What would be so good about the good news if, in the end, there is no bad news?
If you follow the Christian blogosphere in any way or capacity, then I’m sure you know that Rob Bell is releasing a book titled “Love Wins” and recently he has posted a video for his new book. If you haven’t seen this video, I posted it just the other day, so feel free to look it up. Basically what Rob Bell says in the video is that an all loving God would not allow people to burn in hell for all eternity just because they didn’t believe in him. This is not a god that Rob Bell would like to spend eternity with, and it’s something that turns people away from the Christian faith. Well Rob… if these are your views, you won’t have to worry about spending eternity with God.
Rob Bell seems to endorse an idea known as “Universalism”, which embraces the thought that Christ died on the cross for everyone, that no matter if you believe or not your sins are covered by the blood of Christ. Which sounds really nice, especially to non-believers. But it is simply not the truth. I would love to see the scripture that Rob Bell uses to justify this view. For the life of me I cannot think of any scriptures that even remotely hint at the possibility that you can go to heaven without total faith to Jesus Christ. I’ve heard the argument that the church has just added Hell into the gospel story to scare people into belief, are you kidding me? Jesus spoke of Hell more then he spoke of Heaven. Clearly, there is something real here.
It’s a shame that Rob Bell has been blessed with such a large ministry and can touch so many lives and yet he embraces a heretical view of Christianity and is passing it on to his followers. Rob Bell could do great things for the Kingdom and lead many people to Christ, but instead he trades the truth for a lie that feels good to sinners. Does Rob Bell not know that the heart is deceitful above all things (Jeremiah 17:9)? I will probably read “Love Wins” when it comes out just because so many professing Christians share this view and you cannot engage with someone if you don’t understand their views.
I pray that Rob Bell’s eyes will be opened to the truth of the gospel and he will repent of his unbiblical teachings, and Christ will use him to benefit the kingdom. Rob Bell could do great things, but right now he’s just helping pave the road to a place he doesn’t think actually exists. The gospel is power, and you can’t have the good news without the bad news.