Hell and damnation are real, says Pope Benedict XVI.
It's not easy in this day and age to speak about these subjects. Few take the words of Jesus seriously. He tells us more about hell and damnation that any other figure in the Old or New Testaments.
I've met Christians who may agree that hell exists, just don't think anyone really goes there. No one except baby rapists, in any case. Jesus teaches differently.
A pastor must learn to know his sheep so that he can apply the whole counsel of God appropriately. While the message of atonement through the blood of Jesus is central to all we proclaim, the gospel has no context if we don't announce the threat of hell. If there is no such thing as eternal damnation, then what, precisely, did Jesus save us from? Some people are afraid to die, they fear the judgment. And rightly so. We must ease their fears with the promise of grace. But many others are not afraid of God at all. To them, the cross is just a weird thing pastors talk about.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Hell is Real
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Just looking up the word "judgement" is enough to make your hair stand on end.
Would that elders in the church could hear and take to heart what it means! It seems these days (at least where I am a pastor) the leaders in the church think that inactive members are somehow not in need of deliverance from their sinful flesh, the unbelieving world
or the devil. They seem to agree with those who deliberately absent themselves from Word and Sacrament that there really is no hell. How sad!! Got to hand it to the pope for the guts to say what few want to hear these days!
Hell, judgment, etc. aren't topics that _I_ typically hear about, but if you look in Scripture - judgment is mentioned quite often.
Take the parable of the unforgiving servant for example - everyone knows that the "bad guy" winds up in jail at the end.
But how many know the real punch-line: "So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." (Matt 18:35)
Serious stuff.
Post a Comment