then you have committed adultery in you heart.
Have you ever stolen? Yes. Then you are a thief.
Have you ever hated someone? Yes. Then you are a murderer.
There are 10 commandments plus a multitude of other commandments sprinkled throughout God's word proving to us that we are guilty sinners, separated from God and in need of a savior. We have to give people the opportunity to acknowledge their sin and their need of a savior from Hell. Even Mary acknowledge her delight in her savior (Luke 1:46). We have to be like Mary and admit we need a savior and rejoice in our salvation. But if we do not tell the Good News to others, then we are essentially robbing them from the joy of their salvation.

We were created to glorify God and telling the Good News is part of glorifying Him. But instead we glorify ourselves or someone else or something else. We have become lovers of ourselves (2 Timothy 3:2) and have forgotten to tell the next generation about their creator and why He created us. Why did He create us, to glorify Him (Isaiah 42:7). The world is plagued with people who do not worship the God that created them in His image (Genesis 1:26) but would rather make up a god in their image (Isaiah 29:16) because we think we know better than God, or they completely ignore (Psalm 14:1) or disregard Him entirely (Psalm 53:1-3). Many have forgotten about God (Isaiah 17:10) or whore after other gods (Hosea 1:2) but Jesus came to save us anyway, we just have to accept His gift of salvation, repent and turn from our sins (John 8:11). We are a corrupt people (Ecclesiastes 7:20) who need a savior. To fear God doesn't mean to be afraid of Him, it means to revere Him, to respect Him, to LOVE Him (Deuteronomy 6:5). But too many do not know that He demands our worship (Exodus 10:3-5). Look at what God did to the Pharaoh when he would not let God's people go free to worship Him. 

I am asking these questions and discussing this topic with many people, not just you, because our complacency and apathy toward the lost is a travesty of the Christian faith. If we do not preach we are disobeying God. Our disobedience will not only allow many to go to Hell but like the parable of the talents tells us (Matthew 25:14-30), if we do nothing for God's kingdom then our salvation will be taken from us. It is very important to study God's word so we know HIS truth and aren't fooled by falsehoods or our own wishful thinking. 

Look at what is happening to our world. God's prophecies are coming true before our eyes. We must not doubt His word or think of it as a fairytale. We have to believe the Good News and tell it to as many people as possible before it is too late.

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