Belief will make it so?
The Peoria Journal Star published an article in its Faith and Values section entitled “Living in hope for salvation for all” by Paul Isom. He “is a minister for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).” (3/18/06, page D5) The first sentence of his last paragraph declares “I believe God will save everyone eventually.” His last sentence declares “I choose to trust God and live in hope for the salvation of all, and I will continue to pray for that.”
Wow!!! What a concept if true!!! It doesn’t matter if we don’t believe in GOD. It doesn’t matter if we don’t accept JESUS’S death on the cross to redeem us from our sins. It doesn’t matter if we have murdered a number of people. It doesn’t matter what we do in our life. It doesn’t matter if we don’t repent of our sins. It doesn’t matter if we don’t confess JESUS is our LORD and SAVIOR. It doesn’t matter if we are not baptized into HIS kingdom. It doesn’t matter if we are not obedient to GOD’S WILL. No matter what occurs, he believes that “God will save everyone eventually.”
Unfortunately, I don’t think most Christians agree with his belief. Unfortunately, what he believes is not necessarily true. Unfortunately, such a belief, if not true, can mislead people to their eternal detriment. Unfortunately, he does not give one scripture from the Bible to support his belief.
He does state that “I will agree with anyone who says that certain passages of the Bible appear to teach eternal, torturous hell.” Notice the word “appear.” He will not accept that the passages teach just what they “appear” to teach. All of those who accept that position have obviously misread the passages.
How does he support that notion? He uses the concept of “misapplication by association.” His quote declares “The Bible can and has been used to prove just about everything.” Thus, because others have misused passages of the Bible, these passages must also be misused. Of course, the problem with that argument is that it is meaningless. If it were not, then nothing from the Bible can be taken as truth because any part of the Bible can and probably has been misinterpreted by someone. It is a circular and invalid argument!
He further declares “I take as my key idea that God is love. God is also sovereign over all creation.” I agree completely. But, from his argument in relation to “misapplication by association” he can’t use that as justification for his belief. He could be misapplying (and he is) the concept of love and sovereignty as taught in the Bible.
In fact, all of his arguments presented are rationalizations without a single scripture to support each rationalization. But then, how can he quote scripture when “The Bible can and has been used to prove just about everything.”
Here is the crux of the matter. His belief is irrelevant. My belief is irrelevant. What is relevant is the WORD of GOD and GOD’S WILL. I believe the Bible is the WORD of GOD. He does not seem to base his belief on what the Bible declares relying rather on his own reasoning power. If you want to know the truth, I would suggest your own intensive study of the Bible. Don’t take his word for the truth. Don’t take my word for the truth. Study the Bible with an open heart and reach your own conclusion—your very soul depends upon it. (To be continued.)
The Peoria Journal Star published an article in its Faith and Values section entitled “Living in hope for salvation for all” by Paul Isom. He “is a minister for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).” (3/18/06, page D5) The first sentence of his last paragraph declares “I believe God will save everyone eventually.” His last sentence declares “I choose to trust God and live in hope for the salvation of all, and I will continue to pray for that.”
Wow!!! What a concept if true!!! It doesn’t matter if we don’t believe in GOD. It doesn’t matter if we don’t accept JESUS’S death on the cross to redeem us from our sins. It doesn’t matter if we have murdered a number of people. It doesn’t matter what we do in our life. It doesn’t matter if we don’t repent of our sins. It doesn’t matter if we don’t confess JESUS is our LORD and SAVIOR. It doesn’t matter if we are not baptized into HIS kingdom. It doesn’t matter if we are not obedient to GOD’S WILL. No matter what occurs, he believes that “God will save everyone eventually.”
Unfortunately, I don’t think most Christians agree with his belief. Unfortunately, what he believes is not necessarily true. Unfortunately, such a belief, if not true, can mislead people to their eternal detriment. Unfortunately, he does not give one scripture from the Bible to support his belief.
He does state that “I will agree with anyone who says that certain passages of the Bible appear to teach eternal, torturous hell.” Notice the word “appear.” He will not accept that the passages teach just what they “appear” to teach. All of those who accept that position have obviously misread the passages.
How does he support that notion? He uses the concept of “misapplication by association.” His quote declares “The Bible can and has been used to prove just about everything.” Thus, because others have misused passages of the Bible, these passages must also be misused. Of course, the problem with that argument is that it is meaningless. If it were not, then nothing from the Bible can be taken as truth because any part of the Bible can and probably has been misinterpreted by someone. It is a circular and invalid argument!
He further declares “I take as my key idea that God is love. God is also sovereign over all creation.” I agree completely. But, from his argument in relation to “misapplication by association” he can’t use that as justification for his belief. He could be misapplying (and he is) the concept of love and sovereignty as taught in the Bible.
In fact, all of his arguments presented are rationalizations without a single scripture to support each rationalization. But then, how can he quote scripture when “The Bible can and has been used to prove just about everything.”
Here is the crux of the matter. His belief is irrelevant. My belief is irrelevant. What is relevant is the WORD of GOD and GOD’S WILL. I believe the Bible is the WORD of GOD. He does not seem to base his belief on what the Bible declares relying rather on his own reasoning power. If you want to know the truth, I would suggest your own intensive study of the Bible. Don’t take his word for the truth. Don’t take my word for the truth. Study the Bible with an open heart and reach your own conclusion—your very soul depends upon it. (To be continued.)
posted by Christian Gunslinger at 12:21 AM
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