Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 2 November 2006 — Page 38

Page 38 • The Muncie Times • November 2, 2006

T h By George E. McDonald Few topics have generated more serous discussion than the eternal doctrine of Fleaven and Hell, which are both Biblical in origin, but not the so-called Purgatory. Over the centuries, however, mankind has relied less and less on the reality of Holy Scriptures for a basis in fact, and more and more on human philosophy, values, and beliefs on the subject of Hell (See Colossians 2:8). Like the conventional communication model, when a message is passed on by Word of mouth among a group of people, without the benefit of checking with the original source, the message simply takes on a life of its own. More often than not, the end message differs greatly from the original one. Consequently, whenever our faith isn’t based squarely on God’s Word, we are in real danger of making eternal decisions based on popular fables. The purpose of this article is to explore the following three aspects of Hell” (1) who are its most likely and unlikely candidates, and why; (2) explore the history of why God created a place like Hell in the first place, and who were its intended occupants; and (3) who will be in charge of Hell during eternity - God or the devil? The Most Likely Candidates For Hell When we think about “who” actually goes to hell,

RELIGION

e Truth About Hell

it’s easy to conjure up the thought of a place full of adulterers, agnostics, atheists, child molesters, con artists, dope addicts, dope dealers, drunks, fornicators, homosexuals, liars, murders, pedophiles, people who successfully commit suicide, pimps, players, prostitutes, racists, rich people who prey on the poor, thieves, violent criminals, and any other thing that is contrary to God’s commandments, judgments, and statutes. In other words, morally, ethically, and behaviorally reprehensible people are prime candidates for hell. Few people will argue with the candidates on this list. Indeed, it has been my experience that many of these people will even brag about going to Hell, as if it were a world-class resort hotel destination. (This is definitely not the case, as we shall see later in this article.) At any rate, the Word of God plainly states, “ they which do such things shall not inherent the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5: 19-21). Unlikely Candidates For Hell However, this list is by no means a comprehensive list of all of the offenses that God considers worthy of hell. In fact, the chief offender’s category is seldom mentioned any more (Romans 2:28). Please consider the following example if a man married as a virgin himself, was faithful to his wife of 30 years - without one inci-

dence of infidelity, had a reputation throughout the community as being an extremely honest individual, religiously sent his children to church, worked tirelessly with the PTA, worked effectively with all ethnic groups on various social issues throughout the community in a fair and equitable manner, volunteered annually at the local mission in his hometown every Thanksgiving and Christmas serving dinners to the poor, was a great father, grandfather, son, brother, uncle, and cousin. Could the aforementioned man, who lived such a stellar life comparatively speaking, of course, even remotely be a prime candidate to go to hell when he dies? The Missing Ingredient How tasty would a cake be without its main ingredient of sugar? For all intents and purposes, the aforementioned concoction might look like a cake, but it certainly wouldn’t taste like one. It makes no logical sense, to me, why someone would simply go through the motions of making a cake, only to omit the main ingredient. This sugarless substance, at best, might only taste like a biscuit or dinner roll. Similarly, if you really think about it, it really doesn’t make much sense to “play” church when you can really “be” the church. For some inexplicable reason, many people today really don’t want a real relationship with Christ;

they just want other people to think that they do. Sidebar As a quick sidebar, many years ago in Denver, Colorado, I once had dinner with a married couple, who had been married about 15 to 20 years at the time. While sitting at the table waiting on our plates to be served, the husband kissed his wife several times, while I pretended not be annoyed. Finally, I asked the husband if he acted like that at home behind closed doors - especially since the couple didn’t have any children. As I recall, the husband’s lips were poised to answer in the affirmative, when his wife blurted out, “No, at home he often acts like I don’t even exist;

nal life. After being told about the prerequisites of keeping Gods written laws, the young man replied, “All of these things have I kept from my youth” (Mark 10:20. At this point, this church member must have felt pretty good about his future in the afterlife. But, notice Christ’s response, “One thing thou lackest:” (v.21). Imagine being just one step, as it were, away from Heaven Golden Gates, only to be denied for lacking a single ingredient in your life. (If you’re not actively trying to please God, of course, you will have many more than just one offence.) For this particular fellow, he lacked the generous heart of Christ. He had great wealth, which he valued more than the ministry of

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II Timothy 3:4).

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(Matthew 16:26).

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