Rob Bell and Universalism

UPDATE: Read Kevin DeYoung's review of the entire book here.

There is a firestorm brewing over Rob Bell's newest book: Love Wins. It is early in the conversation, but it appears that Bell has cast aside any doctrine that teaches that God is wrathful toward sinners at all. Justin Taylor, from The Gospel Coalition, has written on his blog here. There is also an interesting response to Bell's introductory video by Denny Burk here. I particularly liked Denny Burk's example as follows:

Bell: But how could that God [so wrathful that we must be saved from Him] ever be good? How could that God ever be trusted? And how could that ever be good news?

Answer: You are asking how can God be good if He sentences sinners to eternal damnation, but I think you have the question backwards. The real question is how can God be good if He doesn't send sinners to judgment. In other words, how can God be good while forgiving sinners? This is the question Paul wrestled with in Romans 3, and he concluded that God set forth His son Jesus as a propitiation for sin. That means that all of the wrath and anguish that would have taken us an eternity in hell to endure, God poured out on His Son in the moment of the cross. God is good because He settles our sin debt in the cross of Christ, our substitute. This is good news because God clears away guilt through the cross and offers eternal life through the resurrection of Jesus. Anyone who believes in Jesus in this way can have forgiveness and eternal life. This is more than good news; it's the best of news.

Bell: This is why lots of people want nothing to do with the Christian faith. They see it has an endless list of absurdities and inconsistencies, and they say, "Why would I ever want to be a part of that?"

Answer: Sin will always appear as a trifle to those whose view of God is small. If you were to discover a little boy pulling the legs off of a grasshopper, you would think it strange and perhaps a little bizarre. If the same little boy were pulling the legs off of a frog, that would be a bit more disturbing. If it were a bird, you would probably scold him and inform his parents. If it were a puppy, that would be too shocking to tolerate. You would intervene. If it were a baby, it would be so reprehensible and tragic that you would risk your own life to protect the baby. What's the difference in each of these scenarios? The sin is the same (pulling the limbs off). The only difference is the one sinned against (from a grasshopper to a baby). The more noble and valuable the creature, the more heinous and reprehensible the sin. And so it is with God.

If God were a grasshopper, then to sin against Him wouldn't be such a big deal and eternal punishment wouldn't be necessary. But God isn't a grasshopper, He's the most precious, valuable, beautiful being in the universe. His glory and worth are infinite and eternal. Thus to sin against an infinitely glorious being is an infinitely heinous offense that is worthy of an infinitely heinous punishment.

We don't take sin seriously because we don't take God seriously. We have so imbibed on the banality of our God-belittling spirit of the age that our sins hardly trouble us at all. Our sin seems small because we regard God as small. And thus the penalty of hell - eternal conscious suffering under the wrath of God - always seems like an overreaction on God's part. If we knew God better, we wouldn't think like that.

The Gospel in a Nutshell

D.A. Carson wrote this 25 years ago:

"God is the sovereign, transcendent and personal God who has made the universe, including us, his image-bearers. Our misery lies in our rebellion, our alienation from God, which, despite his forbearance, attracts his implacable wrath.

But God, precisely because love is of the very essence of his character, takes the initiative and prepared for the coming of his own Son by raising up a people who, by covenantal stipulations, temple worship, systems of sacrifice and of priesthood, by kings and by prophets, are taught something of what God is planning and what he expects.

In the fullness of time his Son comes and takes on human nature. He comes not, in the first instance, to judge but to save: he dies the death of his people, rises from the grave and, in returning to his heavenly Father, bequeaths the Holy Spirit as the down payment and guarantee of the ultimate gift he has secured for them - an eternity of bliss in the presence of God himself, in a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

The only alternative is to be shut out from the presence of this God forever, in the torments of hell. What men and women must do, before it is too late, is to repent and trust in Christ; the alternative is to disobey the gospel (Romans 10:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17)."

