I find it amazing that many Christians, when presented with the idea that God might eventually save all of his creation, are shocked to think that God would be so "unfair" to them. "Do you mean to say that my ghastly neighbour or Hitler or Idi Amin might be in heaven with me? They don't deserve that."
Such Christians are like a modern day Jonah.
Jonah was so disappointed that God would forgive the citizens of Nineveh, whose behaviour had been so bad that God had previously threatened to destroy them, that he went away and sulked. Because Nineveh repented, God forgave them and withdrew the threat of destruction, and Jonah became angry.
What is there in us that makes us want justice so badly that we have no room for mercy or grace? To become Christ-followers we must first receive God's grace ourselves, as Jonah did after first being so rebellious towards God. Why are we then so determined that others not receive it also?
When people we know, and especially those we have been praying for, come to receive God's grace and forgiveness, we rejoice, even if their past behaviour has been horrendous. But the thought that someone who has not received God's grace and forgiveness within their few years on this planet might eventually be reconciled to God is unacceptable to us, especially if that person has been really bad.
Some Christians invent ways of accommodating a good future for unborn and very young children, or the mentally handicapped, or other special groups who have not come to faith in their lifetime, but to expect a "real" sinner to have a good future is just not right.
These Christians are certain that Jesus, who loved and accepted all-comers when he was here on earth, has now totally changed in character and has a very different attitude toward sinners when they move out of their earth-suits and into the next stage of their lives.
How do we explain that attitude?
Most Christians believe that "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and into the ages to come", but are not prepared to extend that sameness to his love for sinners. If he loved, welcomed and accepted sinners while he was on this planet, will he not continue to do that, regardless of where they are or he is?
Where do we get the idea that a person's location changes God's love for them or his desire for them to be saved?
I prefer to be growing toward a God-like attitude to the eventual salvation of all, than to revert to my old Jonah days.
I guess in looking at this we need to step back and look at some real basics on what the average Christian is dealing with in their personal walk of faith.
ReplyDeleteThe world we are called in (to come out of) is one founded on taking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That can seem rather vague, so another way I like to put it is mankind choosing to navigate his own way through good and evil (credit to a speaker called Shane Willard who really made some good sense to me).
The religions that come out of this system are all about what man has to do to get right with God. Christianity though is radically different in being all about what God does and has done to get us right with him.
Our culture is permeated at every level with the former approach, and so no wonder that many churches can end up looking like the former model instead of the latter. It can be really hard to discern how what we do can be right in line with the way of thinking that we should not be having. We have lived in it all our lives, so it is no wonder. Add in the fact that the kingdom of darkness doesn't want us to understand the pure essence of the Gospel, it is no wonder that we Christians can miss it so easily.
So back to the guy who can't fathom that God's mercy can extend to the really bad guys. His first stumbling block is that it would seem that for God to extend mercy to many of these incorigibles, it must happen after they die. If this does not fit with their theology that has envelopped their thinking for the course of their Christian walk, then it will seem strange and hard to grasp, just as they are probably at the same time trying to work out staying saved, or pleasing God by obeying the rules. The gospel is too good to be really true for so many, so they settle for a lesser theology to suit where they are in their journey of transition from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, to the tree of life.
To think that God's plan of salvation can be that far reaching as to cover even the really bad dudes who seemingly died without repentance is too good to be true for most.
ReplyDeleteThey cannot see that there is a huge disconnect in their logic by thinking that, as if it is easy to stomach the salvation of someone before they die (yes, even if it is Hitler), yet somehow it is hard to consider it as possible after someone dies.
The scholarly will simply explain this with a theological arguement based on whatever scriptures they think they can find to prove that it just cannot be possible to save someone if they die without repentance. They may even assume to take the high moral ground by expressing that they have God on their side as they think (according only to their unique perception) they are being "literal" with the scriptures, and thereby closer to God, while anyone who sees things from another perspective just cannot be looking at scripture literally, let alone with any integrity (they may even be false prophets or even worse, heretics).
It is very rare in Christian circles to find points of disagreement handled gracefully with an acknowledgment that both sides of the dispute are sincere seekers of truth. Theological stuff can be so emotive (no doubt from the stirring of forces which don't want healthy dialogue between Christians of differing views).
This seems like a long response to a simple question, but the question does warrant some serious fleshing out of the playing field we are in.
The way forward then is to be able to show that there is nothing in scripture that really makes it impossible for salvation to be granted after one has died the first death. The easiest way to do this is to examine anyone's argument that states that scripture is somehow at odds with this idea. If we can show that the "support" for a contrary view in scripture is not support at all, then the door to understanding may begin to open, of course with personal revelation from the Holy Spirit there as well. Nothing can really be understood without this personal revelation.
Cheers, Roger
P.S. This was sent in a double post as for some reason I was told I could not paste more that 4096 characters, even though all together I only had 4024, including spaces - all very confusing.
Rog
I wonder how we can "invite" opponents to submit verses that they consider support the idea that salvation can only be found before physical death. I will hunt around for some possible websites or blogs that invite questions and try to submit one.
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