When the sinner sees the awful consequences of breaking the Law of God—that he cannot escape the certainty of judgment—he will see his need to put on the Lord Jesus Christ. When we preach future punishment by the Law, the sinner comes to Christ solely to flee from ‘the wrath to come.’ Charles Spurgeon
[Article updated, Feb. 2016]
The former founding pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI and a popular icon in the emergent church movement, Rob Bell grew his following in part by being a friend of the world. Bell often used suggestive questions rather than declarations to challenge traditional Christian doctrine and undermine the Bible’s authority.
In typical emergent fashion, Bell often creates more ambiguity instead of clarity, having no genuine commitment to absolute truth. So it’s no surprise to many of us that Bell came out in favor of homosexuality.
I am for marriage. I am for fidelity. I am for love, whether it’s a man and woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man. I think the ship has sailed and I think the church needs — I think this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are.
I’d say that’s a bit different than Jesus’ definition of marriage.
But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” Mark 10:6-9
God is patient with us, yes; but He is not tolerant of evil. Of course God loves every one of us to the point of sending His Son Jesus Christ to the cross to die in our place, but nowhere in Scripture does He tolerate sin – any sin. He’s holy, just, and perfect; and He takes punishment for sin seriously. Christ talked about the reality of Hell and God’s judgment often in order to warn people to repent.
Why am I updating an article from three years ago? Bell has a new book coming out called, How to Be Here: A Guide to Creating a Life Worth Living, and I was so disappointed to see an endorsement from Green Bay Packer’s quarterback, Aaron Rodgers on Bell’s Amazon book page:
“Listing all the ways in which Rob has positively impacted my life would take up too much space; so I’ll simply say that he has inspired me to live life with a deeper level of appreciation and to love people with a greater awareness of our connectivity.”
It’s sad because Rodgers was once a professing Christian and, being friends with someone like Bell, it’s hard to say what he believes today. We do know that his girlfriend, Hollywood actress Olivia Munn, bragged about their sex life, saying that as a rule they don’t have sex on a game day – before the game. However, she did say they have sex on occasion after the games. Munn admitted, “It depends on how late the game is …I try to have sex as much as I can.” Why is this important? Aaron is a role model for young people for millions of football fans. Christian kids that look up to him could easily justify having sex with their girlfriends because of Rodger’s Hollywood lifestyle.
Bell’s compromised, liberal theology of mass appeal is empty of the true gospel message and is dangerous, which is why I added a few important links below. His new book description reads more like a pep talk from Anthony Robbins, Oprah, or Joel Osteen than something based on Scripture that can help edify Christian readers in their faith.
Rob Bell wants to help us make those dreams become reality. Our path is ours and ours alone to pursue, he reminds us, and in doing so, we derive great joy because we are living our passions… Rob gives you the support and insight you need to silence your critics, move from idea to action, take the first step, find joy in the work, persevere through hard times, and surrender to the outcome.
You might recall back in 2011 when MSNBC’s Martin Bashir grilled Bell over his mushy position on Hell and eternal judgment. Even Bashir, a liberal cable TV host, referred to Bell’s teachings as unbiblical and historically unreliable. Bashir confronted Bell and said he was “amending the gospel so that it’s palatable,” and “much easier to swallow.”
It’s easy to see that Bell is giving our culture exactly what it wants: friendship with the world, and nothing too confrontational, convicting or absolute. In the Gospels, Jesus described hell as: a fiery furnace, outer darkness, a place of destruction, agony, torment, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. Bell, on the other hand claims:
“For Jesus, heaven and hell were present realities. Ways of living we can enter into here and now. He talked very little of the life beyond this one… No amount of clever marketing will attract people if we teach that ‘God will punish people for all of eternity.’
Because of sin, judgment must come. The Word of God leaves no doubt about the existence of hell and severity of it. God has provided everything we need to know about hell and how to avoid it through faith in the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. Bell is an example of the product of Protestant Liberalism that evolved back in the nineteenth century. When the message is watered-down, it can be confusing to the biblically illiterate.
This brings us to Universalism which teaches that all people will ultimately be saved no matter what they believe here on earth. You can live the way you want: sin, curse God or deny Christ and still make it into heaven. Some Universalists say their salvation is through the atonement of Jesus Christ while others think everybody will go to heaven eventually regardless of whether or not they have put their faith in Christ.