-D.A. Carson, "The Biblical Gospel" in For Such a Time as This: Perspectives on Evangelicalism, Past, Present, and Future, ed. Steve Brady and Harold Rowdon

To Be Visited of God

I saw this on a friend's status today:

"Whether God come to his children with a rod or a crown, if he come himself with it, it is well. Welcome, welcome, Jesus, what may soever thou come, if we can get a sight of thee; and sure I am, it is better to be sick, providing Christ come to the beside and draw the curtains, and say, 'Courage, I am thy salvation' than to enjoy health..., being lusty and strong and never need to be visited of God."
- Samuel Rutherford

Of Men and Women

Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary writes some humorous lines on men and women in his book, God on Sex:

Is it a cat? Is it a woman? Maybe it's both! Why?

1. They do what they want.
2. They rarely listen to you.
3. They're totally unpredictable.
4. They whine when they're not happy.
5. When you want to play, they want to be alone.
6. When you want to be alone, they want to play.
7. They expect you to cater to their every whim.
8. They're moody.
9. They can drive you nuts and cost you an arm and a leg.
10. They leave hair everywhere.

Conclusion: Cats are tiny little women in fur coats.

Is it a dog? Is it a man? Maybe it's both! Why?

1. They lie around all day, sprawled out on the most comfortable piece of furniture in the house.
2. They can hear a package of food opening half a block away, but they can't hear you even when you're in the same room.
3. They leave their toys everywhere.
4. They growl when they're not happy.
5. When you want to play, they want to play.
6. When you want to be left alone, they still want to play.
7. They are great at begging.
8. They will love you forever if you feed them and rub their tummies.
9. They do disgusting things with their mouths and then try to give you a kiss..
10. They can look dumb and lovable all at the same time.

Conclusion: Dogs are tiny men in fur coats.

Reflecting on this with tongue firmly lodged in cheek, let us not be men and women who reflect the image and glory of our pets, but let us be genders that glorify God. And men, let us lead in the manner to which we have been called.

Let us be men who love their wives as Christ loves the Church, by laying down our very lives. Men who lead as Christ led, by washing feet, blessing children, and bearing others' burdens. Husbands whose faithfulness mirrors the faithfulness of Christ. Fathers who care for our children as our heavenly Father cares for His. Men who hold their God-given authority as those who are held responsible by God and will give account for how we spent it. Men like Christ, the First One who stepped down to become last.

(final paragraph adapted from a sermon by James Hamilton)

Your Passion, O Loving Christ, is My Refuge

"You have offended the infinite God with your sins, but an infinite price has been paid. You ought to be judged for your sins, but the Son of God has already been judged for the sins of the whole world, which He received in Himself. Your sins ought to be punished, but God already punished them in His Son. The wounds from your sin are great, but more precious is the balm of the blood of Christ.

Moses pronounces a curse against you (Deut 27:26), because you have not kept everything that has been written in the book of the law, but Christ has been made a curse for you (Gal 3:13). The handwriting has been written against you in the court of heaven, but Christ's blood has deleted it (Col 2:14).

Therefore, Your passion, O loving Christ, is my ultimate refuge."

~Johann Gerhard, Sacred Meditations

God's Justice Defended at the Cross of Christ

"By Jesus' sacrifice, God reveals and defends His justice in two ways. First, Jesus' suffering for the sins of His people means that any sins unpunished beforehand are now fully punished in Christ. God leaves no sin unpunished. Mercy and grace do not come at the expense of justice. Second, because the sins of the faithful are fully punished in Jesus, God may justly declare righteous those who have faith in Jesus. That's what it means to be justified in God's sight - to be declared righteous by faith in Jesus. The cross, rightly understood, is God's own answer to any objection that He is unfair to substitute Jesus for the unrighteous."

-Thabiti Anyabwile, The Gospel for Muslims, pp75-76

The Lord Rejoices Over Us

Isaiah 62:5b - For... as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

How heart-cheering to the believer is the delight which God has in his saints! We cannot see any reason in ourselves why the Lord should take pleasure in us; we cannot take delight in ourselves, for we often have to groan, being burdened; conscious of our sinfulness, and deploring our unfaithfulness; and we fear that God's people cannot take much delight in us, for they must perceive so much of our imperfections and our follies, that they may rather lament our infirmities than admire our graces. But we love to dwell upon this transcendent truth, this glorious mystery: that as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so does the Lord rejoice over us.

-Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, September 21st