Apparently this universal redemption will be realized either during a person’s lifetime or after their death in some future state. Since there are many variations of Universalists, it’s not possible to place them all in one doctrinal category.
“What Jesus does is declare that he, and he alone, is saving everybody. And then he leaves the door way, way open.”
But, in Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus Christ said:
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Christian Universalism however, holds that all of mankind will ultimately be saved through Jesus, whether we place our faith in Him as the Son of God or not. This salvation is not from hell, but from sin, thus pretty much eliminating the truth about a future Judgment Day. As you can imagine, this is a very appealing teaching to young people, and an entire generation of evangelicals has already been poisoned with this unbiblical doctrine.
After all, who wouldn’t want to accept a God of love without having to hear about repentance, holiness, judgment and justice?
Some Universalists believe they will make it to heaven because a loving God would never create a place like hell. They think they will have to make up for their sins in some way – in heaven – and that they are disciplined and purified in this life for their sins. Most believe punishment for sin is moral, not physical since there is no eternal damnation. Christian Universalism boils down to the claim that any doctrine about a literal hell is wrong.
There are those who also split hairs over the essential doctrine of Christ’s physical resurrection, believing He was taken into heaven by God instead of actually rising from the dead and coming out of the tomb. Groups that deny the physical resurrection of Jesus are not Christian, nor are groups who deny the teaching of the Trinity.
One of the more dangerous Universalist beliefs is a type of reincarnation in which those who have rejected Christ get a second chance and can still come to faith in the next life. These teachings should be avoided, and it’s always best to test all things by the living Word of God.
Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. Jude 3-4
Rob Bell: Populating Hell – Good Fight Ministries
Bell and Christian Universalism
For more on the effects of the emergent church, counterfeit Christianity, and other false teachings on America, see chapters 12-13 in Eradicate: Blotting Out God in America
AMEN and AMEN! There is sooooo much of this in today’s Christiandom. We need more people like you refuting this absolute HERESY for the sake of our country before it’s too late! God bless you! Press on and keep spreading TRUTH!
Oops, sorry, I mean “Christendom.”
Well written and hard hitting Dave. The truth, not ambiguity, sets us free from sin and eternal punishment. We cannot imagine God into the image we desire–we accept His total and complete character and nature as true believers.
Rob is taking away the fear-stick you beat people with. I pray he succeeds.
Yes, i applaude you for speaking God’s truth and using it to correct errors of Mr. Bell. Christians should really come out and not allow God’s word to be twisted and perverted. Where there’s a carcass, there would vultures also be!
I will let my LORD Jesus speak for himself:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”
““Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ”
The New King James Version. 1982 (Mt 7:15, 21–23). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
The author of this article is completely missing the mark. Wait, is that sin? There is more scripture that says that “Jesus is the savior of the world” and that “the father wishes for everyone to repent” and it is the fathers will that non shall perish. The thing all the “educated” teachers forget is that ALL of the creation in ADAM will be totally destroyed with NO exceptions. Thus, everyone ALIVE today in a human body MUST die because of sin. It doesn’t matter if their sin is the one’s we love to point out like homosexuality or even if it’s gossip. You still MUST DIE! God must do this by law because you are disconnected from the life of Christ and that is the only thing that is life for us. God’s answer is Christ. He died for ALL THEREFORE ALL DIED! Paul said it, I didn’t. Everyone in the world has died IN CHRIST no matter whether they believe it or not. Paul also says that if we died then we will also be raised with him. God tells us that “In Adam all died and in Christ all will live” It doesn’t get any easier to understand than that. Why do we make it so complicated? The question you are REALLY stumbling over is “Does our God have the power to cause everyone to repent (change their mind about God in their own darkness of their mind) and accept and experience this amazing gift? I believe he does and if you get caught up in the old lie about man’s free will, you are allowing the enemy to blind you. God made all the possible choices we ever have in this life and he knows all possible outcomes for everyone that ever existed! Christ! Everything in heaven and on earth will be remade in Christ. Eventually, all possible choices and answers man has will end up with Christ. Even if the Lord has to “turn up the heat” so to speak after the 2nd resurrection. All will choose him and he HAS done it! It is finished. We need to get off our religious, self-righteous butts and stop excluding others because it makes us feel better. We simply have no say in the matter. It’s all God from start to Finish. Religious people simply don’t have a revelation of the finished work of Christ and they interpret many scriptures as something to do! It is so wrong… the work is done. Now, we just rest, trust him and walk in it.